Guest Voices

Remembering Nusrat 1948-1997

By Salman Ahmad

Long before 9/11 and the subsequent drum beat of a war on terror and talk of a clash of civilizations between Islam and the West, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Pakistan's greatest musical export, sang ecstatically about the Oneness of God and love for humanity.

Muslim, Jew, Christian, Hindu, all people with or without faith who tuned into the power and emotion of his voice were transported to another place, beyond the self-created ghettos of the mind and into a spiritual wonderland of joy and transcendence.

I was first introduced to Nusrat in 1990 by the Pakistani cricket captain, Imran Khan, for whose cancer hospital we did a fund-raising tour of concerts together. Having been born in Lahore and grown up in New York, my musical leanings were the blues and classic rock: John Lee Hooker, Robert Johnson, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and Pink Floyd. As a result, I felt a little out of place arriving at Lahore's Alhamra arts council carrying a stratocaster and a guitar amp to my first Qawwali rehearsal with the celebrated Nusrat.

He sat onstage, cross legged on a Persian carpet, looking like a Punjabi Buddha, while his qawwali group brought out the harmoniums, tablas, and cups full of Lahori chai. After the traditional greetings of "Salaamualeikum" (peace be upon you) I nervously asked Nusrat what he wanted me to play on the first song "Mustt,Mustt" (lost in you), he replied with a childlike innocence: "do whatever your heart tells you to do". It turned out to be the strongest piece of career and personal advice anyone could've offered me.Nusrat's voice and the songs performed that day and later on the tour had a profound impact on my music.

To modify a Nirvana lyric, his music is "addictive and contagious". The poetry and the melodies opened doors inside my head, which allowed Rumi, Bulleh Shah and Iqbal to enter and coexist with John Lennon, Jimmy Page and John Lee Hooker. Nusrat also helped pave the way for my band, Junoon, to take the risks we did when we married electric guitars to bhangra drum and dhol grooves while chanting traditional sufi texts considered sacred by the orthodox. In fact it was Nusrat who broke the traditional mould of the Qawwali singer, when he collaborated with Peter Gabriel, Michael Brook and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam.

In one particular conversation I had with him about about his brilliant album "NIGHT SONG" with Michael Brook, he told me that he favored fusion because in the Qur'an it mentioned that God loves diversity, and Nusrat felt the most powerful way to celebrate and express diversity was through music.

Years later,in 1998, when Junoon's song Sayonee raced up the pop charts in India to help us become South Asia's biggest rock band, it was a special poignant moment for me because our album "Azadi (Freedom)" for EMI had been dedicated to the memory of Nusrat who had sadly passed on a year earlier while only 48 and with all the music still inside of him.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan left behind a universal DNA in his songs, for all people to share and celebrate the yearning, the joy and the timeless message of Oneness. Can music help build the bridge of Unity between East and West?

Nusrat certainly had no doubts.

"On Faith" panelist Salman Ahmad is a Pakistani-born rock star who started the wildly popular South Asian band known as Junoon.

By Salman Ahmad |  August 14, 2007; 10:41 AM ET Save & Share:  Send E-mail   Facebook   Twitter   Digg   Yahoo Buzz   Del.icio.us   StumbleUpon   Technorati  
Previous: Finding God on the Metro | Next: Condoleezza and Jeremiah

Comments

Please report offensive comments below.



No doubt Nusrat Fateh Ali khan was a legand of Sufi qlam and always remenber for his great contribution in sufi music .

Could you pls help me to search about collection of ailbum with international Band Pearl Jam

I am waiting if some one can repllay.

Regards
Tajendra Singh

Posted by: Tajendra Singh | June 28, 2008 4:05 AM
Report Offensive Comment

No doubt Nusrat Fateh Ali khan was a legand of Sufi qlam and always remenber for his great contribution in sufi music .

Could you pls help me to search about collection of ailbum with international Band Pearl Jam

I am waiting if some one can repllay.

Regards
Tajendra Singh

Posted by: Tajendra Singh | June 28, 2008 3:58 AM
Report Offensive Comment

Posted by: mp3 | May 22, 2008 1:36 AM
Report Offensive Comment

Posted by: mp3 | May 22, 2008 1:35 AM
Report Offensive Comment

Posted by: Gxzkivi | December 13, 2007 6:39 AM
Report Offensive Comment

Posted by: Gxzkivi | December 13, 2007 6:39 AM
Report Offensive Comment

bxpa sjezbn jmkag aolrqkvxj lajhbpf nvwmrdqta zbyte

Posted by: fokj wlsidhb | October 25, 2007 11:58 AM
Report Offensive Comment

bxpa sjezbn jmkag aolrqkvxj lajhbpf nvwmrdqta zbyte

Posted by: fokj wlsidhb | October 25, 2007 11:55 AM
Report Offensive Comment

bxpa sjezbn jmkag aolrqkvxj lajhbpf nvwmrdqta zbyte

Posted by: fokj wlsidhb | October 25, 2007 11:54 AM
Report Offensive Comment

Posted by: Bradistan calling | August 26, 2007 9:25 AM
Report Offensive Comment

som todos ustedes bien estupidos y vallan a pegarse un tiro y dejen de publicar estupideses porque sino va ha ver un atentado en los estados unidos peor que el de las torres

