Anasheed by Abdessalam Al Hassani

Abdessalam Al Hassani: a refined voice shaped by his surroundings and polished by experience!

His voice is sweet and his sensibility refined. Influenced by the masters of the Sufi orders and of spiritual singing, he developed a style of his own in nasheed, combining simple melodies with deep themes. He has taken part in a number of Arab festivals and competitions and won major awards in singing and nasheed, which have raised his name high in the world of purposeful, committed art. He is the young Moroccan munshid Abdessalam Al Hassani.

Abdessalam Al Hassani was born in a small village on the outskirts of Fez, Morocco. He grew up in a conservative environment, steeped in religious values and devoted to the Sufi orders and spiritual singing. He was influenced by his grandfather, Abdessalam El Faqih, an outstanding reciter of the Holy Quran, and was deeply shaped by Sufi masters and giants of spiritual singing such as Sheikh Al-Farran, the Andalusian music singer Bajeddoub, Sheikh Al-Naqshbandi, and other Moroccan and Arab masters.

The first signs of Abdessalam Al Hassani’s talent appeared at an early age, and it was refined through his contact with the sheikhs of the Tijaniyya and Idrisiyya orders in Morocco, which regularly hold gatherings of dhikr, glorification and praise of Allah, interspersed with Sufi sama’ and songs in praise of the Prophet. Abdessalam thus grew up in a spiritual atmosphere that encouraged him toward serious, meaningful nasheed, far removed from vulgarity and imitation.

As the years went by, Abdessalam Al Hassani grew up and his talent grew with him. He sang at a number of cultural and artistic festivals in Morocco and abroad, arousing admiration and winning acclaim: his moving voice seemed able to capture the hearts and minds of his listeners whenever it rang out with a hymn, a song or a nasheed!

Meanwhile, Abdessalam was searching for his artistic identity and creative spirit. He explored various styles of committed singing and took part in local and Arab festivals. He won the prize of the Anghām al-Maghrib festival in 1994 and the title of best singer in Morocco in 1996, and he represented his country at the Cairo International Festival of Arabic Song in 2000, where he won the admiration of the audience and the praise of critics. The Egyptian Radio and Television committee then selected him as a professional singer.

From then on, Abdessalam’s artistic life took an important turn: out of full conviction, he chose to devote himself entirely to spiritual nasheed. During Ramadan, he performed supplications and religious muwashshahat for Egyptian satellite channels, most notably Dream, Al-Mehwar and the Egyptian Satellite Channel, among others. He has also performed at religious concerts and nasheed festivals in the Arab Gulf states, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Alongside his tours, the munshid Abdessalam Al Hassani has released a number of albums and music videos with a modern, contemporary look. In them, he addresses religious themes that concern broad segments of society, seeking both to enrich his listeners spiritually and to deepen their religious feeling. The album “Nassim” is considered one of the most notable and successful of these works.