The leading voices around the world
Forget the shrill sound of Middle Eastern tambourines or the Malayan lilting play of the human voice.
The current trend in nasheed (Islamic songs) makes liberal use of various types of music, including Celtic Anglo-Saxon tunes, ballads, soul, even rap.
More and more Muslim artists from the Western world are following in the footsteps of Yusuf Islam, the former Cat Stevens who became a Muslim in 1977 and has devoted his life to spreading the word of Islam.
cassettes and CDs of the new nasheed singers fill the bookshelves at Islamic centers in Europe and the United States. Being a Muslim is not a requirement to enjoy the songs; among the major milestone of the Western nasheed was the grand concert that Yusuf Islam and friends held in October 2003 at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London.
About 4,000 people came to the concert, held to commemorate the 20th founding anniversary of Yusuf Islam's Islamia School for Girls to enjoy Zain Bikha of Pretoria (whose high notes have been mistaken for Michael Jackson's!), Khalid Belrhouzi of Lyon, France, rappers Native Deen from Chicago and Jakarta's own Qatrunada.
"It was such a beautiful concert, and to think I almost missed it because I had previously though 'what's so special about nasheed?'" one London resident was quoted as saying.
The following are the world's leading munsheed, singers of Islamic songs in both English and Arabic.
* Dawud Wharnsby-Ali was born David Wharnsby in Ontario and had loved music and art early on. After high school, he wrote music and read books on Hinduism, Buddhism and Tao, performed in cafes and universities and various folk festivals, in addition to entertaining children with disabilities with his puppet shows.
His fascination with his own roots, namely Celtic culture, and his travels brought him to Eastern philosophies and spirituality. In 1993 he embraced Islam and became Dawud.
"I felt like I have returned to my spiritual essence, my fitrah, a natural understanding of my life goals and my relationship with the Creator," he said. "I find a new brand of love when I celebrate the innocence of a child and the beauty of Allah's creation."
All of his songs are now nasheed. His 1995 pilgrimage to Mecca also became a very important source of inspiration for his experimentations with folk and country music. In 1996, he produced A Whisper of Peace for children, followed in 1998 with his second album, The Colors Of Islam, which explored simple a capella with lyrics inspired by the Koran and the Prophet Muhammad's sayings and tradition.
In 1998 Dawud joined Chicago-based SoundVision.com as an education consultant and its audio director, producing so far more than 15 children documentaries and programs. His other albums of nasheed include The Road to Madinah (1999), The Letter - Songs of Struggle and Hope (1999) and Sunshine, Dust and the Messenger (2001) and The Prophet's Hands (2002)
* Move over Eminem; Native Deen's hip hop music makes hearts beat furiously remembering...hell!
Three good-looking young men, Joshua Salaam, Abdul Malik Ahmad and Naeem Muhammad, formed the group when working on a recording project of the MYNA RAPS (Muslim Youth of North America). Their nasheed creations include Hell Fire, Drug Free, Jummah and Jihad Nafs. Find out more at http://www.nativedeen.com
* Zain Bikha was born in August 1974 in Pretoria, South Africa, of Indian origin, and released his first a capella album, A Way of Life, in 1994 after winning a local radio singing competition. Subsequent albums include Praise to the Prophet (1996), Fortunate is He (1997) and The Journey (1998).
Yusuf Islam invited Bikha to London for his 2000 album A is for Allah (2000), where he sang seven songs. Bikha then joined Yusuf Islam's Mountain of Light label and opened a branch in South Africa where he has so far produced Children of Heaven and Towards the Light with Jamal Records.
In 2001 Bikha released his most famous album, Faith, which consists of the touching The Wedding Song and Allah is Enough for Me. His last album, Our World, was produced with the support of munsheed from various countries including Yusuf Islam, Qatrunada, Dawud Wharnsby-Ali, and Khalid Belrhouzi.
* Born in Casablanca in 1969 but raised in Lyon, France, Khalid Belrhouzi is known as the Nightingale for his melodious voice when singing French nasheed. Khalid, who began to sing when he was seven, now leads the French nasheed group, Badr.
Its latest albums include Les Noms de Dieu (Names of God) and Paroles Veridiques (The Words of Truth) released in 2002 in France. Khalid also explored Burdah, the classical poem of Al Busairi in praise of the Prophet and made his own adaptation for the album In Praise of the Last Prophet by Yusuf Islam and Friends in October 2002.
-- Santi W.E. Soekanto