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Superstar uses pop music to praise Islam and advocate political change in the Middle East
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Ramadan 2011 coincides with two important events for people in the Middle East. The first was the appearance of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in a Cairo courtroom, which received extensive media coverage and was seen as a symbol of a new Egypt, where even the highest-ranking officials are accountable to the law. The second event has received less attention in the West, but it comes from a political movement that has transformed the Arab world in the past seven months: Lebanese superstar singer Maher Zain releases new music video “Ya Nabi”. “Salam Alayqa” (“O Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon you”).
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Few artists understand the Arab world’s yearning for change like Maher Zain. Born in Lebanon and raised in Sweden, Zayn studied aeronautical engineering and partnered with Arab singer-songwriter Nadir Khayat (nicknamed “Red One”), who also immigrated to Sweden. The two traveled to New York, where they worked in the city’s music industry alongside some of the brightest young stars. Khayat played a key role in Lady Gaga’s rapid rise, and went on to become one of America’s top music producers, working with Akon, Lionel Richie, and Michael Jackson.
Zayn’s time in New York and his work with Khayat came in handy when creating his debut album. Thank you Allah. Released in November 2009 (a little over a year before the start of the Arab Spring), it featured many songs sung in Zayn’s excellent English and was an unexpected commercial success. In a music contest organized by Cairo’s Nogoom FM (Egypt’s most popular radio station) in January 2010, the album’s second song, “Ya Nabi Salam Alaika”, was named the best of 2009, beating out all other songs. It was selected as the best religious song. -Established singer. Zayn’s concert in Cairo in March 2010 attracted fans from Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, and the United Kingdom. Many notable figures from the Egyptian music industry also attended the concert.
thank you allah The album sold well throughout the Islamic world from the Middle East to Southeast Asia in 2010 and 2011. In Malaysia, this album earned him an 8 platinum award from Warner Music Malaysia in 2010 and was certified as the country’s best-selling album in 2010. Ten years. (About 120,000 albums were sold in a country of about 27 million people.) That same year, Zayn was the most Googled person in Malaysia. In 2011, thank you allah Received double platinum award from Sony Music Indonesia. By May 2010, the record achieved the top position in the World Music category of his Amazon.com digital charts.
On the album’s cover, Zayn is seen wearing jeans, a black jacket, and a stylish cap – all the right pieces for a rhythm and blues concert – while sitting quietly reciting an Islamic prayer. This combination symbolizes the album’s theme that Islam, belief in God (Allah), and personal dignity are the answer to the systemic challenges facing modern Muslims. However, the moral message of his music is cloaked in pop expressions that are instantly recognizable to young people. Although Zayn sings in Arabic and has released songs in French, Malay, and other languages, most of his work is in English. These songs are integral to his worldwide marketing campaign as he attempts to reach fans through his social networking site, YouTube, and other internet media platforms. In an interview with a British lifestyle magazine in July 2011. Emel, Zayn says the internet is both “revolutionary” and “the biggest blessing” for Muslim artists, who face huge obstacles in getting their Islamic-themed music broadcast on radio and television. It pointed out. Thanks to the Internet, he was able to bypass traditional media and promote his work directly to people all over the world.
Cleverly taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the internet, Zayn became the first Muslim artist to reach 1 million fans on Facebook. Currently, he attracts 2.5 million fans. In total his YouTube videos have received over 50 million views. “In Shah Allah” (“God Willing”), released in 2010, has been downloaded more than 11 million times on his YouTube. Two of his other videos, “The Chosen One” (2010) and “Palestin Will Be Free” (2009), were downloaded more than 4 million times and 2.5 million times, respectively. He capitalized on this popularity offline by scheduling an ambitious tour in 2010 and his 2011, playing sold-out concert venues across Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and, interestingly, North America. We have been performing regularly.
In his videos and songs, Zayn eschews the traditional, glorified image of a pop star and instead presents himself as a normal person who stands out from the crowd solely through his Allah-given musical talent. He also particularly urged Muslims to avoid blaming the West for all their problems and to recognize the role they play in shaping their situation. calling out. In fact, his music has deep roots in the West, as he is clearly aware of.
One of his most memorable songs is “Palestine Will Be Free.” The video uses animation to depict an apocalyptic cityscape torn apart by Arab-Israeli violence, with a live-action Zayn singing the song amid carnage. In her penultimate scene of the video, a young schoolgirl is seen holding a stone in front of an Israeli tank. This image is meant to evoke a conflict between David and Goliath, or power and justice. But it also has special meaning for many Arabs. This is reminiscent of the famous photo taken during the first Palestinian intifada of a Palestinian child holding a stone over his head and throwing it at a nearby Israeli tank. But in Zain’s video, the girl drops a stone, stands defenseless in front of an Israeli tank, and reveals her faith in Allah that her own personal will is stronger than the mighty Israeli tank. It is left unspoken. She was rewarded for her faith. As she advances, her tank retreats.
