Abdullah Qureshi bids farewell to music for religious reasons

Singer Abdullah Qureshi has announced he is bidding farewell to his music career for religious reasons. In a statement shared on his social media accounts, Qureshi revealed his reasons for 'being lost'.

"I have received a ton of messages in this time asking about where I have been," he wrote. "I was on a break, pressed the pause button for a while and took this time to find out who I was, where I am headed and who I want to become." Announcing his decision to quit the music industry, Qureshi said, " want to take a moment to announce my exit from the music industry as I have decided to stop doing music as a full-time profession. I took this decision purely because of religious reasons."

Adding on, he commented, "I had a great time making music, playing at concerts for thousands of people, getting loved and appreciated, facing controversies, making some wrong decisions, spreading some positivity, making some amazing friends, working with people who were my idols, learning from the best and doing what I loved doing." Sharing how he now believes that the actual purpose of his life is "way bigger than all of this", Qureshi remarked, "We have very little time in this world to make our afterlife better."

The Dastaan singer then explained, "Alhamdulillah, I am very satisfied with this decision and I am on my way to find the real truth and I pray that Allah makes this new journey easy for me."

He asserted that he will no longer perform in concerts or appear in ads. "I would appreciate it if I am not contacted for those. However, if I am needed for any appearance events, social media campaigns or work that interests me and falls in the folds of our religion, I'd be happy to do it." He concluded his statement with gratitude for endless support and love. 

'Stop making us villains'

Qureshi's decision was welcomed by many on social media. However, around the same time, singer Natasha Baig, without naming names, presented an imperative point to ponder. "I will never accept those musicians or actors who leave behind their career in the name of awakening," Baig shared on social media. "Because that proves the wrong narrative that has been attached with music."

She added, "So, please go ahead and congratulations on your awakening but do not make us look like villains in the process. Your acts might be something that Islam never appreciates, but music is divine and it has nothing to do with any sinful act unless you are unable to control your nafs and nafs can become a problem in any profession."

The call out

Last year, Qureshi took to his Instagram Stories to cross-share his apology made public from an Insta account, for what seemed like his acceptance of problematic behaviour in the past. In this apology, the former singer had stated that he is sorry to everyone he has hurt or harmed in any way and requested the removal of anything related to 'this' because it has affected his career and is likely to affect his daughter.

His apology read, "I apologise to everyone for all this. I won't blame my drunken state because it was me at the end of the day. But yes, I did have a drinking problem and I do have fetishes. But everyone has fetishes."

He went on to clarify that his apology "is not about that [his fetishes]," but about "messaging randoms." He further stated, "Yes, I did have that problem too but I stopped when I had my daughter. I apologise to her for being the worst dad." Qureshi added that he had discussed all of this with his wife a year ago and the matter was settled between them. 

"We are happy and I'm a changed man." The Dastaan singer continued, "I am sorry to everyone I have hurt or harmed in any way and I request removal of anything regarding this because it has already affected my career and most importantly, it's going to affect my daughter."

Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.