Omar Esa: Life Before Nasheeds and The Palestine Cause

The world famous nasheed artist, Omar Esa, spoke about life before nasheeds, the Palestine cause and what the Muslim community needs to do to help the people of Gaza.

Omar said: “I used to be a musician; an R&B pop singer. Back in those days one of my tracks was heavily played on BBC 1xtra, Kiss FM, Capital and other radio stations. I had two tracks out at the time.”

He explained how at the time he would feel quite empty. Both his mother and father were practicing Muslims.  He was born in Essex and was confused about his South Asian and British heritage. He didn’t know whether he was British, Pakistani or Muslim.

He stated: “My mum would always teach me about Allah. She would remind me that Allah is always watching. I always carried that with me although I didn’t practice Islam. Once, I was in a club when Eid and Diwali were being celebrated and in my heart I felt like a hypocrite.

“I would perform in clubs and was always around impermissible things. As a result there was a void in my heart which I couldn’t explain.”

“One day I picked up a translation of the Quran and a biography of Prophet Muhammad’s (SAW) which completely changed my life. In 2011 I left music completely. I had three guitars, and a keyboard which I gave away.

“I said to myself if I am going to follow my religion I will follow it wholly. I got rid of interest in my bank account and car insurance,” he added.

One day I picked up a translation of the Quran and a biography of Prophet Muhammad’s (SAW) which completely changed my life. In 2011 I left music completely. I had three guitars, and a keyboard which I gave away. I said to myself if I am going to follow my religion I will follow it wholly. Omar Esa

“So I began to think about what I could do going forward, at the time my friend suggested that I could sing nasheeds without music. I wrote my first nasheed titled ‘Allah’. This was the beginning of my journey. Then, in January 2012 I officially became a nasheed artist,” he says.

“Music was my life, I would listen to music, sleep to music, eat to music. Music was magic to me. I always had good friends and never succumbed to peer pressure as I am not a follower, but my friends would look up to me. I was a standard British-Pakistani confused about my place in the world.”

He added: “My aim is to give the Muslim ummah an alternative to music as I am a vocal-only nasheed artist and have been since 2011. My aim is to teach Muslims that we have to live our life according to the Quran and Sunnah. I want to encourage people to turn towards the Quran. It’s not easy but we have to keep trying.”

Omar has had runaway success on the nasheed scene. He is one of the most subscribed to nasheed artists in the world on Youtube . He has had three albums out and two mix tapes. His third album ‘Allah and his Beloved’ peaked at number 3 on the official iTunes chart and was number one in several countries around the world.

His nasheed videos on his Youtube channel have had over a staggering 200 million views. He has travelled around the world propagating the message of Islam.

In total on social media he has more than a million followers. On Instagram he has 90,000 followers. On YouTube he has over 700,000 subscribers and on FaceBook he has over 300,000 followers on his artist page.

He continued: “The Palestine cause means everything to me. All of us have been hearing the word ‘Palestine’ from childhood. My dad always used to say ‘Free Palestine’ while I was growing up.

“Al Aqsa is like the heart of the ummah. We have Makkah and Madinah which are number one and two in terms of holiness, but Al- Aqsa is the place where our Prophet (SAW) was taken to the heavens.

“Our brothers and sisters are being persecuted, murdered and killed while living in an open air prison. When we see this it should affect our hearts.

Our brothers and sisters are being persecuted, murdered and killed while living in an open air prison. When we see this it should affect our hearts. Omar Esa

“Our Prophet told us that the ummah is one body, so for example if my leg was injured the rest of my body should feel the pain. The same thing is happening in Palestine where they have no options of getting out of their desperate situation. The Palestine cause is everything to me and every single Muslim around the world. Palestine is in our hearts. It’s a cause that unites us all.

“The attacks on the Palestinians are a regular fact of life – it happens every few years. We need to carry this united front forward, we need to stay together no matter which sect you belong to. If we unite as Muslims we can become an unstoppable force.”

“Protests can be beneficial but if you think back to the Iraq invasion – there were a million people who protested against it. Once those in power make a decision they won’t listen to the people. I don’t doubt the sincerity of people who go to protests. The brothers and sisters who protest, may Allah bless them for their efforts.

“Allah doesn’t need us. We need Allah.

“UK Muslims should boycott Israeli goods and mobilise and come together. We need to be forward-thinking. The major political parties don’t care about Muslims. We need to encourage Muslim politicians to maybe form their own party to represent us and be our voice,” he adds.

“There are many powerful Muslim countries in the world; I don’t know why they are not acting. In the time of the early Muslims not a single hair on a Muslim’s head could be hurt without repercussions. The Muslim leader would warn oppressors that ‘I am coming with my army so you had better not do this.’

“On an individual level I have stopped promoting my latest mix tape ‘Faith and Heartbreaks’ as it feels wrong with what my brothers and sisters are suffering. I have stopped the project completely.

“On social media I am constantly talking about what is happening in Gaza and working with organisations and charities. But the most important thing we can do is put our head down in prayer and ask for the help of Allah.”

Allah doesn’t need us. We need Allah. Omar esa