Dawud Wharnsby

Born David Howard Wharnsby in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada on June 27, 1972, the Muslim singer-songwriter, educator and activist known as Dawud Wharnsby earned his stripes as a teenage thespian, making his pivotal foray into the arts aged 18 in a production of Jesus Christ Superstar (Annas). He took his first steps as a songwriter in Southern Ontario the following year, performing with folk quartet Crakenthorpe's Teapot, which ultimately paved the way for his future adventures in folk. In 1993, he joined forces with Crackenthorpe's Teapot vocalist Heather Chappell to release covers of traditional Canadian and Irish folk, resulting in the independent album Off to Reap the Corn. That same year, David Howard Wharnsby converted to Islam and changed his name to "Dawud" (Arabic: داوود) – the Arabic form of "David." He also added the name "Ali" (Arabic: علي) to his surname which he incorporated into his professional stage name until 2003. Released in 1995, Dawud Wharnsby's debut solo album, the folk-rock Blue Walls and the Big Sky, didn't directly embody the Islamic music with which he later became associated but did embrace spirituality in its lyrics. His 1996 album A Whisper of Peace marked the first of his recordings of English language nasheed (Islamic vocal music), blazing a trail with 1997's Colours of Islam, 1998's Road to Madinah and many more. Over the years, he has released a mixture of children's religious music, spoken word and acoustic singer-songwriting with album Acoustic Simplicitea released in 2014 and with 2017 marking the release of an anniversary reissue of A Whisper of Peace / Colours of Islam. In 2008, rumours began circulating about the alleged influence of Dawud Wharnsby and musical collaborator Idris Phillips on the alleged conversion to Islam by popstar Michael Jackson. Dawud Wharnsby later clarified that he had never met or communicated with Michael Jackson personally.

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