Sami Yusuf

Sami Awarded Honorary Doctorate

mahdi — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:58:48 +0000

sami-doctorate

Sami has been officially awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Roehampton University in South-West London in recognition of his contribution to Music. At age 28, Sami becomes the University’s youngest recipient of this esteemed award. Read a transcript of his acceptance speech: “I am absolutely honoured to accept the award of Doctor of Letters…May I first express my sincere thanks to the Senate and Council, and Chancellor, John Simpson, for recognising me and my work and bestowing on me an honour that I will continue to treasure for the rest of my life.

Secondly I would like to thank all of you for sharing your day with me.

You have worked so hard, and made immense sacrifices to get to this moment, to achieve qualifications which will reward you for the rest of your life.

You all deserve to feel immensely proud of your achievement, it is your first step into the wider world.

You may be feeling daunted by this, but we have one thing in common.

We all face challenges in our lives, and we will all strive to overcome them.

Before I go on, I have to admit that I am not a very good Popstar.

I don’t drink, don’t do drugs, and you won’t find me hauling Paris Hilton out of a nightclub at 4am.

I am also shy, and I hate talking about myself, so please bear with me, I would much rather prefer to sing you a few of my songs – but I have not got any biographical ones.

So a speech it is…

I am not a man to give unwanted advice, but I can tell from my own heart that nothing has given me more pleasure than to be creative, to challenge orthodox thinking and to be the best I can be – from my personal and business relationships, to my work.

Let me explain.

Some of you will obviously be wondering who I am! It is very hard for me to explain, but simply put, I am a proud British Muslim, from London, who has only ever made music I have wanted to make – I kind of call it “Art with a Purpose”

Basically I write and perform music which infuse the spirit of the Muslim character into a new sound both Western and Eastern in flavour and appeal.

I have sold albums to fans in countries as diverse as Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Iran. Which is nice, but that is more of a footnote to the journey.

I created records that were unthinkable by certain Islamic scholars, creating a new market among Muslims of all ages who were not permitted to listen to any popular music without incurring the wrath of family, friends and certain religious authorities.

So – when I first started composing and song-writing, there was simply no market for my music. I was writing about my love of God – not exactly something which would get me the attention of Sony or any of the global labels. Let alone Simon Cowell!

Sitting there at the piano or violin, I never considered whether it was brave or stupid…

…to create music no-one had ever created before

… in a genre that didn’t exist

…to a market which had never bought a pop record before.

Sounds pretty stupid right!

It was just real to me, it was truthful and came from my heart.

Looking back now, I can tell you it is a relief. I certainly must have done something very right.

My own faith, my own identity led me to create this music, which spoke of my love of God and respect for fellow human beings.

All of this came about of me following my dream, being truthful with myself, not faltering or diverting when others have suggested a path I felt in my heart was wrong.

Happiness and success come when you make sure you hold your ideals and dreams as sacred, and then I assure you

Anything and everything is possible to achieve in life.

Thank you to all for sharing your day with me it has been a real honour.”

Sami Yusuf LIVE CHAT on 10th July. Don’t miss it!

mahdi — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:40:30 +0000

Sami Yusuf LIVE CHAT on 10th July. Don’t miss it!

samiyusufofficial.com is delighted to announce its very first Live Chat to take place on the 10th July at 21:00 – 22:00 PM GMT. Log into the website and become a member of the forum , July 10th, 21:00 PM GMT to talk to Sami himself, as well as fans from all around the world. Sami will be exclusively talking to his fans and supporters about lots of exciting news and upcoming events. Be the first to know! See you there! view video |

Sami Yusuf On Friendfeed (jion now)

mahdi — Sun, 17 May 2009 12:59:31 +0000

Jion now to Sami Yusuf friendfeed group

Sami Yusuf on Twitter

mahdi — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 11:17:43 +0000

Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?
Sami yusuf creat account on twitter
http://twitter.com/samiyusuf

Feb 2009:Sami Yusuf Exclusive interviwe on Aljazeera

mahdi — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 23:07:52 +0000

Rising above stereotypes is never easy especially in the world of music.

But for Sami Yusuf – it has been the pathway to success and made him the undisputed king of Islamic pop

Since 2003, Sami’s debut album Al-Mu’allim and his follow-up My Umma

have sold more than five million copies while his concerts continue to sell-out stadiums.

