That time Gigi called Zayn “Middle Eastern,” and why it was actually fine

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By Fareeha Molvi

(This post was originally published on Instagram on September 29, 2020)

Congrats to brown power couple Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik, who welcomed their first daughter last week!

In 2016, Gigi was quoted as saying “I especially love it when you meet other Arabs. There’s such a sense of family regardless of whether you are blood related or not anywhere in the world […] My boyfriend is also half Middle Eastern. It’s just a connection that you make that’s really cool. It’s hard to explain but you feel like you’re amongst [your] people.”

Consequently Gigi was ruthlessly criticized in the media for mistaking Zayn Malik as half-Middle Eastern, criticizing her for not even knowing where he’s from. He’s actually half-Pakistani.  

But Gigi, while not technically precise, was not entirely wrong. Often “Middle Eastern” and “Muslim” are used interchangeably but not all Middle Eastern people are Muslim and vice versa. Further, neither Gigi nor Zayn identify as Muslim themselves (they both have parents that do). To me, she was trying to point to something we don’t yet have a good word for – a shared heritage rooted in cultural “Muslimness.” 

I’m guessing growing up around similar cultural influences must have led Gigi and Zayn to find common ground on things like Eid celebrations, affinity for kabob and familiarity with bidets.