Maher Zain (Arabic: ماهر زين ; born 16 July 1981[1] in Tripoli, Lebanon) is a Muslim Swedish R&B singer, songwriter and music producer of Lebanese origin. With more Facebook fans than any other Muslim artist, award-winning singer-songwriter Maher Zain is one of the biggest stars in modern Islamic music.[2] He released his debut album Thank You Allah, an internationally successful album produced by Awakening Records with strong Muslim religious influences, in 2009. He released his follow-up album Forgive Me in April 2012 under the same production company.
Career
Beginnings
Maher Zain's Lebanese family immigrated to Sweden when he was eight. He completed his schooling there, gaining a Bachelors degree in Aeronautical Engineering. After university, he entered the music industry in Sweden and linked up with RedOne, theMoroccan-born Swedish producer, in 2005.When RedOne moved to New York in 2006, Maher Zain followed soon after to continue his music industry career in the USA producing for artists such as Kat DeLuna.
On returning home to Sweden, he became engaged once more with his Islamic faith and decided to move away from a career as a music producer to become a singer/songwriter of contemporary R&B music with a strong Muslim religious influence.
Breakthrough success
In January 2009, Maher Zain began working on an album with Awakening Records. His debut album, Thank You Allah, with 13 songs and two bonus tracks, was released on 1 November 2009 with percussion versions and French versions of some tracks released shortly afterwards.
Zain sings mainly in English but has released some of his most popular songs in other languages. The song "Insha Allah", for example, is now available in English, French, Arabic, Turkish, Malay and Indonesian versions. Another song, "Allahi Allah Kiya Karo" ("Continuously Saying Allah"), is sung in Urdu and features the Pakistan born Canadian singer Irfan Makki. Maher Zain had several concerts around the world including UK, USA, Malaysia, Indonesia, KSA and Egypt. He has fan clubs around the world such as Malaysia, Egypt, Morocco, etc. He took part in the judging committee of "Awakening Talent Contest" for choosing Awakening Records new star in 2013.
Collaborations, appearances and awards
Maher Zain in a press conference at Tangier, Morocco (February 2014)
In January 2010, Maher Zain won Best Religious Song for 'Ya Nabi Salam Alayka', on Nogoum FM, a major Middle East mainstream music station, beating other prominent singers including Hussein Al-Jismi, Mohammed Mounir and Sami Yusuf.
In March 2011, Maher Zain released "Freedom", a song inspired by the events and the actions of the people taking part in the Arab Spring.
Maher Zain was chosen as a Muslim Star of 2011 in a competition organized by Onislam.net. In July 2011 he featured on the cover of the UK Muslim lifestyle magazine Emel.
Zain was featured on Irfan Makki's track "I Believe" from his debut studio album of the same name.
Maher Zain has appeared in a 40-episode Indonesian TV drama, entitled Insya-Allah. The show was aired on Malaysian satellite TV channel, Astro Oasis and Mustika HD, starting from 17 July 2012, concurrent with the broadcasting of the show on Indonesia's SCTV.
In 2013, he took part in the Colors of Peace project constituting songs based on works by Fethullah Gülen on the album Rise Up where Maher Zain performs the track "This Worldly Life".
Discography
Albums
Year
Album details
Certifications
(sales thresholds)
2009
Thank You Allah
· Released: 1 November 2009
· Label: Awakening Records
· Formats: CD
· 8x Platinum, Warner Music Malaysia
· 2x Platinum, Sony Music Indonesia.
2012 Forgive Me
· Released: 2 April 2012
· Label: Awakening Records
· Formats: CD
· 4x Platinum, Warner Music Malaysia
Videography
Maher Zain at Tuisa charity concert in Essen, Germany (2012)
· 2009: "Palestine Will Be Free"
· 2010: "Thank You Allah (Alhamdulillah)"
· 2010: "Insha Allah"
· 2010: "Allahi Allah Kiya Karo (Live)"
· 2010: "The Chosen One"
· 2011: "Freedom"
· 2011: "Ya Nabi Salam Alayka"
· 2011: "For the Rest of My Life"
· 2012: "Number One For Me"
· 2012: "Forgive Me"
· 2012: "Open Your Eyes"
· 2012: "So Soon"
· 2013: "Love Will Prevail"
· 2013: "Ramadan"
· 2014: "Muhammad (Pbuh)"
· 2014: "Samih"
· 2014: "Radhitu billahi rabba"
Featured in
· 2011: "I believe" (Irfan Makki feat. Maher Zain) (in Irfan Makki's album "I Believe")
· 2011: "Never Forget" (Mesut Kurtis feat. Maher Zain) (in Mesut Kurtis' album "Beloved")
· 2014: "So Real" (Raef feat. Maher Zain) (in Raef's album "The Path")
· 2014: "Eidun Saeed" (Mesut Kurtis feat. Maher Zain) (in Mesut Kurtis' album "Tabassam")
Philanthropic activities
· In 2013, Zain performed in Canada on a tour organised by Islamic Relief to raise donations for typhoon victims in the Philippines. Zain took part in the UK "Sound of Light" event organized by Human Appeal International in support of the Syrian people. Zain also dedicated his song "Love will prevail" (sung in Arabic and English) to the Syrians.
· Zain celebrated his birthday with his 3.9 million Facebook fans by asking them to donate money to a US-based charity organization that builds water wells in Africa. His fans paid more than $15,000 within a few weeks.
· Zain took part in a London pro-Palestinian rally, joined by thousands of people, to call for the end to Israeli military action in Gaza. In August 2014, Zain took part in "The Great Wall of China Trek 2014" a 10 day humanitarian mission in association with Human Appeal to raise donations for clean water to children in Gaza;.
· Ahead of performing at the 2014 Nansen Refugee Award Ceremony, Zain travelled to Lebanon with UNHCR to spend time with Syrian refugees and see UNHCR's frontline work. Zain sang "One Day" about refugees in Geneva's Bâtiment des Forces Motrices for the award ceremony.
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