Anasheed by Rachid Gholam

Rachid Gholam: from tarab songs to Islamic nasheeds!

A professional artist from an early age, he sang the works of the giants of tarab and music in the Arab world. After stepping away from singing for a while, he soon turned to Islamic nasheeds, where he truly excelled. He became famous across the Arab world, and his albums reached a wide audience. He believes in meaningful art that seeks to revive the soul and raise it to the heights of perfection and beauty: this is the Moroccan munshid Rachid Gholam.

Rachid Gholam was born in Casablanca in 1972 into a modest, conservative family. He loved art from childhood and showed a particular inclination toward music, which he studied, and toward singing, which he mastered. He imitated Umm Kulthum, the grande dame of Arab tarab, and the Iraqi singer Nazem Al-Ghazali, and performed at concerts and evening events alongside a distinguished group of Moroccan and Arab artists. After deep reflection and out of complete conviction, Rachid Gholam gave up tarab songs and devoted himself to Islamic nasheeds, excelling in their performance and carving out a formidable name for himself in the world of Arab and Islamic nasheed.

His great ambition and relentless drive to succeed led him to found a vocal choir of more than thirty members, with whom he performed at a number of religious concerts and evenings, especially in the field of praise of the Prophet. At the same time, in 1995, Rachid Gholam founded Ad-Duha, an artistic and media production company, because he wanted to release his albums himself. He achieved his goal, releasing more than ten albums, including “Mawajid,” “Arij At-Tayyib fi Madh Al-Habib” and “Iqa’ Ar-Ruh.” All of them were warmly received by the public.

Rachid Gholam’s nasheeds largely reflect his personality, which thirsts for spiritual purity and moral perfection, and in one way or another express his outlook on life, at once simple and profound. He does not believe in art that is not built on solid foundations and sound principles; rather, he sees art as an existential message serving the innate, pure aspirations of human beings, and as a refined means of fulfilling the individual’s hopes for a virtuous society that rises above animal pleasures and fleeting material desires. That is why, throughout his nasheeds, he sings of nothing but divine love and finds his elation only in praise of the Prophet.