Abrar-ul-Haq

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Abrar-ul-Haq
Birth name Chaudhry Abrarul Haq Kaholvi
Also known as Ibrar
Born July 21,[1] 1968
Origin Lahore, Punjab,
Flag of Pakistan Pakistan
Genre(s) Bhangra
Pop
Rock
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter
Musician
Years active 1995 - Present
Label(s) Sound Master
Website http://www.abraronline.com/
http://www.saharaforlife.org/

Abrar-ul-Haq (Urdu/Punjabi: ابرار الحق) (Abrar is also spelled as Ibrar) is a Pakistani pop, bhangra and folk singer. On his first album "Billo De Ghar" his name appears as simply "Abrar". His best-known work is the song "Billo De Ghar". Before becoming a singer, he was a Geography teacher at the Aitchison College in Lahore.

Contents

[edit] Life

He was born on July 21 in Faisalabad.[1] Like many other young Pakistani artists, Abrar had kept his year of birth secret from public in order to hide his age, but in a recent interview he said he was born in 1968.[citation needed] He used to give clues in TV programs saying he was quite young and not that old, and said he was born in the 1960's.He got his initial education from Gujrat and Rawalpindi. Took his Bachelor's degree from Sir Syed College (Rawalpindi) and acquired Master's degree in social sciences from Quaid-i-Azam University (Islamabad).

He joined Aitchison College’s permanent faculty in 1996. He had to quit teaching to pursue his career in pop music; although he considers the day he joined Aitchison College the proudest day of his life.[1]

He primarily sings in Punjabi which is the main language of bhangra genre, language of most populated province of Pakistan and Abrar's native language. He sings in Urdu too. His popular single "Sanu Tere Nal" is in English and Punjabi.

Abrar's first single "Billo De Ghar" was an instant hit along with his album. According to his website[2] more than 16 million copies of his debut album have been sold.

RECENTLY!- Abrar Ul Haq was asked to play a lead role in a Punjabi movie along with Gurdas Maan. Gurdas had been asking Abrar for a long time but Abrar refused because of personal issues.

[edit] Pakistan Idol

Abrar will appear as a judge on upcoming reality show called Pakistan Idol alongside Hadiqa Kiyani, Ali Azmat, and Sajjad Ali on Geo TV.

[edit] Controversies

Like many other famous singers Abrars's musical work also has caused public debates.

[edit] Billo De Ghar

His debut single, Billo De Ghar, ‎erupted great controversy and gathered much debate.‎ Billo is a fairly common female nickname among predominantly Muslim Punjabis of Pakistan. First line of the song, Assan Tay Jaana ‎Billo De Ghar, Kinnay Kinnay Jaana Billo De Ghar (Punjabi: We will go to Billo's ‎home, who else will go to Billo's home), was used as tease by street bullies for Billo ‎named young-adult females. This caused a fierce reaction from the families of female ‎victims, often resulting in physical fights. In order to avoid any more of such situations in ‎his another single, Preeto, Abrar used a non-Muslim female nickname Preeto. This name is almost extinct in Pakistan.‎

[edit] Nach Punjaban Nach

Nach Punjaban Nach (Punjabi: Dance Punjabi (woman) Dance; Punjaban is ‎female for Punjabi), second line of Abrar's single Punjabi Touch also caused a ‎public outrage as it was taken as an address to all Punjabi women of Pakistan (more than ‎‎97% of Pakistani Punjabis are Muslims). Abrar was sued in Lahore High Court. He ‎personally went to the court and told the judge that he would change the word Punjaban to ‎‎Majajan. He re-recorded the song and new batch of copies of his album, Assan Jana Mall-o Mall, has the ‎modified version of the song. However, copies of the album with older version are still available and were never ‎pulled from the market.‎ During a TV interview, he was asked about the meaning of Majajan. He said, ‎‎"Majajan is not a word. Real word is Majajni. I changed it to Majajan."

[edit] Parmeen

Abrar has created some controversy with his newest album's song "Parmeen." He has been criticized for the usage of Parveen, a common female name in Pakistan, in an odd way. The renowned columnist Javaid Chaudhury wrote a column in protest of Abrar's song when Javaid received a letter from a girl name Parveen on the effects of the song on her life. The girl claimed that she had stopped attending college in Lahore because of harassment from male students. The case was taken to Pakistan's Supreme Court, which ordered Abrar to change the lyrics. He stated that he would abide by the court's decision.[3]

[edit] SAHARA for Life Trust

He is the founder and chairman of SAHARA for Life Trust (tax exempted charity organization), a charitable organisation promoting health and education in remote areas. The term SAHARA stands for: "Services Aimed at Health and Awakening in Remote Areas".

The abbreviation SAHARA has been chosen very cleverly as it is Roman script or transliteration for a word of Urdu (سہارا) which means aid or assistance.

[edit] Religious Inclination

Abrar-ul-Haq is also thought to be involved and linked with religious activities of Dawat-e-Islami.

[edit] Musical collaborations

Recently, Abrar has teamed up with Gurdas Mann and Sukshinder Shinda in a Punjabi single called Collaborations. The song was an immediate success. (2006)[4] he is a very popular singer in Pakistan and India. He is not only popular in India and Pakistan but worldwide. He had done concerts in many countries of the world like canada,England etc.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Regular studio albums

[edit] Hits compilations / Studio albums

[edit] Trivia

  • He has developed quite different personal image considering his field of music. He has never appeared in any elaborately fashioned dresses which are normally associated with pop music. He almost always appears in business casual dress except for rare occasions where he wore salwar kameez, the national dress of Pakistan.
  • In 2000, PTV World gave him award for best folk singer and following year he won award for best pop singer from the same institute.[5]
  • It is alleged that he belongs to Tarar family and is related to Muhammad Rafiq Tarar but there is no proof to accept or reject this claim.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c About - Abrar Online
  2. ^ Abrar's web site
  3. ^ http://www.reuters.com/article
  4. ^ Punjabi 4 Life: Collaborations
  5. ^ Awards - Abrar Online

He belongs to Kahloon family based in Narowal district.His elder borther Maj.(R)Israr ul Haq Kahloon is an active politician in Narowal District.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Abrar-ul-Haq
Studio Albums
Compilation albums
Related articles
SAHARA for Life Trust

[[ur:ابرار الحق]

He belongs to a Kahloon family based in District Narowal.His elder brother Maj (R) Israr ul Haq Kahloon is an actvie politician in Narowal District.

Languages