INTRODUCTION
Nearly Three Decades in the Making
Aashiq Al Rasul began in Birmingham in 1998 with a simple aspiration: to use sacred music as a means of inspiring hearts and expressing love for Allah ﷻ and His Beloved Messenger ﷺ.
What followed was a journey none of us could have fully anticipated.
From local gatherings and community events to major concert halls, interfaith encounters and performances around the world, Aashiq Al Rasul has been blessed with opportunities to share its message with people from many different cultures and backgrounds.
Along the way, the journey has grown beyond performance to encompass education, community service and the nurturing of another generation.
This is our story.
CHAPTER 1
1998 — Where the Journey Began
Aashiq Al Rasul was founded by Amran Ellahi in Birmingham in 1998.
From the beginning, the vision was to present Islamic sacred music with sincerity, creativity and excellence while remaining rooted in love for Allah ﷻ and His Beloved Messenger ﷺ.
Kamran Ellahi and Tahir Khan have been part of Aashiq Al Rasul since 1998, helping to shape those formative years and the distinctive sound and brotherhood that would develop over the decades that followed.
Those early years were built through rehearsals, local performances, friendships and a shared commitment to something we believed could make a positive contribution to Muslim life in Britain.
As the journey developed, that brotherhood grew. Tariq Aslam joined in 2006, and Imad Rajraji in 2010. Both became integral members of the group, contributing their voices, musicianship and friendship to the evolving sound and story of Aashiq Al Rasul.
CHAPTER 2
Finding Our Voice
As the years passed, Aashiq Al Rasul developed its own approach to sacred music—bringing together devotional traditions, contemporary presentation, vocal harmony and percussion.
Performances became opportunities not simply to entertain, but to create spaces of remembrance, reflection and connection.
The stage became an important part of our journey, but what happened before the audience arrived mattered just as much: rehearsal, preparation, friendship and the pursuit of excellence.
CHAPTER 3
Sacred Music, Shared Spaces
As our journey grew, so did the range of people and communities we encountered.
Aashiq Al Rasul has had the privilege of sharing sacred music in Muslim gatherings, concert halls, community celebrations and interfaith spaces.
These encounters have reinforced something we have witnessed repeatedly throughout our journey: sacred music can create moments of connection between people whose traditions may be different but whose hearts recognise beauty, devotion and sincerity.
CHAPTER 4
Encounters Along the Way
The journey has also brought opportunities to meet people from many walks of life—faith leaders, community figures, artists and national representatives.
These encounters were never the purpose of Aashiq Al Rasul, but they form part of the story and reflect the increasingly diverse spaces into which our work was invited.