Sorry my friend. Not much to say these days.

@@DawudWharnsbyOfficial To be honest, I wasn’t expecting you to see that comment, much less to respond. I’m honored that you made the time to respond to such a desperate plea, and on the instance you see this too, I just want to express my sincere gratitude to you and the songs you’ve created because not only have they been the soundtrack I played on repeat during ramadan, but they helped bring me, a lover of music, closer to this beautiful deen. Thank you for years of beautiful music and for helping me foster my relationship with Allah and my religion. May Allah bless you and your family and all your endeavors and goals, Ameen.

@@GrakSH It is I who must thank YOU for keeping the spirit of my old songs alive. Your messages mean a great deal to me and I am so pleased that you have found some of my words and melodies useful over the years, during your faith journey and travels of life. These days, my voice has become quite gruff and my pen used mostly for hardware store lists, grocery store lists and measurement notes for repairs around the house. It literally brings tears to my eyes that ripples still ring out in the world from pebbles of poems I tossed out so long ago. Keep singing my friend and as you do, please remember my family and I in your songs and prayers.

Thank you so much for your heartfelt note and prayers. Hoping your visit to Makkah has been the source of great inspiration to you. No plans for me to upload any videos any time soon, I am afraid to say, as I have been pretty estranged from writing and singing these past many years. Family is my focus these days. With two teenaged young people in my life, there is so much for me to learn from them and do for them! It is a very exciting time of life for me, growing with my girls. One of my favourite songwriters, Laura Nyro, said it best perhaps when she wrote a song for her son called "To A Child". She said, "I'm so tired, you're so wired, and I'm a poet without a poem and you are my child. / And you are my song, my lovely song." ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-lj_2p-9VSRs.html

Sorry to disappoint, but sadly, no new episodes in the pipeline.

@@DawudWharnsbyOfficial nothing to apologize for! Thank you for everything that you do 💖

@milyas2317 Thank you so much. Hope your childhood was lovely and you you let its joys ever inside you.

You know me too well. ;)

@@DawudWharnsbyOfficial fyi Dawud, listening to your song “Animals love Quran” is part of our morning routine on the way to school. Our 4 year old absolutely loves it and lets us know the journey is not complete unless he hears that song…twice! Shukran my brother. Thanks for being a part of our lives.

@@user-user-user-user. Awwww, thank you so much for granting me the honour of being apart of your lives! Treasure this wonderful season of life.

LOL! Thanks...I think? Was that a compliment, wise-crack our just an observation (probably based on the fact that we're both white guys with 5...ok maybe 6... finger foreheads!)? :) I'll take it as a compliment! Tom Hanks has been one of my favourite actors since childhood in the 70s, when he appeared in a TV series called "Bosom Buddies", a Canadian made film called "Mazes and Monsters" and then in a few 80's episodes of "Family Ties". One of my top five favourite films of all time is "Forrest Gump" and don't even get me started on the 90's rom-coms with Meg Ryan!

Compliment lol.

Wa alaikum as salam dear @miski3730 So kind of you, taking the time to post in your comment here ~ thank you. Your words are not taken lightly. Just today, I was out driving to fetch my daughters from school (as I do each afternoon) and an old song came on the radio from my youth. More than the actual words or melody, it was just the overall "sound" that became a conduit to so many memories, mental images, feelings, smells....I felt I was 9 years old again! Scientists and sci-fi enthusiasts have long pondered the mysteries, imaginings and possibilities of time travel: Could we? Would we? Should we? What IF we were to ever venture back into the past or transport to the future... and if, if, if we did...what would the repercussions be? "By the squeezing passage of time through the ages, verily, humankind are in loss...." In some strange, wonderful way, our memories and intuitions hold so much information that remains locked away during our mundane, day-to-day lives. Then, we smell a subtle smell, hear a simple song, taste a food, hold an object or visit a place and suddenly we are transported, in flash, to our past joys or traumas! Such power. The songs and sounds of my youth are treasures to me as well. They enable me to revisit, review and reassess where I have been, where I am and where I long to be in the remaining time I have left alive. It honours me greatly that my old songs may, in some small way, do that for others as well. A million thanks for granting me the privilege of joining you on this life journey. A dear friend wrote to me a few days ago, with a song she penned about her mother who, in her late 70s now, struggles with memory loss and dementia. It is so hard for the family to experience and so hard for the woman herself who becomes confused at how memories from 60 years in the past visit her, while morning breakfast is a blur. Hold your memories and childhood sacred my friend! Write those memories down and capture that childhood, maybe through your own songs or poems, to be shared with friends and family members. You can be sure I will be keeping your post here as a treasured note (as I do with all the posts people write to me). Peace, Dawud

