Bridging humans with Sami Yusuf

If I haven’t have done it, someone else would have, said the British UN WFP celebrity partner in response to our question about his first hit, Al-Muallim. The world, particularly the Arab world, Christians and Muslims of the Middle-East and North Africa (MENA) region, needed that, and I’m very honored to be part of that work. Sami Yusuf was indirectly referring to the upsurge against the Arab world and particularly Islam after the terrorist attacks against the Twin Towers in the United States of America, commonly referred to as September 11 or 9/11. Mr. Yusuf doesn’t like to speak about politics or religion, but he was able to clarify to the Western World, to whom he also belongs, that the terrorist actions are not just wrong but against Islam and its Teacher (Al-Muallim). But that’s not all!

From a very young age Sami’s parents knew he was going into music. He had a conservative father who cared about his children and wanted Sami to have a stable job, but he couldn’t stop him from choosing music. I was the one that was out of control. Music was running in my veins. When he found that his son stopped doing his homework and went on playing music all the time, Sami’s father fully changed his attitude and encouraged his son. Downstairs we have a musical room with all the instruments placed on the wall. That’s how my dad used to do it. Every day Sami used to go downstairs and spend 4 to 5 hours practicing each and every instrument for as long as his heart wanted.

I’m generally a positive person, and I don’t really see the negative stuff.
Sami Yusuf had a smooth experience during his career. He didn’t have scandals. He’s a family man who loves his family and loves what he does. I love music, and I think it’s a powerful source that brings people together. However, due to the background of the marketing of his first album by a religious company Mr. Yusuf’s music was not allowed to shine for a while. Then, with the necessary care of his managers after the first project, the humble 31 years old polyglot singer, composer, and producer of Azeri origin reached the world in no time. I never saw myself as a Muslim artist or any kind of religious artist. I believe in music being an international language that speaks to the heart and my background is music and nothing else.

My world view has always been about bringing people together ever since Al-Muallim, but it has evolved right now to be quite humanistic. Mr. Yusuf considers that rather than focusing on so many different areas, one could work with a huge organization and affect in a much bigger way – UN providing the largest humanitarian aid in the world. That’s why he finds it an interesting opportunity to go for the live feed raising funds to help the Horn of Africa. It’s a campaign that started small then went on growing bigger and bigger. In my personal faith, in as much as I love God, I also love human beings, and I believe in the innate goodness of human being.

When Sami visits any country, he feels like he was born in that country. In a recent visit to Sudan, a lady asked him “where are you from?” and she made him think about himself as a bridge, not affiliated to any specific place, that brings people together. I feel like I have a free heart connected to the whole world.
As for Lebanon, the British Arabic-speaking artist would love to come to do a show. He actually visited the country in the beginning of 2005 and fell in love with it. He even wanted to come back and have his wedding in this heaven on earth, but he couldn’t because, only two weeks after, Hariri was assassinated.

The last words of Sami Yusuf summarize his previous as well as current view of the world. He says: You can argue about so many things in this world, but you can’t argue about love, this powerful source that binds us all together. We are one big family, one essence.

You can also listen to Sami Yusuf's message in the podcast (audio file) at the beginning of the article