Farida Mahwash’s was born to a conservative family in Afghanistan. Her mother was teacher of Quran and therefore religion influenced her upbringing. Her interest in music, because of this factor, was suppressed for years as the Afghan society of that time looked upon female singers and musicians with contempt. Upon completion of her studies, Farida accepted a position in the Kabul Radio Station. She was discovered here by the director of the radio station who was impressed by her voice and therefore encouraged Farida to pursue singing as a career.
So Farida took music and singing lessons under the scholarship of Ustad Mohammad Hashem. He was an established maestro and put the protégé to rigorous training. Most of the lessons were based on classical Indian music that serve to train most Afghan singers up until today. In 1977, Farida was conferred the title of Maestra by the Ministry of Information and Culture of Afghanistan, an controversial honor that had up until this point been reserved only for men. After this time, she also released her first album which was well received by the intrigued public who were eager to discover the new music master themselves.
After the political turmoil of late 70s and early 80s that extended into the 90s, Farida was forced to leave Afghanistan in 1991. She moved to Pakistan where she took refuge from the two warring sides of the time, each of whom warned her to sing for their cause or else face assassination. Worn and exhausted, she applied for asylum abroad. Her plight was recognized by UNHCR who granted her political asylum in the United States.
Since her move to the USA, she has recorded several notable albums.
We would like to inform all the fans of Ahmad Zahir that there’s a concert being held in Germany on June 8th 2007 in celebration of Ahmad Zahir’s 61st Birthday. Rishad Zahir’s name is being used to promote this concert. Rishad Zahir would like all the fans and supporters of Ahmad Zahir to know that he is not a part of this event in any way. And neither was he asked for the permission of this concert.
The Family of Ahmad Zahir would like to ask the organizer WHERE’S THIS MONEY GOING TO???? Is this money being donated to a charity in Afghanistan or is it going to the pocket of the organizer who is using this opportunity to profit from this event?
Let’s finally put a stop to all of this. Since the past 28 years, people have used Ahamd Zahir’s name and his music for their personal profits whether through pirated CDs and/or concerts. The family is asking all of Ahmad Zahir fans and supporters to boycott this and all other similar events that are being held in the name of our great legend.
After finding out about this deception, Zaher Howaida has backed out of this event. The family would like to ask all of the Artists participating in this event to do the same in this and all future events of the same.
Ahmad Zahir belongs to the Afghan people. But he would’ve never allowed anyone to profit from his name for their personal gain, unless it was for donation to a charity.
Let’s join hands and support our great legend and boycott these crooks finally!!!
