Muhammad Owais Raza Qadri
Muhammad Owais Raza Qadri (Urdu: , born 8 July 1970 in Karachi) is a Pakistani who has travelled widely as a Naat khawan (reciter of naat).
Childhood, education and outlook
The sixth of eight children, Qadri was 10 years old when his father Abdul Majeed, a merchant, died in a traffic accident. After his father's death, Qadri helped his four older sisters in caring for his younger sister and two younger brothers. In 1988 he matriculated from the Memoni-language M.K. Academy, with an intermediate qualification. After graduation, he was first employed as an accountant. He married in Madinah, Saudi Arabia in 1994, and he and his wife have two sons and two daughters. After 1994 he began a catering business, which his younger brothers took over when he began public naat recitation.
From childhood, he was a religious person.
- "Before reciting any naat, essential knowledge should be collected AbOUT it and special care should be taken to ensure that it is not objectionable by Islamic Shariah. It is best to check all naats with a learned scholar. Furthermore, they should restrain from such acts which can be criticized by others. They should be true and practical Muslims, i.e. not that talking about love for the Holy Prophet and murdering the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet by shaving off the beard and not showing regularity in daily prayers."
His religious teacher Yousuf Ashrafi - as well as such Islamic scholars and teachers as Syed Shah Tarab-ul-Haq, Musleh-uddin Siddique, Sadeeq Ismail, Yousuf Memon and Maulana Shafi Okari - lived in the Karachi neighbourhood in which he grew up. Ashrafi first encouraged his interest in the prolific writings of the Sunni scholar Alahazrat Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi (1856-1921), taught him the art of reciting naats and helped him remove his fear of performing before crowds. Qadri performed several Hajj and Umras, the first Umra being in 1992, while his first Hajj was in 1996.
Career
Beginning in 1983, he has released several albums, despite having taken no formal naat classes. Qadri has traveled to Saudi Arabia, UAE, Syria, India, South Africa, UK, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Malawi, Kenya, Canada, USA and China to recite naats. In Hyderabad, India, more than 200,000 people attended one of his performances, creating the record for most number of attandees in a mehfil - e - Naat. In the course of his performances, he advises young people to acquire adequate knowledge of Islam and to recite at least one ruku of the Holy Qur'an Kanzul Iman with translation.
Awards
- 2007 - In recognition of his promotion of naats the Government of Pakistan recognized him as Best Naat Khawan for 2007.
- 2008 - The Barkati Foundation ceremonially weighed him in silver in recognition of his services for the promotion of naats.He is the best naat khawan.