Generous Peace

I got an invitation to attend Kareem Salama's concert in Al-Geneina Theater. I wasn't sure about his music and lyrics until I listened to this YouTube video, featuring one of his songs. The guy turned out to be quite popular in US that he was invited to dinner at The White House.



It was also my first time to see Al-Geneina Theater at Al Azhar Park (Cairo). It's a nice little open-air theater enclosed by walls of Saladin Citadel of Cairo. I'll make sure to post on Al-Azhar Park later, but let's focus on Kareem Salama for now.

I was surprised to find one-fourth of the ~250 attendees were foreigners. Kareem's performance was both amusing and strong. His songs were meaningful, purposeful and enjoyable. His songs tell unique inspirational stories. One exhibits two soldiers, each convincing his beloved person that he has to fight for justice. In the battlefield, their eyes meet and they realize they are actually brothers in humanity. Another explains that Muslims are normal people, not Nazis, not Racists. Kareem also knows how to gently treat his audience.

It was evident that Kareem has a problem with Arabic vocab, despite the strong pronunciation of Arabic words in his songs (he sings one of Imam Shafei' songs). I didn't also like the Sofeyyah dancing style in one of his songs. But don't get me wrong, I do think the guy is a rising star.

Kareem holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma and a graduate degree in Law from the University of Iowa. His parents immigrated to US in 1960s to attend graduate school.

P.S. Generous Peace is the literal English translation of Kareem Salama.