House of Curiosity...

yesterday marked the annual anniversiry of Sheikh Imam’s death….he was never very famous in Jordan, but he is very celebrated in Egypt and Syria and Lebanon…

He is a major pillar of the Arabic political song which motivated thousands of workers and intellectuals rebellious against decadent times and ambitious for better tomorrow. He lost his sight at the age of 5 months, after having contacted conjunctivitis. In 1945, Sheikh Imam met with a great Egyptian musician, Sheikh Darwish El Hariri by whom he was taught the fundamentals of music and Al Muwashahaat. Within a three-year period, Sheikh Imam was ready to perform at weddings and birthday events…

His attempts at song writing was not quite successful, but when Sheikh Imam met the poet Ahmad Fouad Najem in 1962, the two formed a duo where it became difficult to refer to one without the other. Working patiently and under difficult conditions, Sheikh Imam and Ahmad Fouad Najem developed the popular political song which advocates the interests of the poor and working peoples, or in other words, gave birth to an avant-guard hymn to justice.

Their activism led the Imam-Najem pair straight to prison in 1968, where they served three years. They were also frequent quests at Egypt’s state prisons during between 1972 and 1979. In the wake of President Anwar Sadat’s assassination in 1981, the authorities arrested Sheikh Imam on the grounds that he distributed 50 beer cans to the residents of “Hawsh Kadam,” his home town. In 1984, the Egyptian government lifted the restrictions on his freedom and the ban on his travel abroad.

The music of Sheikh Imam was marked by a form of totality that made his political song travel beyond the geographical location of its origin. It addressed issues other than those of Egypt and the conflicts peculiar of that setting; Sheikh Imam’s music appealed to non-Arab and Arab symbols like the Palestinian question.

Sheikh Imam gave a lot but received almost nothing in return, although his records were sold by the thousands all over the Arab world. Even his friends failed to give him the recognition that he rightly deserves. “Perhaps death is more merciful than the life he spent behind bars or lonely and bed-ridden in his last days,” commented a Lebanese writer. “But Sheikh Imam’s music will survive, played again in Arab times more shining and promising, and that will be the best celebration of his music and art.”

“Allah yir7amoh and yir7am ayam zaman… what else can be said??” as il 7ajeh sitty would say…. I feel I am 90 years old This entry is inspired by one of the comments left on this blog…. So thanks my friend.