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Khartoum- The grief of the Sudanese people, sparked by the war that broke out 7 months ago, has deepened with the passing of the great musician Muhammad Al-Amin “Wad Al-Amin” (81 years old), who is considered the pioneer of the renewal of Sudanese music and one of the most prominent singers that the country’s artistic scene has known during the last six decades. He was called the “Love and Freedom” singer. He is also called “Bashkatib”.
There was widespread sadness in the country over the last of the great singers, who was the most present, creative and diverse during the last six decades. He contributed to shaping the Sudanese conscience through dozens of immortal songs, both patriotic and emotional. He also contributed to renewing heritage songs and presenting religious supplications that found widespread popularity due to their departure from the traditional method that… It was performed.
Many tweeters and activists on social media bemoaned the passing of Muhammad Al-Amin in the United States – where he went to a hospital and his body was buried there – far from the homeland, for which he sang for its people, their revolutions, and their aspirations for freedom and prosperity.
Origin and development
Muhammad Al-Amin was born in February 1942 in the village of Wad Al-Naim, near the city of Wad Madani, the capital of Al-Jazira State in central Sudan. He is considered one of the icons of contemporary Sudanese singing and music, and one of the most famous, and he has a major role in developing Sudanese music and spreading it outside his country.
Musician Al-Fateh Hussein believes that Muhammad Al-Amin’s upbringing in Gezira State – which is considered a miniature Sudan – and his influence by the arts of that region, which brought together the cultural and social spectrum, contributed to the formation of his diverse singing and Sufi cultures.
The late singer is also distinguished by his unique vocal and melodic abilities. He composed most of his songs and very few of them were composed for him by others. Any melody bears his artistic fingerprints that are not similar to any other fingerprints. Perhaps this is the reason for the lack of young imitators of him, according to musician Hussein.
Singer of revolutions
The first public appearance of Muhammad Al-Amin was at the end of the sixties of the last century through the song “Me and My Love,” which for many years remained at the top of the most favorite songs among Sudanese music lovers.
What distinguished Muhammad Al-Amin most was his high abilities in composing and composing music, which was reflected in more than 50 artistic works.
He was drawn to the world of music and singing from an early age by his uncle, Youssef Al-Azraq, so he mastered the flute and then the oud, which he mastered when he was only 12 years old.
Wad Al-Amin moved from Wad Madani to Khartoum in 1962, and is considered the first to sing for the October 1964 Revolution, which overthrew the rule of former President Ibrahim Abboud. He presented a number of songs to the revolution and even called his songs “Octoberiyat,” the most prominent of which is “October 21” by the poet Fadlallah. Muhammad then presented the epic “The Story of a Revolution” by the poet Hashem Siddiq as the most powerful and epic national work that documented the October Revolution, and it continued to be repeated with every revolution and uprising, and the youth repeated it on every occasion and as a call for freedom and liberation.
Some of his works led him to imprisonment during the era of the late President Jaafar Numeiri, when he sang the song “Principles,” and he was imprisoned with the late artist Mohamed Wardi in 1971.
Wad Al-Amin remained connected to the issues of the homeland despite his advanced age, so he took to the stage of the sit-in in front of the General Command of the Army in Khartoum in the year 2019, which ended with the overthrow of the rule of deposed President Omar Al-Bashir. Muhammad Al-Amin also sang to the poet Mahjoub Sharif two symbolic songs for freedom, “Sudan, the One Homeland” and “Your Prisoners.” “Tweet in your cells,” as well as the political anthem “Barricades,” written by Mubarak Hassan Khalifa.
Love songs
Wad Al-Amin was also proficient in patriotic songs. He excelled in classical sentimentality and sang of love and beauty, the most notable of which are “We Said You Can’t Travel” and “Zad Al-Shajoun” by the poet Fadlallah Muhammad, and the light song that highlighted his ability to play the oud, which is “Asmar, O Magician of the View” by the late poet Khalifa Al-Sadiq. Then “5 Years” by the poet Omar Mahmoud Khaled.
The poet Ishaq Al-Halnaqi, nicknamed “President of the Republic of Love,” says that Sudan has lost a giant singer and artistic genius that will not be repeated soon. He devoted his life to art and music, and has sung for him since the seventies with a number of texts, most notably “Shawl Al-Nour,” “We Came to You, O Our Love,” and “You Learn from the Days.” Which the Sudanese radio considered the best Sudanese song in the mid-seventies.
The musician and most prominent member of the Wad Al-Amin Artistic Band, the musician Osama Piklo, believes that the chromaticism of the late singer’s melodies is classic in its form due to the presence of musical intros and various passages, and that he is very influenced by the melodic school of the late Egyptian musician Mohamed Abdel Wahab.
The late singer sang the song “Takulin Al-Hawa” for more than 20 Sudanese poets and one Arab poet, Nizar Qabbani.
Despite his excellence in modern songs, Wad Al-Amin did not neglect the songs of heritage and popular heritage, and he excelled in composing and performing heritage songs, the tunes of which he renewed, such as “Ayal Ab Juwaili”, “Zawarq Al-Lahan”, “Al-Adil wa Al-Zein” and others.