Salams @rexisretro thank you for being in touch, sharing my songs with me over the years and for your question about "Afraid To Read". It was written back in the late 1990's when I was about 25 or 26 years old...I'd have to dig back through my journals from those days to find out exactly when. The lyrics were based on three real scenarios from life at that time. 1) A dear family member of mine, living abroad, embraced The Qur'an. I had visited her months earlier and left a copy of the Qur’an with her when she asked me why I had made the decision to try and adjust my life to it's teachings. She told me that, for the longest time after I left, she couldn't bring herself to read it because all of our discussions about its teachings had already caused her to feel inclined toward it. She said she was "afraid to read it" because she knew if she liked what she read, she'd feel responsible to embrace it and put it into practice. That step filled her with self-doubt. After much time and personal inner conflict, she did read it, embraced its call and began to shape her life to its teachings. 2) A discussion with a young man I had, wherein he spoke about how he could not connect with his parents culturally or spiritually and often found himself out late at night with friends, sometimes engaging in self destructive activities. He told me how he'd come home late at night and feel badly for letting himself and his parents down, but did not know how to begin making more positive changes in his life or communicate effectively with his folks. He said, he "feared reading the Qur'an" because he knew that, reading it would confirm a path for him that he felt too emotionally fragile to handle. He would place the Qur'an under his pillow before he went to sleep as a way of trying to "get physically closer to it”. 3) Home computers and internet were beginning to quickly find their way into the average home during the days when I wrote "Afraid To Read". I had acquired my first used PC in the spring of 1998 and was quickly on-line setting up email accounts and posting to, what we used to call, “Chat Forums". Sound Vision, the educational media company I began working at the time (who've helped me distribute my songs now for over thirty years!) had a website with a chat forum, where people could interact and communicate....as we are doing here now on RU-vid. Though it was wonderful to connect with others who had been listing to my songs around the world, it was also overwhelming. So many people opened up their lives to me and shared their personal stories with me....I was an emotional wreck! I tried to be a support for so many, but felt so helpless being just a "virtual friend". I also quickly saw the dangers of User Names and pseudonyms that enabled people to voice their hate of others on-line with little responsibility or repercussion. On the up-side, we were seeing the building of international connectivity and "communities" of like minded people suddenly being able to connect directly. On the downside, our "relationships" were quickly becoming virtual and void of human contact or basic respect. The direction of the technology began to worry me, perhaps much the same way AI's rapid progress is now topic of global concern. I have never been a fan of rapid change or vain mechanical or technological initiatives. One of my favourite books since childhood has been “Frankenstein Or The Modern Prometheus” and I, very much, saw the direction of technology in the 1990s as akin to the monster created in that novel. The last straw came when I found myself sending emails to my family instead of just picking up the phone to call them or better yet, pop over to see them! I realized that I was falling down the rabbit hole of technology in a way that I was not comfortable with. Wowers! And that was waaaaaaay before platforms like RU-vid, My Space, Facebook, Twitter/X, TikTok, Instagram....!! Here we are now, a quarter of a century later. The song still rings true for me now and, in fact, my passion for the subject matter has only grown. I am still personally, so afraid to read. Why? Perhaps it is because it is so hard these days to trust the authenticity of what we read. Perhaps it is because I doubt my strength and ability to act upon what wisdom I do come across in things I may read. Perhaps it is because I will be even more afraid than I was almost 30 years ago to read my life's account one day! Now that you've helped me reflect a little more deeply, perhaps I may just open a book and ready this evening, to face these fears head on once again. Thank you my friend.

Indeed, time does seem to move so quickly sometimes...and with so much important work to yet to be done in our world! All the more reason for those of like mind, heart and action to stay close in community and keep up the effort of bringing more beauty and justice to this world! Thank you so much for your note my sister.

