Imam Mohammad Ahmad Eissa ( ar, إمام محمد أحمد عيسى) or Sheikh Imam ( ar, الشيخ إمام) (July 2, 1918 – June 6, 1995 ) was a famous

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

composer and singer. For most of his life, he formed a duo with the famous Egyptian

colloquial Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the style (sociolinguistics), linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom norm ...

poet

Ahmed Fouad Negm Ahmed Fouad Negm ( ar, أحمد فؤاد نجم, ; 22 May 1929 – 3 December 2013), popularly known as el-Fagommi الفاجومي (), was an Egyptians, Egyptian vernacular poetry, poet. Negm is well known for his work with Egyptian composer Shei ...

. Together, they were known for their political songs in favor of the poor and the

working classes The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

Life and career

Imam was born to a poor family in the Egyptian village of Abul Numrus in Giza. He lost his sight when he was a child. At the age of five he joined a recitation class, where he memorized the Qur’an. He later moved to

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

to study where he led a

dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from fa, درویش, ''Darvīsh'') in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage i ...

life. In Cairo, Imam met Sheikh Darwish el-Hareery, a prominent musical figure at that time, who taught him the basics of music and

muwashshah ''Muwashshah'' ( ar, موشح ' literally means " girdled" in Classical Arabic; plural ' or ' ) is the name for both an Arabic poetic form and a secular musical genre. The poetic form consists of a multi-lined strophic verse poem writt ...

singing. He then worked with the Egyptian composer

Zakariyya Ahmad Zakariyya Ahmad ( ar, زكريا أحمد; born 1896 in Faiyum, Egypt –1961) was an Egyptian musician and composer. He mainly sang religious songs as a member of several groups from 1919 to 1929, having studied recitation of the Qur'an ...

. At that time, he expressed interest in Egyptian folk songs especially those by

Sayed Darwish Sayed Darwish ( ar, سيد درويش, ; 17 March 1892 – 15 September 1923) was an Egyptian singer and composer who was considered the father of Egyptian popular music and one of Egypt's greatest musicians and seen by some as its single gr ...

and Abdou el-Hamouly. He also performed at weddings and birthdays. In 1962 he met the

poet

. For many years, they formed a duo composing and singing political songs, mostly in favor of the poor oppressed classes and indicting the ruling classes. Though their songs were banned on Egyptian Radio and Television stations, they were popular among ordinary people in the 1960s and 1970s. Their revolutionary songs criticizing the government after the 1967 war led them to imprisonment and detention several times. In the mid 80s Imam performed several concerts in France, Britain,

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

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Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

and

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. Later Imam and Negm broke up after several disagreements. Imam died at the age of 76 after a long illness.

Notable songs

* "" ''masr yamma ya bheyya'' ("Egypt, O beautiful mother") * "" ''givāra māt'' (" Guevara has died") * "" ''el-fallahīn'' ("the

fellahin A fellah ( ar, فَلَّاح ; feminine ; plural ''fellaheen'' or ''fellahin'', , ) is a peasant, usually a farmer or Agriculture, agricultural laborer in the Middle East and North Africa. The word derives from the Arabic language, Arabic wor ...

") * "" ''ye‘īš ahl baladi'' ("long live the people of my country") * "" ''sharraft ya nekson bāba'' ("it's been an honor, father

Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

" (sarcastic)) * "" ''‘an mawdū‘ el-fūl wel-lahma'' ("on the topic of fūl and meat") * "" ''baqaret hāhā'' ("Haha's cow") * "" ''valari giscār destān'' ("

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, , ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Minister of Finance under prime ...

") * "" ''sign el-'al‘a'' ("the citadel prison") * "" ''tahrān'' ("

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

") * "" ''gā'izet nōbel'' ("

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

") * "" ''gāba klabha diaba'' ("a wilderness whose dogs are wolves") * "" ''ya masr 'ūmi'' ("O, Egypt, rise") * "" ''iza š-šams gir'et'' ("if the Sun drowned") * "" ''šayyed 'usūrak ‘al mazāre‘'' ("erect your palaces on the farms") * "" ''’ana š-ša‘bi māši w-‘āref tarī’i'' ("We are the people, we are marching, and we know our path")

References

*
Imam at his 16th anniversary

External links

Sheikh Imam complete work Remastered
on

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming s ...

AlSheikhImam

A fan site for Sheikh Imam and Ahmad Fouad Negm

moultaka

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Imam, Sheikh 1918 births 1995 deaths Egyptian musicians Egyptian composers People from Giza Governorate Blind musicians 20th-century composers