Ahmad Hussain is an English Nasheed singer-songwriter, executive, producer of Kashmiri-Pakistani descent. He is the founder and managing director of Iqra Promotions.
Early life
Ahmad Hussain was born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. At an early age, Ahmad started to explore his interest in music and performance. As a child, he showed an interest in instruments, he had his own keyboard at the age of five and at school he was always keen to sing. He first visited a studio at the age of ten, when his elder brother, Abid Fazal, founded and managed Sheffield's first Asian community RSL.
Recording career
Ahmad produced many underground singles, and in 2003, he released a fusion album, the album was a blend of Eastern and Western musical influences and broke through to the mainstream music scene. Later that year, Ahmad's elder sister, Shazia Hussain, died at age of 28 while participating in a sporting event in Middlesbrough. This was a turning point in Ahmad's life and prompted him to question his own life and he began searching for answers. He left the mainstream music scene and found this genre of spiritual music. In 2004, Ahmad began work to set up a chain of Islamic outlets to propagate Islam, he also set up Iqra Promotions in December 2005. In 2006, he produced Kamal Uddin's second albumIllallah. In 2009, Ahmad's debut single "Aye Khuda" was released which was number one on TV's top ten charts for five consecutive weeks. In July 2010, his debut albumI Turn to You was released, which features songs in Arabic, Urdu and English, along with his first music video "Children of the World". In 2013, two singles and videos were released entitled "Ya Taiba", and "My Beloved" which is a tribute for his mother who was diagnosed with cancer, notably the video was shot in the Cheshire home of Gary Barlow. In June 2014, he released his second album entitled My Beloved was released, which features songs in Urdu, Arabic and English In August 2015, Ahmad released a free download single entitled "Zara Chehre Se". Ahmad released his much anticipated third album in 2016, a spiritually uplifting album entitled Nur In 2018 Ahmad released his fourth studio albumDua and followed it up with a collaboration single with Pakistani and Bollywood legend Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. Ahmad was also one of the three judges on Ummah Channel's show Ummah Talent.
Performances, tours and media appearances
Ahmad has travelled to countries around the world and performed in Turkey, South Africa, the U.S, Morocco, Dubai, Netherlands, Trinidad and Pakistan to name a few. He has performed alongside artists, including Maher Zain, Outlandish and speakers such as Attallah Shabazz. In April 2012, Ahmad performed at the Evening of Inspiration event organised by Islamic Relief. In July 2013, he was interviewed by Raees Khan in the Desi Nation studio on BBC Radio Lancashire. In October of the same year, he performed at the Global Peace and Unity Event in the ExCeL Exhibition Centre in London organised by Islam Channel. In May 2014, he performed at the Islamic Circle of North America convention. In November of the same year, he performed at the Sounds of Light event organised by Human Appeal International, which raised £520,000 for Gaza. In 2018 Ahmad recorded a collaboration with Pakistani and Bollywood legend Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. Ahmad's most recent single "Bulao Phir received over 1 million views in just over 2 weeks as well as climbing into the top 3 in the worldmusic charts.
Awards and Nominations
In 2013, Ahmad was nominated for Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the first Minority Business Awards. in 2016, Ahmad was shortlisted for “young Muslim of the year” at the prestigious British Muslim Awards. In 2018 Ahmad was inducted into the power 100 Muslim list, a list that recognises the contributions of prominent Muslims to the social, economical and political well being of Britain. in 2019 Ahmad was awarded the silver play button by YouTube.
