ISTANBUL
BY Nilay Kar
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AA) His music is based on Prophet Muhammad's sayings and Islam's message of unity which he performs in four languages; Malaysian, English, Arabic and Indian. His audience is wide-ranging but his main followers are the youth and students. Malaysian singer Mu'adz Dzulkefly has performed around the world and has inspired Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
His latest cause was promoting unity in Egypt, an overwhelmingly Muslim country currently wracked by divisions between more hardline Muslims and a more secularist military, which ousted the Islamist president last July -- with many ordinary Egyptians caught in the middle.
And its most recent stop was Istanbul, where it held a concert in support of Egypt with 18 other singers from around the world, under the slogan "Sing for Egypt, There is a R4bia."
"My first album is about hadis which are Prophet Mohammed's sayings. We translated the Arabic text into Malaysian and English to help youth and students to learn about hadis. I took part in a lot of events, about humanity and increasing awarness on humanitarian issues. I am also very happy to be here in Istanbulfor this organization," Dzulkefly told Anadolu Agency (AA) during his rehearsal in Istanbul.
He told AA that his music's message is one of positivity. He said, "My music is about positive messages. Wherever I go in Malaysia, people say it is very nice. It is really easy to listen to and I think we need more music like this."
Dzulkefly underlined the importance of singing in different languages in terms of unity around the world and said, "We are just simple people that need to be together. Our differences should not be a problem for us to live together and work together. So when I sing in a different language, people say "Hey, you're singing our language, I like you." It breaks down a lot of barriers."
The Malaysian singer also commented on similarities between Turkey and Malaysia, " Both countries are accepting people. I see a lot of tourists here. We are also open for everybody to come and visit," and noted, "It is an old and ancient country with a huge civilization. I would like to go around and explore here much more."
englishnews@aa.com.tr
