It started with a post referencing New York’s 34-year-old mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and a wildly confident caption! About a week ago, Instagram user @noury_k_ (who has more than 4,500 followers) uploaded a video showing Syrian singer Faia Younan singing Immi Namet by Fairuz. The OG track also features Nasri Shamseddine and the Lebanese Popular Troupe.
The French caption to this viral post loosely translates to:
“Zohran Mamdani’s wife is singing. Zohran single-handedly won a war that some Muslim leaders lost.”
The video racked up 18,965 likes as it was absorbed into the bloodstream of social media. Suddenly, people were convinced that Zohran Mamdani’s wife had a beautiful singing voice and a side career as a Middle Eastern chanteuse. But that woman isn’t Zohran Mamdani’s wife at all. The woman in the viral clip is Faia Younan, a famous Syrian-Assyrian singer, songwriter, and actress.
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Younan, on the other hand, boasts over 1.4 million followers on Instagram and a global fanbase. Her voice is known for Arabic ballads. Her credits include albums like A Sea Between Us (2017) and Tales of the Heart (2019), and she’s been featured on stages from Dubai Opera to Ithra Theater. She even made history as the first Middle Eastern artist to crowdfund her debut album.
In contrast, Rama Sawaf Duwaji (Zohran Mamdani’s spouse) is an American animator, illustrator, and ceramist, whose artistic works have graced The New Yorker, The Washington Post, BBC, Apple, and even the Tate Modern. So while she sure is talented, she isn’t a singer at all. Rama Duwaji was born in Houston in 1997 and educated at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is known for her illustrations and ceramic works. Definitely not belting out Fairuz classics!
The post didn’t survive long without scrutiny. Within hours, the comments section turned into a community-led fact-check. A user jumped in with a correction: “This is not Mamdani’s wife. Her name is Faia Younan; she’s Syrian originally but also a Swedish citizen.” Another commenter added context: “This is a Syrian singer and her name is Faia Younan (…) She does look like Rama, but the singer has beautiful green eyes and is a bit taller. Both are talented Syrian artists, and we are proud of them all.”
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It didn’t take long before the internet realized it had mistaken two talented Syrian women for each other. Visually, it’s not hard to see why people fell for the mix-up. Both women are of Syrian heritage, share similar facial features, and exude the same presence. Add a French caption and Zohran Mamdani’s name, and you will get a viral video.
The moment someone declared, “Zohran Mamdani’s wife can sing,” it was too exciting a “trivia” to fact-check before sharing. The narrative fits, but the truth is less cinematic. Younan remains a musician in her own right, while Duwaji continues her career in illustration and animation. So no, Rama Duwaji is not about to drop an album anytime soon!