Wa alaikum as salam dear sister Maryam, what a lovely note! Thank you so much for taking the time to contact me. Sorry that I have no direct contact email on my website... I used to, but began finding it very hard to keep up with folks notes and letters. Songs were never problematic for me to write, but letters take me so much time! Nobody ever heard my spelling mistakes when I sang...but when I write emails or letters! Whoosh! What a mess! :) You have inspired me to perhaps put a contact page up on my site again as a means of staying in touch with others. These RU-vid platforms are not quite conducive to meaningful communication. In any event, I was very touched to read your note and was even a little surprised, as my old songs are not circulated very widely anymore. Sometimes it feels as if those songs were written by somebody else... or as if they were sucked into a time warp somehow and burned out like old stars. Knowing that young folks like you have kept them burning in your hearts and minds means SO much to me...especially given the tests our world is facing during this increasingly troubled times. There is always so much work to be done in this world toward increasing hope, peace, justice and care... May you be a strength to this world my sister, finding purpose and passion in your studies as you grow to serve humanity with your unique talents! Keep this old Don Quixote in your prayers along the way as I too try my best to carry on. My pen does not wag much these days I am sorry to say… but I do continue to till and plant and grow in other ways.

@@DawudWharnsbyOfficial thank you for taking the time to reply it means a lot🥰! I think a contact email would be a great idea, or even a social media page - although I don’t blame you for not entering the world of social media haha. But to be fair, contacting you now isn’t too bad considering that you’re still active, seeing and replying to comments, so there’s no stress to do either :) I will always come back and listen to and admire your wonderful work. Your songs have been with me for this long so I don’t think I could ever forget. Thank you for your kind words! I’ll keep you in my prayers, to you I may just be a stranger on the internet, but you have played a part in my life I will always be grateful for! May we meet in Jannah so I can thank you in person :) ❤️

Thank you for dropping a note.

Thank you so much my friend. Enjoy those early morning walks!

Thanks for sharing your opinion. My opinion on the matter is clearly defined through my body of work stretching back over thirty years. It's a moot point to discuss anyway, as I have stepped away from sharing any of my artistic expressions publicly for several years now ~ with guitar or without guitar. Peace, Dawud

Dear Teyba Tube, thank you so much for leaving a note. Such a privilege to have had my songs be a part of your life growing up. Please remember my family and I in your prayers. Peace, Dawud

@@DawudWharnsbyOfficial Aselamualeykum brother Dawud I’m curious you have wonderful Albums unfortunately not much views on you tube I’m suggest you to release your Nashidd on Awakening records especially the recently album, just my opinion Awfen .

​@@teybatube9357 ​ Wa Alaikum as salam Teybatube, thank you for the curiosity and suggestion. The good folks at Awakening Records and I go waaaaaay back. There is no doubt that Awakenings, and many of the artists they have promoted, have changed the way songs within the Muslim community have been produced, spread and enjoyed by the masses over the past few decades. Several Awakenings artists (past and present) are dear old friends of mine, and it pleases me that Awakenings has provided them with a platform to share their songs with the world. Being like brothers, Awakenings and I have long and lovingly joked, jested and (at times) even jostled over our differing approaches toward “the music business”. For over thirty years, my musical efforts have been rooted in the “community music” tradition, which, by its nature, is open, organic and not “commercial”. Admittedly though, I made a reluctant livelihood out of music and that reality has always been a struggle for me. Thus, I am in no position to criticize “commercial music” as a whole. I have always fought hard to remain more focussed on “Community music” than “Commercial music”. Sometimes that struggle has seen my toss punches of judgement at those who prefer other paths, but mostly it has simply resulted in me shooting myself in the foot whenever things have become too “comfortable” or corporate. I’ve shot myself in the foot so many times “professionally” over the years, that now I can hardly limp along as the singing cowboy I once was! Hahahahaha…. For the most part, I have avoided working with exclusive labels, PR reps, managers, agents, corporate sponsors, benefactors, producers, arrangers etc. I own all my own music publishing, manage all my own royalties, answer all my own mail and even code my own website! As a result, my songs have become more like “Happy Birthday” than any hit song by The Beatles, U2 or BTS. Knowing kids still sing my songs in schools and have no idea who I am or what I look like is wonderfully exciting to me! Where my songs have come to rest in the lives of others, warms my heart! YOUR message here warmed my heart! The fact that you felt comfortable connecting with me directly warms my heart! The fact that you felt comfortable enough to ask me your question and that we can correspond about it personally, warms my heart! At the end of the day - we all need to eat: Some go to fancy restaurants that are expensive and serve the elite; some go to fast-food outlets that are cheap and serve billions; some shop at corporate chain stores; some shop at independently owned shops; some shop direct from growers at farmer’s markets...and some enjoy growing as much of their own food as possible, sharing what their gardens yield with neighbours and wildlife. All are completely acceptable ways to obtain OR distribute food! Music is similar to food. When it comes to how I produce music, I am the type of fellow who likes to grow it personally, sharing it simply and directly from my home studio/garden. Thanks for joining me for the meal and music! ;)