Posted by: alejandro | August 15, 2007 4:03 PM
Report Offensive Comment

som todos ustedes bien estupidos y vallan a pegarse un tiro y dejen de publicar estupideses porque sino va ha ver un atentado en los estados unidos peor que el de las torres

Posted by: alejandro | August 15, 2007 4:03 PM
Report Offensive Comment

som todos ustedes bien estupidos y vallan a pegarse un tiro y dejen de publicar estupideses porque sino va ha ver un atentado en los estados unidos peor que el de las torres

Posted by: alejandro | August 15, 2007 4:03 PM
Report Offensive Comment

som todos ustedes bien estupidos y vallan a pegarse un tiro y dejen de publicar estupideses porque sino va ha ver un atentado en los estados unidos peor que el de las torres

Posted by: alejandro | August 15, 2007 4:03 PM
Report Offensive Comment

som todos ustedes bien estupidos y vallan a pegarse un tiro y dejen de publicar estupideses porque sino va ha ver un atentado en los estados unidos peor que el de las torres

Posted by: alejandro | August 15, 2007 4:03 PM
Report Offensive Comment

som todos ustedes bien estupidos y vallan a pegarse un tiro y dejen de publicar estupideses porque sino va ha ver un atentado en los estados unidos peor que el de las torres

Posted by: alejandro | August 15, 2007 4:03 PM
Report Offensive Comment

som todos ustedes bien estupidos y vallan a pegarse un tiro y dejen de publicar estupideses porque sino va ha ver un atentado en los estados unidos peor que el de las torres

Posted by: alejandro | August 15, 2007 4:03 PM
Report Offensive Comment

som todos ustedes bien estupidos y vallan a pegarse un tiro y dejen de publicar estupideses porque sino va ha ver un atentado en los estados unidos peor que el de las torres

Posted by: alejandro | August 15, 2007 4:03 PM
Report Offensive Comment

"Mustt, mustt" means 'drunk.' It's a common Sufi theme that love (of God) equals drunkenness. But then, it's also been a convenient way for mischievous skeptics to highlight more wordly joys.

Posted by: anticlimacus | August 15, 2007 3:44 PM
Report Offensive Comment

"Mustt, mustt" means 'drunk.' It's a common Sufi theme that love (of God) equals drunkenness. But then, it's also been a convenient way for mischievous skeptics to highlight more wordly joys.

Posted by: anticlimacus | August 15, 2007 3:44 PM
Report Offensive Comment

Jovez,

What is Eclatarianity?
Where can I find information about it?
Your posts are interesting but difficult to comprehend. Will you be so kind as to direct me to a website that explains Eclatarianity?

Posted by: GongZhang | August 15, 2007 1:51 AM
Report Offensive Comment

Aamir Ali,

If your religion/cult is perfect(you know very well it is NOT),nobody would misuse.Could you write any *perfect islamic country* ?
Islam disturbs and threatens the Civilization and Humanity,so everyone has right to *meddle* your cult.

Posted by: halozcel | August 15, 2007 1:11 AM
Report Offensive Comment


check out Junoon documentary and rockstar and the mullahs on youtube.com awesome story on Junoon!

Posted by: U2 | August 15, 2007 1:05 AM
Report Offensive Comment

The panelist talks about diversity in Nusrat and Junoon's music. That must be a joke. Where is diversity in Pakistan and 52 Islamic nations? Where are the minorities? Did you kill them or they don't want to live with you?

Why does a nation need to declare itself a religious country if it respects all religions?

Posted by: Joe | August 14, 2007 11:58 PM
Report Offensive Comment

For Aamir only,

There are flaws in the foundations of all religions. For your perusal and rebuttal:

1. Abraham founder/father of three major religions was probably a mythical character. If he was real, he was at best a combination of at least three men. 1.5 million Conservative Jews and their rabbis have relegated Abraham to the myth pile along with most if not all the OT.

2. Jesus, the illiterate Jewish peasant/carpenter possibly suffering from hallucinations, has been characterized anywhere from the Messiah from Nazareth to a mythical character from mythical Nazareth. Analyses of his life by many contemporary NT scholars (e.g. Professors Crossan, Borg and Fredriksen, On Faith panelists)via the NT and related documents have concluded that only about 30% of Jesus' sayings and ways noted in the NT were authentic. The rest being embellishments (e.g. miracles)/hallucinations made/had by the NT authors to impress various Christian, Jewish, and Pagan sects.

