Music composer and singer AR Rahman is celebrating his birthday today. He is one of the few people responsible for putting India on the global map in the world of music. Rahman is known for his impeccable music but another thing that, to this date, remains a topic of discussion is his conversion to Islam.
For the uninformed, AR Rahman was born Dileep Kumar, but embraced Islam, along with his family, sometime after the death of his father, music composer RK Shekhar and before the release of his first major project, Roja.
However, Rahman had told Hindustan Times Brunch in an earlier interview that he does not believe in imposing his religious beliefs on others.
He had said, "You can’t impose anything. You can’t ask your son or daughter to not take history ‘coz it’s boring, and to take economics instead, or science. It’s a personal choice."
Rahman had said that a lot of people ask him if they would become successful after converting to Islam saying, "It’s not about converting to Islam, it’s about finding the spot and seeing whether it presses the button in you. The spiritual teachers, the Sufi teachers, taught me and my mom things that are very, very special. There are special things in every faith, and this is the one we chose. And we stand by it."
He had added, "Prayer has been extremely beneficial. It has saved me from many falls. In between prayers, I think, 'Oh, I have to pray, so I can’t do this mischief'. People from other faiths do the same thing and are peaceful too. For me, this works!"
His friend Trilok Nair had told Krishna Trilok in his authorised biography, Notes of a Dream, that Rahman's mother Kareema Begum, who recently passed away, had insisted on changing his name in Roja's credits at the last minute.
He said, "It was a pretty big request to make so late in the day, but she was particular about it. She said it really, really mattered to her personally. In fact, she would’ve rather not had his name appear at all, than not have his new name appear on the credits."
