Fareed Ayaz and Abu Muhammad Qawwal | |
---|---|
Born | Fariduddin Ayaz Al-Hussaini November 13, 1952 |
Nationality | Pakistani |
Occupation | Qawwali Group |
Known for | |
Awards | Pride of Performance Award by the President of Pakistan in 2020 |
Ghulam Fariduddin Ayaz Al-Hussaini Qawwal (born in Hyderabad, India) is a Pakistani Sufi devotional singer.[2] He belongs to the Qawwal Bachchon Ka Gharana of Delhi.[3][4][5]
He and his relatives are the flag-bearers of that school of music (gharana), which is also known by the name of the city as the Delhi gharana. He performs various genres of Hindustani classical music such as dhrupad, khayal, tarana, thumri, and dadra. Ayaz leads the qawwal party with his younger brother, Abu Muhammad.[6]
Fareed Ayaz is a descendant of Mir Qutub Bakhsh, who was awarded the title of Tanras Khan by the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. Tanras Khan was also the tutor in music and court musician of Zafar.
Fareed Ayaz was born in Hyderabad, India in 1952.[1][5] In 1956, his family shifted to Karachi, Pakistan.[5] He started his training in classical music with his father Munshi Raziuddin Ahmed Khan Qawwal. Their roots can be traced to the family tree of one of the earliest disciples of Amir Khusro.[3] Their father Munshi Raziuddin Qawwal also used to sing with his cousins Qawwal Bahauddin Khan and Manzoor Niazi Qawwal (maternal uncle of Farid) early in his career.[1][6]
His nephew Hamza Akram is also a qawwali singer.[7]
Fareed Ayaz & Abu Muhammad Qawwal Brothers are popular for their Sufi performances. They are considered the most popular Qawwal party in Pakistan and one of the only few left. They have performed in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Austria, India, Bahrain, Kenya, Nepal, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Croatia, Turkey, Morocco, Greece, Egypt, Bulgaria, Tunisia, Belgium, Iran, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Romania, Mauritius, Hong Kong and South Africa by Bazme Chirag e Faqir Chishti International a non-profit Sufi organization.[8][9][10]
They also performed at Aman ki Asha, organised by Times of India and Pakistan's Jang Group of Newspapers.[11]