Melodious voice, command over 14 languages and an undefined traction are the main traits of Syed Nadeem Raza (Nadeem Sarwar). Equally famous in sub continent, North America (Canada and USA), Australia and other countries around the world, Nadeem Sarwar has been reciting Noha Khawani ( an art of reciting hardships of Prophet’s family in the early days of Islam) for more than three decades. Nadeem’s Nohas address conflicts between good and evil at the individual and collective levels at the time of Karbala and in the contemporary
society. The objective of his Nohas is to emphasize the positives and to eliminate the negatives in humans to strive towards a just society which promotes fairness at all levels amongst all members.
Nadeem started reciting Nohas at a very young age. He released his first audio album in 1983 and has continued releasing an album annually. In 1993 he commenced releasing video albums introducing a new concept of the delivering nohas to the audience. Each of his new release audio and video sets new record breaking previous records and keeps fans waiting for the next. Nadeem Sarwar is the first Pakistani Noha reciter to perform overseas. He has
visited several countries for Noha recitation. The journey is continuing.
Nadeem modernised Noha composition and gave it his own style. By so doing he has become an icon in the field and a role model for the younger generation of Noha reciters who follow his style. Apart from Noha reciting, Nadeem is equally good in other forms of religious compositions such as Naat, Qaseeda, Manqbat, and Salaam. Nadeem Sarwar has God gifted voice and style of narrating the initial struggle of Muslim era and the event of Karbala. Undeniably, this is a unique skill which attracts millions of Muslims to follow him.
Nadeem Sarwar composes tunes, manages the audio-visual recording and editing of Nohas and designs the cover of his album. It is because of this dedication that each new release breaks previous records and keeps fans waiting for the next. Over his 41 years career, Nadeem has composed 400 Nohas in 14 languages (including Urdu, Sindhi, Saraiki,Punjabi, Pushto, Pourbi, Hindi, Gujarati, Persian and Arabic) and released over 50 audio-video
albums. His Nohas have been published in several languages all over the world.
In recognition of his talent and service, the Al-Murtaza Foundation of London published a book titled 25 Years of Nadeem Sarwar in 2008. The book celebrates the silver jubilee of
Nadeem’s Noha reciting career and includes English transliteration of all the Nohas written, composed or recited by him from 1983 to 2008 in several languages. Several editions of the book have been published. He also have the honour to be awarded with the life time achievement awards also had the honor of receiving life time achievement award from Farogh e azalondon (UK) in 1995, Jafaria Disaster Management Cell (JDC) Welfare organization (Pakistan) in 2014, Brisbane Shia Council (Australia) 2015 and Shia Muslim
Community of California (USA) in 2015.
Nadeem has a very kind personality and loves to support fellow humans. He is actively involved in social work. He has assisted people affected by natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods. Jafaria Disaster Management Cell (JDC) Welfare, a Karachi-based charity organisation acknowledged his social service by appointing him an honorary member of the organisation. He provides continuous charity support for people especially persons with
disabilities. During his visit to Houston, America in 2012, he was invited as a special guest at the House of Charity—a non-profit, charitable organisation working for welfare of children with disabilities. In acknowledgement of his efforts and dedication towards the welfare of persons with disability, he was given the Goodwill Award by the organisation and appointed as an
honorary ambassador for life time.
Nadeem Sarwar is highly specialized in his field and offer unique talent which can be utilised not only in the development of art of noha Khawani but achieving the goal of creating diverse yet harmonious society. He is the ambassador to promote and reinforce the concepts and practice of acceptance and fairness in Muslim community. He is a role model for young Muslims and plays a catalyst in bringing harmony in different sects of Islam.
