Anasheed (Arabic: singular نشيد nashīd, plural أناشيد Anāshīd, meaning: "chants"; also spelt Nasyid in Malaysia and Indonesia; Turkish: ilahi; Urdu: Naat), is Islamic vocal music that is either sung a cappella or accompanied by percussion instruments such as the daff. In general, Islamic anasheed does not contain lamellaphone instruments, string instruments, or wind and brass instruments, although digital remastering—either to mimic percussion instruments or create overtones—is permitted. This is because some Muslim scholars interpret Islam as prohibiting the use of musical instruments except for some basic percussion.

Anasheeds are popular throughout the Islamic world. The material and lyrics of anasheed usually make reference to Islamic beliefs, history, and religion, as well as current events. Nasheeds are also popular among Sufis.

Some Ulema argue that the use of musical instruments is implicitly prohibited in the Ahadith. The founders of all four of the major madhabs—schools of thought in Islam—as well as many other prominent scholars, have debated the legitimacy and use of musical instruments. One such example of the scholars' opinions is of the famous Muslim scholar, Abu Hanifa, according to whose madhab, the Hanafi madhab, if a person is known to listen to such forbidden musical instruments, their testimony is not to be accepted. Another Islamic scholar, Ibn Taymiyyah, once said that music is like alcohol to the soul. A majority of Muslim scholars traditionally have held that music with all its instruments are Haraam: sinful by the hadith, as well as by tradition.^{[citation needed]} .

Maher Zain (Arabic: ماهر زين‎ ; born March 16, 1981 in Tripoli, Lebanon) is a Muslim Swedish R&B singer, songwriter and music producer of Lebanese origin. His debut album Thank You Allah, an internationally successful album with strong Muslim religious influences, was released in 2009. He released his follow-up album Forgive Me on April 2, 2012.

Maher Zain and his family moved to Sweden when he was eight years old. 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, the Moroccan-born Swedish producer.

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 a visit 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.