Biography Of Noor
Noor’s journey began over eight years ago when four friends were asked to perform at the opening fundraiser for an Islamic school in Riverside, California. Drawing their inspiration from well known munshids such as Abul Jood and Imad Rami, this group of friends began meeting once a month to practice songs and technique. As the number of performance requests began to increase, it became clear that the community was looking for a professional source of halal entertainment.
In their first foray outside the realm of traditional nasheed, Noor purchased an electronic keyboard to add a modern flavor to the lyrics they performed from old books of poetry. At the time, traditional nasheed’a cappella-based with light percussions’was appealing mainly to first generation immigrants. The group’s new sound began to attract attention from younger listeners, filling the performance halls with both young and old. With a high-quality sound system and enhanced percussions, Noor began to offer their services at weddings and Islamic conferences, expanding their reach to performances across the United States.
Noor has shared the stage with internationally known artists such as Ustadh Muhammad Abu Ratib and Sami Yusuf. These artists and others have helped make traditional nasheed mainstream by producing high quality songs with classic, wholesome lyrics and music. Noor, alongside these pioneers of modern nasheed, aims to offer Muslims around the world a hip Islamic alternative to standard commercialized music with the release of their first album, All for You.
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Member’s Biographies
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Muneer Adhami
Muneer graduated from UCLA with a bachelor’s in Political Science in 2003. He is currently the deputy editor of Southern California InFocus, the largest Muslim newspaper in California. He was born in Damascus in January 1981. Muneer and his fiance Dania will be wed in summer 2007 inshallah.
Sayd Mahdy Amine
Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, Mahdy’s first musical inspiration came from his father, Abdulrahman Amine, often singing majestic musical numbers after dinner and during roadtrips. Later, his mentor Nazir Chahin and friend Farooq Nasser further stimulated Mahdy’s love of the melodious beauty of Qur’anic and Arabic tunes.
Mahdy, born in September 1981, attended Universal High School in Illinois. He holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Loyola University Chicago, and a J.D. from the University of Minnesota School of Law. Mahdy is now a licensed attorney and resides with his wife Amira in Orange County, California.
Tarik Jalanbo
Tarik, one of the original founding members of Noor, has been singing and performing anasheed (Islamic music) since the second grade at full-time and weekend Islamic schools. He led school assemblies and was a main figure at local major events and conventions. As he grew older, Tarik expanded into acting and participated in numerous plays during elementary and high school.
Upon graduation from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology in 2003, Tarik acted in a full and professional production of an Islam-friendly play at the Los Angeles Theater of Arts. He is currently pursuing a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) while working in the electronic entertainment industry in Southern California.
Bassem Rashidi
Born March 1981 in Damascus, Bassem migrated to the U.S. at the age of 10. He recently got the chance to go back and visit his family in Syria after a 15 year absence. Bassem graduated from Bolsa Grande High School in 1999 and from Chapman University in 2005. He holds a degree in Business Administration and is currently working in the interior design industry. He now lives with his wife Aliaa in Garden Grove. Bassem has been singing ever since he was seven years old with all the mosque brothers, and he feels very blessed to have the opportunity to continue his nasheed journey with the rest of his beloved brothers.