Feature writer Amina Ali talks to Islamic music artist and medical student, Abdul Sattar Mahomed, on how he grapples with two very different ways of life and what binds them together.
It’s 2014 and 11-year-old Abdul Sattar Mahomed is sat in a car, in the blistering heat of Karachi, Pakistan.
It’s summer time and his family, from Leicester, are spending their holiday with Abdul’s mum’s side of the family.
What he doesn’t realise is that this trip will expose him to a world he never knew.
A common sight in Pakistan is homeless people in the street. Young children in worn-out clothes will often approach people with their hands out, pleading for anything to get them by.
“Leave them,” the driver said to Abdul. “They do this all the time.”
But Abdul couldn’t just leave them. He had to give them something, even if he didn’t have any money on hand.
“What about my clothes?” he asked, innocently. “Can I give them my clothes? They don’t have any clothes.”
While this story became absolutely hilarious to family and friends – they were used to seeing such sights – Abdul felt guilty. He often tried his hardest to help others, recalling how he had previously sung verses in school to raise money for Children in Need.
“I thought to myself: ‘I have a voice. If I can use this voice the same way I did in primary school, why can’t I do it now’?” Abdul says.
Most young musicians start out with dreams of money and fame. But Abdul grew up in a Muslim household, who constantly reminded him that charity is a great act of worship. After all, Muslims must give 2.5 per cdent of their income to charity annually.
“The charitable part of me all comes from my faith,” he explains. “Just like using medicine to help people also comes from my faith.
“My faith has basically made me as a person. It’s everything to me.”
Abdul initially decided to use his love and talent for singing to raise money for the LIA Relief Trust in 2017.
His first album Mizab al Rahma, raised £10,000 which cemented him as a charity nasheed artist and helped him gain recognition from the Muslim music world.
Now he’s known as Abdul Sattar Mahomed. He is a vocal-only nasheed singer, writer, composer, producer and – to top it all off – a medical student.
“Nasheeds are basically like a set of poems or hymns that are dedicated to the purpose of Islam,” Abdul explains.
“It’s just a way of praising, a way of singing, as a way to show our love and passion for our religion.
“But I’ve always wanted to be a doctor, too,” he says.
With an album and eight singles to his name, Abdul has travelled up and down the country, singing for radio shows, Eid festivals and charity events. He was named the Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire’s Young Artist of the Year in 2019, which is when he got “more appreciation for what I do.”
He says all credit goes to his mum, who pushed him to sing to people more often – even if it was to random people in the street. He even dedicated his first ever nasheed to her.
“One day I was reciting in front of thousands of people, and I just thought to myself, if it wasn’t for my mum, I would not be able to do this.”
Despite this, Abdul decided it wasn’t possible to make a career out of being a nasheed artist. To do so would require changing his style of music into something he wouldn’t enjoy. Not even the glamour of Hollywood labels asking him out to America tempted him.
“I feel like there has many times in life where I felt like: ‘You know what, let me just quit this and do music. It’d be better and I’d get more support’,” Abdul explains.
“But Alhamdulillah (thank God) I’m glad I haven’t gone into that path.
“It hit me like: ‘it’s fine if I don’t get the support. It’s fine if I don’t get enough followers. As long as I’m doing it for my religion, then that’s the most important part’.”
Typically, nasheeds are vocal only as musical instruments are deemed to be haram (forbidden by Islamic law). This is a topic widely debated in the different Islamic schools of thought, but Abdul is clear that he’ll stick to vocals.
“Many people tend to start off with nasheeds and then they drive into music,” Abdul explains, “because they get more following and more support.
“It’s really hard… and I feel the community has focused more on the music. The nasheed aspect is not as appreciated anymore.”
Abdul has only recently started asking for small payments when he does events, saying that he feels it makes people respect his time more than when he sang for free.
But singing can’t fund his life, so his focus has shifted to his medical career.
“Nasheed artistry has to be a side thing,” Abdul says.
“I have to do something in life that’s actually going to bring money at home. It’s upsetting because it’s something I’d love to do full time.”
It’s been difficult for him to grapple with all the work that comes with being a young nasheed artist, but balancing it with studying medicine is way harder than he thought.
“For once in my life, I’ve had to sit there and say: ‘I can’t do everything.’ So, I’ve had to really limit the amount of performances that I do,” he says.
“I have a lot of responsibility when I’m learning medicine because everything that I learn right now might be a way to save someone’s life one day.”
Abdul’s life goal is to create an organisation that provides free healthcare to people all around the world.
“Once I’ve done that, I’ll feel like I’ve made it in life,” he says.
Abdul urges young people to use their talents for good, whatever they may be.
“You don’t realise where your talent can take you and how it can affect so many people. I released an album, and it raised over £10,000. I never knew I could do that.
“If you don’t start, you don’t know where it could end.”
