Zakariyya Ahmad
Zakariyya Ahmad was an Egyptian musician and composer. He sang mainly religious songs as a member of several groups from 1919 to 1929, having studied recitation of the Qur'an under the well-known Egyptian Quranic reciter Mohamed Salama, but later expanded his repertory into popular music and especially patriotic ones.
He composed many pieces in a traditional Egyptian folk style. His works include solo pieces and film scores, and in 1931 he began composing sentimental and Egyptian patriotic songs for Umm Kulthum, beginning in 1931. He also began writing operettas in 1924, eventually producing a total of 56 operettas and 1,070 songs.
His father was Egyptian and his mother was Turkish, and it was they who instilled in him his love of music since young age.
