Ali

Ali ibn Abi Talib (/ˈɑːli, ɑːˈliː/;Arabic: علي بن أبي طالب‎, translit. ʿAlī bin Abī Ṭālib, Arabic pronunciation: [ʕaliː bɪn ʔabiː t̪ˤaːlɪb]; 13 Rajab, 21 BH – 21 Ramadan, 40 AH; 15 September 601 – 29 January 661) was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, ruling over the Islamic caliphate from 656 to 661.

Born to Abu Talib and Fatima bint Asad, Ali was the only person born in the sacred sanctuary of the Kaaba in Mecca, the holiest place in Islam, as many sources, especially Shia ones say. Ali was the first young male who accepted Islam. After migrating to Medina, he married Muhammad's daughter Fatimah. Ali took part in the early caravan raids from Mecca and later in almost all the battles fought by the nascent Muslim community. He was appointed caliph by Muhammad's Companions (Sahaba) in 656, after caliph Uthman ibn Affan was assassinated. Ali's reign saw civil unrest and in 661, he was attacked and assassinated by a Kharijite while praying in the Great Mosque of Kufa, dying two days later.

Sufi music

Sufi music is the devotional music of the Sufis, inspired by the works of Sufi poets, like Rumi, Hafiz, Bulleh Shah, Amir Khusrow and Khwaja Ghulam Farid.

Qawwali is the most well known form of Sufi music, and is most commonly found in the Sufi culture of the Indian Subcontinent. However, music is also central to the Sema ceremony of the whirling dervishes, which is set to a form of music called Ayin, a vocal and instrumental piece featuring Turkish classical instruments such as the ney (a reed flute). The West African gnawa is another form, and Sufis from Indonesia to Afghanistan to Morocco have made music central to their practises. Some of the Sufi orders have taken an approach more akin to puritan forms of Islam, declaring music to be unhelpful to the Sufi way.

Sufi love songs are often performed as ghazals and Kafi, a solo genre accompanied by percussion and harmonium, using a repertoire of songs by Sufi poets.

Musicians

Abida Parveen, a Pakistani Sufi singer is one of the foremost exponents of Sufi music, together with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan are considered the finest Sufi vocalists of the modern era. Sanam Marvi another Pakistani singer has recently gained recognition for her Sufi vocal performances. Asrar Shah a Lahore based Sufi singer who gained popularity in Coke Studio Pakistan and now is owner of his music producing company Soul Speaks.

Hans Raj Hans

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Hans Raj Hans is a Punjabi singer from Punjab, India and politician. He is famous for his long golden curly hair and his classical variations in singing. He has been singing folk songs for many years but recently sang a number of Gurbani shabads and dharmic geets (religious songs). He is a recipient of the civilian honour of Padma Shri.

Born into a Sikh family at a village called Shafipur near Jalandhar he sings Punjabi folk and Sufi music, has also sung in movies and has also released his own 'Indipop' albums. He has worked alongside other renowned artists such as the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, as seen in the movie Kachche Dhaage.

Hans Raj Hans sons Navraj Hans and Yuvraj Hans denied, on their Facebook pages, the rumour of their father converting to Islam in February 2014.

Early life

Hans was born in a village Shafipur very close to Jalandhar, Punjab, India. He is the second son of Sardar Rashpal Singh and Mata Sirjan Kaur. Hans had no musical history in his family, yet he began singing at a young age. He started his career by performing at youth festivals and first became known by winning musical competitions.

Music

Music is an art form and cultural activity whose medium is sound and silence. The common elements of music are pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics (loudness and softness), and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture (which are sometimes termed the "color" of a musical sound). Different styles or types of music may emphasize, de-emphasize or omit some of these elements. Music is performed with a vast range of instruments and with vocal techniques ranging from singing to rapping, and there are solely instrumental pieces, solely vocal pieces and pieces that combine singing and instruments. The word derives from Greek μουσική (mousike; "art of the Muses"). In its most general form, the activities describing music as an art form include the production of works of music (songs, tunes, symphonies, and so on), the criticism of music, the study of the history of music, and the aesthetic examination of music. Ancient Greek and Indian philosophers defined music as tones ordered horizontally as melodies and vertically as harmonies. Common sayings such as "the harmony of the spheres" and "it is music to my ears" point to the notion that music is often ordered and pleasant to listen to. However, 20th-century composer John Cage thought that any sound can be music, saying, for example, "There is no noise, only sound."

Alessia Cara

Alessia Caracciolo (Italian pronunciation: [aˈlɛssja kaˈrattʃolo]; born July 11, 1996), better known as Alessia Cara, is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is signed to EP Entertainment and Def Jam Recordings and is best known for "Here", her debut single from her debut album, Know-It-All, released November 13, 2015. A sleeper hit, the song reached the top 5 in the United States and the top 20 in Canada. Prior to her work with EP and Def Jam, Cara was known for her acoustic song covers on YouTube.

Early life

Alessia Caracciolo, known as Alessia Cara, was born in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, a city just outside Toronto, where she attended Cardinal Ambrozic Catholic Secondary School. She is of Italian descent from Calabria; her father was born in Canada, to Italian parents, and her mother is an Italian immigrant. As a child, she wrote poetry and did theatre. At the age of 10 she began playing guitar and taught herself how to play various songs. At the age of 13 she began her own YouTube channel where she posted covers of songs that she performed.