Most of Yusuf’s songs have something to do with Islam and being a Muslim in today’s world, but he also deals with social and humanitarian issues in his music.

In addition to his musical success, Sami also works on building bridges between the east and the west, raising funds for the victims of Israel’s war on Gaza and bringing much needed aid to Darfur

On Thursday’s Riz Khan show we speak to singer, songwriter Sami Yusuf about his much-anticipated cross-over album.

This episode of the Riz Khan show aired from Thursday, February 12, 2009

watch part one

watch part two.

Sami Yusuf official forum is open now

mahdi — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:44:04 +0000

Sami Yusuf official forum is opnen Now

jion & connect to sami yusuf

Interview on Al Jazeera TV with Riz Khan

mahdi — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:24:32 +0000

Sami was recently featured in an interview on Al Jazeera TV with Riz Khan. The discussion relates to his music and inspiration. You can watch the whole interview online here. Click here to view video

Exclusive news

mahdi — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 21:59:58 +0000

Feb 2009. Telethon Fundraiser for Gaza Victims

Sami Yusuf has taken part in a Telethon to raise money for the victims of Gaza. The telethon took place in Doha, Qatar on January 31st in conjunction with The Al Fakhoora Campaign to raise money for the bereaved and destitute of Gaza. To date over $100 million has been raised

Jan 2009. Sami Yusuf to Accept Honorary Doctorate

Roehampton University in south-west London have invited Sami Yusuf to accept an honourary doctorate in recognition of his contribution to Music. At age 28, Sami becomes the University’s youngest recipient of this esteemed award

.Jan 2009. First Global Ambassador for Silatec

Sami Yusuf has been honoured by being invited to become the First Global Ambassador for Silatech. Silatech is a bold new initiative engaging the public, private and civil society sectors to promote large-scale job creation, entrepreneurship and access to capital and markets for young people. Ambassadors are comprised of respected personalities who will champion the mission and activities of this far-reaching enterprise.

Sami Yusuf New Song ::Forever Palestine::Free Download::

mahdi — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 16:48:32 +0000

Visit http://samiyusufofficial.com to download your gift “Palestine Forever” (GENUINE VERSION) to be downloaded for free.

Dedicated to the innocent victims of Gaza

NOTE:

If the download doesn’t seem to be working for some of you, then please try in another browser like Internet Explorer or Firefox, it works fine for everyone else.

God bless you all

Sami Yusuf :is this is an ultra-nationalistic campaign like any other designed to wipeout the Palestinian population?

mahdi — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:45:29 +0000

What’s happening in Gaza is a human catastrophe. How can the ‘civilised’ world just sit back and allow the killing of innocent children and women in the name of (what the monster bullies like to call) “the terrorist Hamas organisation.”

One asks, is this is an ultra-nationalistic campaign like any other designed to wipeout the Palestinian population? I mean, the tactics are not new at all, the same tactics were used against Ethnic Albanians, Jews in the Second World War and indeed terms such as ‘ethnic cleansing’ and “the final solution’ have been frequently attributed to the actions of the Israeli’s towards the Palestinians by different voices around the world.

Personally, what I see taking place in Gaza is an absolute human tragedy and the 800+ who have been murdered in cold blood are not just Palestinians, Muslims, Jews or Christians, they are 800+ human beings. Human beings slaughtered at the behest of arrogant, obstinate and irresponsible politicians who are more worried about opinion polls, greed and pride than finding a truly lasting resolution to Peace. I’m definitely not a politician, but I know this much about Politics to know that what is happening in Gaza has EVEEYTHING to do with Politics and almost nothing to do with religion. Opportunists have seized the moment to exclaim the so-called “Islam Vs the Jews” propaganda.

All I know is that what’s happening in Gaza is disgusting, degrading, humiliating and the world aught to be truly ashamed of itself for standing by and allowing these atrocities take place. Only history will judge how these events will be interpreted and understood in 10-15 years. One wonders, would historians refer to it as a Holocaust? Had this massacre, and I repeat Massacre, taken place ANYWHERE else in the world we would have definitely seen a completely different response from the international community…

In closing, I would like to thank all the good-hearted people of this world, including artists, musicians, singers and influential personalities for their prayers and support for standing up for the TRUTH.

I pray for this suffering to end and for peace to truly prevail. Let us hope for a better tomorrow, for without hope life would not be worth living. Thank you