@@DawudWharnsbyOfficial understandable may Allah increase your knowledge and mine and accept your good deeds!!! Selam

Salam MT, thank you for your message and the wonderful question. My apologies that I have no public email address or phone number on my website. As you can imagine, if I did, I would be busy full time just engaged in correspondence with people electronically! Perhaps if you go to my website and subscribe as a user, then post a comment on my latest post, I may get your email address and contact you directly? wharnsby.com/2023/04/10/meet-yarrow-mamout/

@@DawudWharnsbyOfficial Wa alaykoum Salam, That's what i have just did. Of course, i understand that you can't let everybody contact you personnaly. I had not see that we can do that on your website. Thanks a lot for your kind and quick answer.

@@user-rk7ii5iz7x Thank you so much MT, will follow ing immediately. My apologies for the delay.

As salamu alaikum! What a lovely and creative message you posted! A million thanks. These days I am no longer writing, singing or recording. There are about 30 or 40 songs I have, all piled up in an archive, that have never been released as albums or to streaming services.... Not sure if those songs would even be relevant anymore to our rapidly changing world. In the meantime, I am working on an educational animated series for children, to be released through Muslim Network TV later this year. Thank you for being in touch... do keep working and singing out for positive change, encouraging those around you to do the same in their own ways.

Wa alaikum as Salam Rehmat! Delightful to hear from you again, thank you for dropping me a note! Hoping all is well. Sorry to hear that it has been lonely time for you lately. It is indeed such a reality of our world that, we can be surrounded by so many people sometimes, but still feel "alone". All the more reason to link with like-minded and like-hearted people however, and wherever we are able.

@@DawudWharnsbyOfficial yes you are right. It is crazy how it is these days. But I am doing ok, I’m just struggling a lot mentally. It’s been really just so hard. But I’m trying to be strong and get through each day.

@@rf236 Hoping as summer has progressed that you have been feeling better. Better weather sometimes helps lift our moods. Stay strong my friend, and stay near those who comfort you with their kindness.

Thank you so much my friend. Such an honour that my songs were a part of your childhood! Keep well.

Delightful! Thank you so much for sharing my songs with me and taking the time to drop me a note. Hope this tutorial comes in hand with your daughter's guitar practice. For so long I have had hopes, plans and intentions of updating these tutorials more regularly ~ at one time even taking requests for future videos! Alas, the last few years I was unable to make that happen due to pressing family needs and changes. Perhaps in 2023 I may be able to come out of hibernation and reconnect with folks like yourselves a little more diligently. If that happens, are there any songs you daughter may be interested in learning form me on-line?

Thank you my brother. So meaningful to have been in your life for so many years. May you stay ever inspired ~ insha Allah!

@@DawudWharnsbyOfficial In your words...Peace Always!!!

What a tremendously moving and kind message. Thank you so much for your love my brother and for taking the time to be in touch. Kindly keep my family and I in your prayers.

Hi Justin! Thank you for your comment and for taking the time to post it. Your words mean a great deal to me and I do not take them lightly. That said, it is always hard for me to hear such positive feedback ~ perhaps because there are so many other wonderfully talented writers and musicals who have inspired ME over the years, that it is difficult for me to imagine my little songs playing any significant role in the lives of people who hear them. These days I have been trying to come to terms with all that. My beard is pretty grey and my pen has been pretty dusty lately, I am sad to admit. But I do have a few old albums and books in bits and pieces that were never published or released. Perhaps one day I will revisit them, if for no other reason than to give as gifts of thanks to folks like you who have been with me over the years. Peace, dawud

@@DawudWharnsbyOfficial Wow! Thank you for writing back! Your music has played such a major role through my life. I was introduced to your music as a teen by friends from Waterloo. I ordered Blue Walls and the Big Sky from CDBaby when I was in high school and was just hooked. Continued to follow your music. When I first saw a video of you singing The Truth that Lies Inside in a Masjid it brought me to tears. I don't think there is a single song written that has hit me so hard and that I felt I truly related to on a deep level. It remains my favourite song. The Beautiful Story of Yusuf, The Letter, and Another Day were another three that really stuck with me and I find myself singing at times. I more recently heard Welcome to the I.C.E. for the first time and just loved it. Loved that duet with Raef All About Me, too. Anyways I have been a fan for twenty years and always wanted the opportunity to tell you how much your music has meant to me. It has got me through some very rough times. But I'm in a good place and a father now and my son and I listen to your songs together. Thank you so much. Jazakallahu Khairun.

