Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, nephew and successor of late music maestro Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, claims that he doesn’t require permission to sing his uncle’s famous qawwalis.
In a recent turn of events, daughter of the late iconic qawwal Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Nida Nusrat, revealed that she is the only heir of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (NFAK) and only she owns the copyrights to her father’s songs.
“If anyone wants to sing my father’s songs he needs to seek permission from me,” Nida asserted at a press conference held at the Lahore Press Club last week. “I will be taking strict action against the people who are using them and will also be taking them to the court.”
When asked whether she will take any legal action against Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, who has been singing various songs of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Nida responded that she is not going against Rahat and that he is a brother to her. However, she apparently also said that she would, nonetheless, speak to him and clear things with him.
Shortly after Nida’s statement in which she claimed to own all the rights to his qawwalis, musician/ qawwal Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, who has been with Nusrat Fateh from a very young age, spoke to the media at an event held in Lahore on Sunday.
“I am the janasheen (successor) and the adopted son of my Ustad and uncle Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Why would I need any permission?” he asserted while speaking about seeking permission to sing NFAK’s qawwalis.
He further went on to say that his family has a rich heritage of over 600 years in the field of qawwali and Sufi music and that this has never happened before.
“When my father Ustad Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan and Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan recited kalams of my grandfather (dada) Ustad Fateh Ali Khan and other members of our family, no one required permissions,” he stated. “We are a family; everything belongs to us as a family and we have never been divided.”
Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan after adopting his nephew Rahat Fateh Ali at the tender age of three remained an eminent part of his musical upbringing. Rahat was only five years old when he started accompanying NFAK on his various tours.
As for keeping the legacy alive, Rahat shared that NFAK made him the successor almost 20 years ago and since then he has kept the family tradition alive. Though Rahat Fateh Ali Khan has been lending his voice to many of his uncle’s qawwalis, one can’t deny the fact that Rahat has some beautiful music to his credit for which he has also won various awards for his songs.
According to Rahat, he has been taking the family’s name forward and that he knows how hard it has been. He continued, “I have performed at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony where I was the headline performer. I have also performed at the United Nations General Assembly and I have a music room named after me at the Oxford University Music faculty. It is my family’s name and legacy which I’m carrying forward and in the future my brother and son will carry this tradition forward. I have one of the best teams and management who have taken the name of our family globally, especially at a time when qawwali is nearly forgotten.”
During the event, producer Salman Ahmed also shared his thoughts and said that Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan has kept the flame of his family alive by relentlessly performing across the globe.
Coming back to RFAK, who will have a world tour later this year that will be dedicated to qawwali, the qawwal and musician said on a parting note, “I hope this clarifies any ambiguities and the fact that I do not need any permission to sing what belongs to my family and me.”
