AR Rahman Birthday: World famous music composer and singer AR Rahman lives in the hearts of people because of his spiritual music. His songs and music give a different peace to the mind. AR Rahman has also been in the news for his conversion, because he left Hinduism and accepted Islam at a very young age. The musician celebrates his birthday every year on 6 January. Let us tell you the interesting story behind his change of religion on this special occasion.
AR Rahman converted from Hindu to Muslim at the age of 23
AR Rahman is actually from a Hindu family. His real name is Dilip Kumar, but he accepted Islam in the year 1989 at the age of just 23. After this he changed his name from Dilip Kumar to AR Rahman (Allah Rakha Rahman). He says that for him Islam means living a simple life and humanity. During a conversation on BBC talk show in 2000, AR Rahman told why he adopted Islam.
Why did you change your religion?
Rehman told that there was a Sufi who was treating his father who was suffering from cancer in his last days. When AR Rahman along with his family met the Sufi again after a few years, AR Rahman was so impressed by his words that he decided to adopt another religion. He said, ‘There was a Sufi who was treating his father in his last days before his death. When we met him after 7-8 years, we adopted another spiritual path, which gave us a lot of peace.
I didn’t like my real name.
According to AR Rahman: The Spirit of Music, the musician did not like his name Dilip Kumar. He said that his name did not match his image. AR Rahman had also revealed that before changing his religion, a Hindu astrologer had suggested him a Muslim name.
Astrologer turns Dilip Kumar into AR Rahman
AR Rahman told that his mother wanted to get his sister married. For this reason, she went to an astrologer with her sister’s horoscope. At that time AR Rahman also wanted to change his name. When they asked the astrologer about this, he told two names: Abdul Rahman and Abdul Rahim. He immediately liked the name Rahman. According to AR Rahman, there was a Hindu astrologer who gave him a Muslim name. After this, on the advice of his mother, he added Allah Rakha to his name and changed his name to Allah Rakha Rahman (AR Rahman).