The 30% of the NT that is "authentic Jesus" like everything in life was borrowed and/or improved from those that came before. In Jesus' case, it was the ways and sayings of the OT and John the Baptizer and possibly the ways and sayings of traveling Greek Cynics.

3. Mohammed, an illiterate, hallucinating Arab, also had embellishing/hallucinating/plagiarizing scribal biographers who not only added "angels" and flying chariots to the Koran but also a militaristic agenda to support the plundering and looting of the lands of non-believers.

This agenda continues as shown by the conduct of the seven Muslim doctors in the UK, the 9/11 terrorists, the 24/7 Sunni suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers , the 24/7 Shiite suicide/roadside/market/mosque bombers , the Bali crazies, the Kenya crazies, the Pakistani koranics, the Palestine suicide bombers/rocketeers, the Lebanese nutcases and the Filipino koranics. And who are the major financial supporters of these acts of terror?? Iran, the Third Axis of Evil and the "Wannabees" of Saudi Arabia.

4. Luther, Calvin, Smith, Henry VIII, Wesley et al, founders of Christian-based religions, also suffered from the belief in/hallucinations of "pretty wingy thingie" visits and "prophecies" for profits analogous to the myths of Catholicism (resurrections, apparitions, ascensions and immaculate conceptions).

5. Hinduism (from an online Hindu site) - "Hinduism cannot be described as an organized religion. It is not founded by any individual. Hinduism is God centred and therefore one can call Hinduism as founded by God, because the answer to the question ‘Who is behind the eternal principles and who makes them work?’ will have to be ‘Cosmic power, Divine power, God’"

The caste/laborer system and cow worship are problems when saying a fair and rational God founded Hinduism."

6. Buddhism- "Buddhism began in India about 500 years before the birth of Christ. The people living at that time had become disillusioned with certain beliefs of Hinduism including the caste system, which had grown extremely complex. The number of outcasts (those who did not belong to any particular caste) was continuing to grow."

"However, in Buddhism, like so many other religions, fanciful stories arose concerning events in the life of the founder, Siddhartha Gautama (fifth century B.C.):"

Archaeological discoveries have proved, beyond a doubt, his historical character, but apart from the legends we know very little about the circumstances of his life.

http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/BUDDHISM/SIDD.HTM

Bottom line: There are many good ways of living but be aware of the hallucinations/embellishments and myths surrounding the founders of said rules of life.


See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Jesus for an analysis of Jesus' life to include his illiteracy.

Posted by: Concerned The Christian Now Liberated | August 14, 2007 11:44 PM
Report Offensive Comment

well thats the nicest concerned has ever been- i really have to go and listen to this fellow-

it sure has jacob excited too-

Posted by: victoria | August 14, 2007 11:20 PM
Report Offensive Comment

Concerned The Christian Now Liberated:

Our religion is perfect and we don't need your meddling. Our problems are mis-use of religion. Thank you.

Posted by: Aamir Ali | August 14, 2007 10:02 PM
Report Offensive Comment

Nusrat would have been perfect had he only realized the flaws in his religion. Please recognize the flaws in your own religion and then proceed with your life.

Posted by: Concerned The Christian Now Liberated | August 14, 2007 9:45 PM
Report Offensive Comment

Nusrat,

He was a Saint and his Music was food for the Soul and his voice could melt the hearts of detractors. he preached the love for humanity and in his Kwalis he expressed his heart and soul for all peoples of this universe.He touched my hearts and I met him once in at his musical renditions in Granville and met him this latger then life personality , his warmth, his heartfelt words has left only memories. Mai Jaana yogee dheh naal.

Posted by: inderpal singh | August 14, 2007 8:54 PM
Report Offensive Comment


Nusrat Fateh Ali; pity he died so young.
The first time I heard his song "Aaja pardesia wasta hai piyar da" which I could easily translate and understand in my native language it touched a cord in my heart and I asked my friend, who is the singer what's his name, and what does the first line means "Akhian odeg diyan". When my friend explained the meaning of the first line. I felt like I should cry and let it out.

May his soul rest in peace.

Posted by: Tarik | August 14, 2007 8:50 PM
Report Offensive Comment

Bahi saab
U could not have said it better. WE WILL ALL MISS HIM. But Qawalli music will live FOREVER. Allah be with Nusrat Ji. May Nusrat's nephew and his group carry on the family history.

Posted by: M SINGH | August 14, 2007 8:39 PM
Report Offensive Comment

Salman Ahmad

Thank you very much for remembering Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. His transcendental, soaring, passionate, sublime, singing in praise of the ultimate transcendent moved me to tears sometimes, and is seemingly timeless and deep in its reach for listeners.

