Amjad Sabri’s soulful last Kalam
- 8 years ago
KARACHI: The most pertinent question that this shock and awe begs is why him? Who would want to kill Amjad Sabri? What could he have possibly done? Yes, we have seen a lot of bloodshed in this land but how many killings of mainstream musicians do you recall?
From what I have been able to gather from my association with him over the years, Amjad Sabri was a strange misfit. For puritans of naat, qawwali and manqabat, his eccentricity was too much to accept. What other man of religious hymns shakes a leg alongside TV celebrities on morning shows?
For some, he was too traditional in his singing and outlook. Others were not fond of his political friends. Amjad Sabri himself, however, never really cared.
Amjad Sabri shot dead in Karachi
He wanted to live in the moment; do what all other celebrities do, yet never miss out on playing dabbu in his street. He would sing Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Jabr Ke Andheron Mein with as much vigour as he would sing his father’s fantastical hymns.
Those associated with the arts usually shy away from sensitive subjects; when was the last time you saw a musician come on national television and diss religious scholars on the subject of music? Amjad Sabri, however, was cut from a different cloth. He never hesitated in taking anyone on. In a society like ours where sectarian lines and groupings are so clearly defined, Amjad Sabri lived life on his own terms. He was as much of a Shia as he was a Sunni, passionate about where he was coming from and what he believed in.
In this short life I have had the privilege of seeing a number of extraordinary people whose intellectual might leave people questioning their very existence. Amjad Sabri was nowhere a man of letters. Yet, his grip on the intellectual and cultural history of Islam was fascinating. I am a witness to him leaving white-haired scholars speechless.
From what I have been able to gather from my association with him over the years, Amjad Sabri was a strange misfit. For puritans of naat, qawwali and manqabat, his eccentricity was too much to accept. What other man of religious hymns shakes a leg alongside TV celebrities on morning shows?
For some, he was too traditional in his singing and outlook. Others were not fond of his political friends. Amjad Sabri himself, however, never really cared.
Amjad Sabri shot dead in Karachi
He wanted to live in the moment; do what all other celebrities do, yet never miss out on playing dabbu in his street. He would sing Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Jabr Ke Andheron Mein with as much vigour as he would sing his father’s fantastical hymns.
Those associated with the arts usually shy away from sensitive subjects; when was the last time you saw a musician come on national television and diss religious scholars on the subject of music? Amjad Sabri, however, was cut from a different cloth. He never hesitated in taking anyone on. In a society like ours where sectarian lines and groupings are so clearly defined, Amjad Sabri lived life on his own terms. He was as much of a Shia as he was a Sunni, passionate about where he was coming from and what he believed in.
In this short life I have had the privilege of seeing a number of extraordinary people whose intellectual might leave people questioning their very existence. Amjad Sabri was nowhere a man of letters. Yet, his grip on the intellectual and cultural history of Islam was fascinating. I am a witness to him leaving white-haired scholars speechless.