Pak singer Dr Zafar Iqbal wins Sufi music award in Cairo

A Pakistani musician and singer who has won a prestigious award in Sufi singing from Cairo (same award has also been awarded to poet-philosopher Allama Iqbal) says he has an aim to root out extremism from the country through Sufi music.

National College of Arts’ musicology department former in-charge Dr Zafar Iqbal has recently been awarded Takrim at Cairo, Eygpt, in an international Sufi music festival called ‘Sama International Festival of Spiritual Music and Chanting.’ He went there with his Marifat Band on the invitation of the Egyptian Embassy to perform in the festival.

“It’s a great honour for me that I have been given this award because the same award was announced for Allama Iqbal by the festival management in 2013,” Dr Iqbal told this reporter, adding that he was given the award for Sufi music at a festival in which some 20 countries participated.

He said: “Every year this particular award is given to scholars and musician for their outstanding services in their respective fields. This year in the musician/singer category the awards have been given to Dr Zafar Iqbal and French vocalist Caroline Dumas.”