I have all his recordings - from western produced CDs to Pakistani ones. The discofied versions of some his songs infuriated some purists, but is, ironically, appropriate to be in tempo with the surging music and spirit of Qawwali of which Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was and still is, the last century's exponent in excelsis.

Thank you again.
J


Posted by: Jihadist | August 14, 2007 6:29 PM
Report Offensive Comment

Oppps! Ya Ya.

Posted by: Anonymous | August 14, 2007 6:26 PM
Report Offensive Comment

Nice to hear some Americans and non-Muslims who enjoy Nusrat Fateh ali Khan's work. It is a pity he died at the young age of 48.

Posted by: Aamir Ali | August 14, 2007 6:17 PM
Report Offensive Comment

To Joel, Jacob, and Janet:

You got it folks! Music, and Nusrat's in particular, transcends time and space, and betokens the spirit that can transform the world. The three T's, Tone, Tempo and Transitions are the vibrations that connect our souls through music. There aren't six degrees of separation between all of us, only ONE. "God is closer to us than our own hearts" and "Look not for God in the temple, It is within you, and without you." Religions are resisters in the electrical current of spirit. The perfect amplifier is "straight wire, with gain." That was Nusrat: the perfect amplifier, with no resistors in the signal path.
I miss him.

Posted by: Aurorasmith | August 14, 2007 5:33 PM
Report Offensive Comment

You ask: "Can music help build the bridge of Unity between East and West?"

Yes, music can do this. I love Nusrat's music.

Posted by: Janet | August 14, 2007 5:01 PM
Report Offensive Comment

There is no doubt that Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and his music are infinitely more pure and godly than any Imam, preacher, rabbi, priest, or religious politician of equal fame.

Why?

HE HAD NO HATE IN HIS BODY, MIND, OR SPIRIT.

Peace be upon you. Love your neighbor and thyself. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Why can't religious leaders live up to such simplicity? Because they are often harbor HATE for SOMEONE. Most often, someone not of their religion. Thus they disgust God almighty with their hate processions, their TV broadcasts seeking money, their domination of the minds of the poor, and the ruining of our civil societies as they seek their own power and wealth by dividing God's children and keeping his children away from him through indoctrination with hateful, evil, and exclusionary ideas.

Posted by: Joel Easton | August 14, 2007 3:42 PM
Report Offensive Comment

I was introduced to Nusrat's music through Peter Gabriel, on songs called "Taboo" and "Signal To Noise."

Wow, what a transcendent voice.

Posted by: ben | August 14, 2007 3:34 PM
Report Offensive Comment

Right on brother! And to think i gave up tickets to a nusrat concert in 97 in order to go to a frat party; using the logic that nusrat would be back on tour soon enough...man, was that stupid!

Posted by: mason c | August 14, 2007 3:24 PM
Report Offensive Comment

I saw Nusrat in concert in Chicago in the mid-90s and he was amazing. Never having heard of him or his genre of music, I had to be dragged there, but it was an extremely powerful experience listening to his voice and the rhythms of the devotional long songs. So much joy in the room with people were all ages and undoubtedly many faiths. Hearing him sing live is like watching Michael Jordan play basketball live. I will no doubt be describing the experience to my grandchildren one day.

Posted by: DC resident | August 14, 2007 3:12 PM
Report Offensive Comment

During college I got to meet Nusrat in the winter of 1993, when I was invited to interview him at a Chicago concert. Before the show and during the intermission, I got to sit with him and a number of translators while drinking tea and eating plates of samosas. Nusrat spoke English, but clearly was more comfortable speaking in Urdu. I remember him as being very soft-spoken, ironic given his booming voice on stage.

"I cannot allow the fame to go to my head," he told me. "Many have said I have compromised my faith by coming to the West. But this is not so. To travel the world and open the hearts of those whose were previously closed is a joy worth the other sacrifices.... To be a qawwal is more than being a performer, more than being an artist. One must be willing to release one's mind and soul from one's body to achieve ecstasy through music. Qawwali is enlightenment itself."

Posted by: andy carvin | August 14, 2007 2:59 PM
Report Offensive Comment

I really enjoy Nusrat's work. Though, I have no idea what he's singing (lyrically) - but the strength and beauty of his voice leave no questions as to what he's singing about (emotionally).

Posted by: Xrys | August 14, 2007 2:50 PM
Report Offensive Comment

Hey, Jacob, how's it going?

Posted by: Gaby | August 14, 2007 1:34 PM
Report Offensive Comment

The comments to this entry are closed.

 
RSS Feed
Subscribe to The Post

© 2010 The Washington Post Company