Raihan

Raihan
Genres Nasheed
Years active 1996–present
Labels Warner Music (M)
Associated acts Nowseeheart
Ustaz Amal
S.M Salim
Yusof Islam
Miloud Zenasni
Mecca2Medina
Seven8Six
Website Official Website
Members
Che Amran Idris
Abu Bakar Md Yatim
Amran Ibrahim
Zulfadli Bin Mustaza
Past members
Nazrey Johani
Nordin Jaafar
Notable instruments
Percussion

Raihan (meaning "Fragrance of Heaven" in Arabic) is a Malaysian nasheed group originally composing of five members that took Malaysia by storm with the release of their debut album Puji-Pujian in October 1996. The group's original lineup comprised Nazrey Johani, Che Amran Idris, Abu Bakar Md Yatim, Amran Ibrahim, and Azhari Ahmad as the leader. Produced by Farihin Abdul Fattah, Puji-Pujian, Raihan's very first album, grossed sales of more than 750,000 units in Malaysia alone, with 200,000 units sold within the first 2 months after its launch, and 3,500,000 units have been sold worldwide which make them the most successful Malaysian artist in terms of album sales.

However, on 29 August 2001, one of the founding members, Azhari Ahmad, died of a myocardial infarction or heart attack shortly after attending the Era Awards ceremony in Genting Highlands, Pahang.[1]

The remaining four members, Nazrey Johani, Che Amran Idris, Abu Bakar Md Yatim and Amran Ibrahim have continued releasing album after album. So far, Raihan has released a total of 11 albums and has won many awards in Malaysia. To date, Raihan has won AIM Anugerah Kembara three times for their extensive international tours.

Nazrey Johani recently resigned from Raihan and was replaced by Nordin Jaafar. However, in early January 2007, Nordin Jaafar himself resigned from Raihan[1]. He was replaced by Zulfadli Bin Mustaza[2].

Raihan's motto is 'Pray Hard, Work Smart'.

Contents

Personal Achievements

International performances

In 1997, they were invited by Queen Elizabeth II to perform at Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Edinburgh[2] where they also received an honorary letter from Prince Charles for their performance in Commonwealth in Concert.[3] Following that year, they were given the chance to meet the Queen themselves during her visit to Malaysia in 1998 for the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.[2]

Platinum status

Raihan is one of the most successful artists in Malaysia, where their debut album, Puji-Pujian is the highest selling album in Malaysia with a total sale of 3,500,000 units thus gaining 12 times Platinum status[4] and Double Platinum in Singapore.[5] Their albums were also well-received by the neighbouring country, Indonesia where their fourth album, Koleksi Nasyid Terbaik was sold more than 200,000 units and their tenth album, Bacalah was sold more than 70,000 units in Indonesian market.[2]

World tour

Raihan is the third Malaysian artists to perform at the Royal Albert Hall[6] after Siti Nurhaliza and late Sudirman Arshad and the first artist to perform for the second time in 2008 for Evening of Inspiration for Islamic Relief UK where they also have launched their twelfth album, Selawat for the celebration of Mawlid in the very same hall.[7][8] In 2004, they had a large tour in France covering seven cities : Bordeaux, Marseille, Nantes, Strasbourg, Lille, Lyon and Paris. They also had done a road tour in United Kingdom in cities like Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Bristol and Wembley. On July 16, 2005, they have been invited to perform at Paramount Wonderland in Toronto to entertain Muslims visitors. So far they have performed [2]: Australia, Canada, China, France, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Kuwait, Russia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago and United States. By the year 2005, they have done concerts in Indonesia for more than ten times, Thailand for six times, United Kingdom for four times and South Africa for three times.[2]

International Tours

Awards

Anugerah Industri Muzik (Music Industry Awards)

External links

References