Greater Kashmir Interview with Mir Saqib Mushtaq ===================================== Admired by the Nasheeds ( Islamic songs) of Mishari Rashid, Ahmad Bukhatir and Junaid Jamshed who sing Islamic songs in western tunes to attract muslim youth across the world, 24- year- old Mir Saqib Mushtaq, the first kashmiri Islamic singer of such kind is set to start his debut album Tobatun Nasooha ( sincere repentance) this year. The album will be having a vocal musical background that will give an effect of real music to his nasheeds. Tobatun Nasooha contains nine songs that will be launched across the world first in four languages; English Urdu, Arabic and Kashmiri. And then in seven languages, English, Urdu, Kashmiri, Punjabi, Arabic, Persian and Hindi. Saqib, who himself got inspired by Islamic nasheeds to become a devout muslim decided to start the same in Kashmir to bring young generation closer to Islam. This led him to base his nasheeds on Islamic message like unification of ummah, Hijab ( Veil), Salutations, gifts of Allah, and remembrance of death which he wants to inculcate among youth. “ That is the need I feel is important at present, and in youth it can be best addressed by Nasheeds,” Says Saqib. “ Apart from that, as the Muslims across the world have gone astray, through my nasheeds I want to unite them.” For his nasheeds, Saqib is himself writing and composing lyrics. He did not receive any formal training in music from any music school but limited himself to his teacher’s advice who once advised him to recite The Quran in morning to polish his voice. Saqib who wanted to become a pilot in his childhood was allured to change it to become a singer when he was working in his father’s studio. He picked up by listening to legendary Mohammad Rafi and Kishor Kumar but refrained from it in September 2011 when he heard nasheeds of Junaid Jamsheed and Ahmad Bukhatir. His devotion to become a singer was so strong that he grabbed every opportunity to show his talent. He participated in many state level musical competitions like Milae Sur and national level musical competitions like Indian idol and Sare ga ma pa. “ But after 2011, I left to sing all kinds of prohibited music and dedicated myself for the service of Islam,” he says. Saqib is burning his energy since 2012 to release this dream. He quit his plush job in Delhi in a multinational company - IBM - just to return Kashmir to become an Islamic Singer. It was September 2011, after he watched some performances of Junaid Jamshed, a desire sparked in his heart to do some contributions to Islam by his voice. Next thing he packed his belongings and returned forever. “ But before that decision I searched a lot about Islamic singing whether it is allowed or not,” retorts Saqib. Just after his return, he initially made a group Najam nasheeds which comprises 32 people. But with time, the group reduced to just its founder. “ Since I returned from Delhi with a purpose of singing my own nasheeds, I remained determined and asked Allah for help,” expresses Saqib. “ Now all praise to Almighty, my nasheeds are about to complete as they are in the last phase of completion.” Another hurdle which came across was in writing lyrics and creating ideas. “ Since my audience is not only in Kashmir, it took me a lot of time writing lyrics which would be acceptable in Kashmir and in any part of the world at the same time,” he said. Best quality Nasheeds, Saqib says, was all I wanted. He could have got that by good studios and sound engineers. But in Kashmir he had very less options for that. He searched in many studios but he could not get as per his likings. His likings met when a friend of his father advised him about two persons, Irfan Nabi and Bilal Ahmad who are his recording engineers and who give vocals to his nasheeds that will finally create musical effect which will be in accordance to Islamic law. To make his nasheeds best in quality, Saqib has remained in contact with many international Islamic singers like Junaid Jamshed and Hafiz Mizan who guide him. At his launching he is inviting one of them as his special guest. Hailing from Baghat Barzulla, 4 km away from city center Lal chowk, Saqib has been working on this project since his return from New Delhi. It has been now two years. For this project, Saqib has not got any financial support from outside. His father, Mir Mushtaq, an artist, is financing him. He is the eldest in three sons. Completing his schooling from a local school, Saqib completed Bachelors in Arts and Diploma in Computer Applications. Apart from his project, Saqib divides his time in perusing masters in tourism from IGNOU ( Indira Gandhi National Open University), works as a Public Relations officer in a media cell. After the launch, Saqib will be working on another two albums. One will be Masnoon Duwaa ( supplications) and the other will be Qirat ( recitation of Quran). Next year he wants to start a school to train people in Islamic songs, Quran recitation and Arabic language. “ I want people to unite under the banner of Islam and want them to search the true purpose of their life,” he says. Next year he wants to start a school to train people in Islamic songs, Quran recitation and Arabic language.
Posted on: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 05:34:40 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015