Within a few months of its release, thank you allah And after Zayn’s concert in Cairo, uprisings began throughout the Arab world. These rebellions Thank you Allah. Through the scale of the demonstrations, demonstrators challenged the government in places like Tahrir Square and forced the withdrawal of police in a manner reminiscent of the way the girl forced the withdrawal of Israeli tanks in Palestine Will Be Free. did. The protesters did not insist on blaming the West. Their message was not Osama bin Laden’s message. They also utilize Facebook, other social media, and YouTube to “market” their message (and influence mainstream media) in a manner reminiscent of the campaigns Zayn used to promote his songs. avoidance). On February 12, pro-democracy protesters in Egypt achieved their goal when Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down. This was an event that heralded the birth of a new nation. NizamIn this tribunal, even powerful politicians can be brought before Egyptian courts to defend their official actions.
All of these works are by Maher Zane. caused Despite events such as demonstrations and the trial of a former Egyptian official, Zayn’s song clearly reflected widespread feelings of discontent and a desire for a different future. His recognition of that dissatisfaction and the need for hope is an element of his popularity, which he said at a Cairo concert in March 2010 of an Egyptian who said he loved the “revolutionary atmosphere” of his music. symbolized by fans.
Zayn tapped into this same feeling of frustration and need for hope in “Freedom,” the first song he released after the start of the Arab Spring. He premiered the song in Malaysia in March 2011 and dedicated it to those fighting for freedom in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and all other countries. The song, sung in English, thanked God for giving his friends and neighbors, young and old, women and men, the strength to join hands and demand an end to oppression. The song expresses a dream for a new Islamic society, where people are no longer trapped inside their homes or afraid to express their opinions in public. While Zayn acknowledges that the dream of a new society has not yet come true, he assures his listeners that they are going to achieve it, that God is with them, and that God will not fail them. Throughout the song’s video, footage of Arab flags and protesters peacefully challenging governments across the Arab world can be seen.
Importantly, Zayn’s calls for reform extend to the United States. “The Chosen One” finds Zayn singing about the Prophet Muhammad while walking through Bakersfield, California. According to the website of Zayn’s record label Awakening Records, the video aims to educate the world about the Prophet Muhammad and counter attacks against him through comics and Facebook. In one memorable scene, a young boy wearing a baseball cap and gloves runs around the living room to catch a baseball thrown by his veiled mother. The city is full of social problems, including homelessness, alcohol and drug addiction, poor elderly people, abandoned animals, and ethnic tensions. (In the opening scene, Zane’s neighbor, a blonde white woman, is dumping trash on her front porch.) But until the final scene, it’s not Zane who tackles these problems, but others. However, Zane finally realizes that his unfriendly neighbor is sick. He makes her vegetable soup for her. Zein is of course showing compassion and humanity here, but he also cites a famous story about the Prophet Muhammad. For years, a woman had been dumping trash at her home, but one day it stopped. The prophet did not rejoice, but tried to find out what happened to the woman, and when he realized that she was sick, he offered to help her.
The Prophet Muhammad and the hope he offers the world are at the center of Zayn’s second video, “Ya Nabi Salam Alaika,” which was shot in the United States and is scheduled for its official premiere this week. In it, Zayn is seen wearing his trademark dapper hat and hip-hop clothes as he walks down the main roads and railroad tracks of Chicago, Illinois, one of America’s greatest cities and the hometown of President Barack Obama. It will be done. He faces the city’s famous skyline and sings greetings to the Prophet Muhammad in Arabic. This greeting is widely known. Sarawat. By choosing a city that is in many ways the center of the country’s geography, NizamZain hints that despite the existence of Islamophobia, Muslims and their faith have something tangible that can contribute to the world’s only superpower. in American life.
As analysts and scholars seek to better understand the 21st century Arab world, the lyrics of Zayn and other artists whose words embody the aspirations of millions of Muslims in the Middle East and Arab countries. We recommend that you pay close attention to. A wider world. If what the media has dubbed the Arab Spring is in some sense a re-enactment of the 1960s in the West, Maher Zain is the Bob Dylan of this new situation. Zane understands that Western music has entered the consciousness of young people around the world, and furthermore, Western music has entered the consciousness of young people around the world, just as the deeply erotic Song of Songs was I also realize that a “love song” can easily transform into sacred music. In a poem about the soul and the longing for God.Zane’s path to “revolution” – to a new world Nizam—You don’t see it in politics or angry rhetoric. Rather surprisingly, this music has a strong influence on Western themes, structures, and chords, insofar as the listener understands that, through Zain’s lyrics and his identity as a Muslim, this music undergoes a significant thematic shift. It’s deeply embedded in the sound.
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