Emirati singer Bukhatir mesmerizes Beirut

Beirut: At the recent Nights of Tripoli Festival, renowned singer Ahmad Bukhatir treated his audience to a beautiful performance.

“It was truly a delight to perform in front of people from Lebanon, and it was an inspiring occasion to see so many brothers and sisters turn out to be part of the festival. It was a blessing to perform live before such a large crowd of people,” Bukhatir said.

Bukhatir performed seven songs which were released in his latest album Moments with Allah.

He also granted the audience request to sing songs in French. The singer made the evening more entertaining by talking to the audience in both Arabic and French.

A highlight of the evening was a contest between two singers who did a rendition of Bukhatir's most famous song Zawjati.

Competitions were also held between songs, and the audience were given prizes such as his new album and electronic Quran devices.  The stage Bukhatir performed on was floating on water and the stunning setting gave the concert a magical quality.

Earlier this year, Bukhatir performed in the UK and Canada and entertained crows of mor than 45,000 people. His previous albums had songs in Arabic, English and French. Bukhatir now wishes to focus on singing English songs.

Profile: Ahmad Bukhatir

Ahmad Bukhatir is a Nasheed singer from Sharjah, UAE. Nasheed is Islamic vocal music that is either sung a cappella or accompanied by percussion instruments.

Bukhatir was born in 1975 to a highly reputable family in the UAE. At a young age, Ahmad started reciting the Quran for his school group and by the age of 14, his first Nasheed was recorded by the shaikh of an Islamic centre in Sharjah. This encouraged Bukhatir to continue with the words of Islam through his voice.

It was not until 2000 that Bukhatir launched his first official album Entasif al Lail and started gaining popularity for his voice, which was deemed the ideal tool to spread the word of Islam.

His Nasheed Last Breath gained immense popularity beyond the Middle East, extending his message outside the Arab World, which encouraged him to sing more English Nasheeds along with a latest French Nasheed.

His singing attracted performances in United Kingdom at the GPU event in 2006 that was attended by an audience of 35 thousand people. Along with Nasheed performances, Bukhatir is also a businessman. He has participated in many charity events.