How could I write all that and not mention Education and the Working Man. That first drew me in and when I lived in Moosonee where we would daily wait at the docks for the "boat man" to take us across the river to Moose Factory Island, I would often break out into that song. So my wife is very familiar with it. Anyways thank you for taking the time to read and reply and for all the years of wonderful music you filled my life with. Please release that unreleased content! I am already excited!

@@justinhertwig5993 Goodness me! How incredible that you have even heard the "Blue Walls" songs! What you wrote about "Education and the Working Man" took me back to my late teens. I had almost forgotten about that song...especially since I rarely go back and re-listen to my albums. It is crazy that, even after all these years, I still feel the same way about technological progress, education and the cycles of trauma that often carry on within families. How incredible that you made the song a part of your life in Moosonee! ...and "Welcome to the I.C.E."! Oh how that song has caused me grief whenever I have re-entered the USA over the past twenty years! Recently I was about to pull it off-line as it gets so few listens... yet causes me such grief! Hahahahaha... Happy that you are singing along with it! These days, generally I find the CBP officers much more welcoming and polite.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your memories and for contacting me. Keep travelling with your mom as long and as far as you can through life and keep singing along! Perhaps she sang to you when you were a child? You may need to sing to her one day too to bring her comfort! Peace always, your brother Dawud.

Thank you Ibrahim. Ameen! Peace to you, and your family as well.

Thank you so much taking the time to reach out. Your message was so touching, masha Allah. It really meant so much to me. Perhaps it is that, All That Is Divine, weaves and interweaves throughout this world: connecting people with people, and people with nature, and nature with people... "invisible thread" (I call it) binding us all to each other and our world and to The Creator. Perhaps it is that, similar minds, hearts and spirits find connection and compassion and connectivity to each other, regardless of where they are geographically or even in time and space. Though I may not be out and about as much anymore with a social media presence, music videos or live concerts, just remember that I am still breathing, working, praying, thinking...and yes, even singing from time to time... in this world with you, regardless of where we are. As long as we all keep breathing, working, thinking, praying and singing... we will stay connected and benefit from each other. Please keep singing, listening and remember me in your prayers my friend. One day, we will meet, insha Allah, and sing together!

Salams my brother Bill! Thank you for popping in to drop a note, for sharing my old songs with your young ones and for still singing along with them on your road trips. Masha Allah! That's all any songwriter could ask for! Perhaps I myself am to blame for the fact that my old songs are not circulated as aggressively as the songs of other muslim singers. Commercial music ~ secular or otherwise ~ has never been my cup of tea. Over the past thirty years I have intentionally avoided signing contracts with muslim pop music labels or financial backers, working with agents, making videos or even using social media very much. There were times over the years when I tried those things...because I listed to the wrong advice, the wrong voice in my head or just to see how it all felt...but those things never felt right for me at all. I'm not saying they are "not right", I am just saying, they were not right for "me". I am happier to know my songs are floating around in the cars of families like yours, being sung in primary schools around the world and finding their ways into the lives of people organically. Please pass my sales to your father and cousin...your whole family for that matter! Please ask them to remember me in their prayers and my brother...keep singing! This world needs the beauty of people's voices raised in song now more than ever! My old voice is not that strong anymore on its own I am afraid.

Wa alaikum as salam dear Pearl! How wonderful that you listened to this song while in Pakistan! I never knew this particular tune had much circulation there. Ah, I too have such fond memories of my time living in Pakistan, moving there shortly after this song was recorded. God willing, I will get back again in the year ahead. Thanks you for sharing your memories my friend. Allah hafiz.

@@DawudWharnsbyOfficial I cant wait for new nasheeds from you next year Akhi. Keep the work up brother . Salam

@@AZ-xi8ng Thank you my friend. Though I am still on a hiatus from recording and travelling to sing, there are quite a number of songs for children I have recorded over the last ten years that have not ever been released to on-line streaming services. We'll see if those can make their way on-line at some point ~ God willing.

Wa alaikum as salam dear Tahir, thank you for taking the time to drop me a line. It always means so much to me when I hear from others who have found a little comfort in some of the songs I've written over the years. "Sunshine Dust and The Messenger" was written about 24 years ago. The exact moment the idea came to me is still very clear in my head and was similar to the image you described. Indeed, we all walk our own journeys and it is wonderful when our paths intersect or travel parallel to each other from time to time. How beautiful too that you have felt my songs appropriate to share with your children now as well. What an honour ~ thank you for sharing them! Please pass along my greetings and salams to your young ones. Do try, if and when you are able, encouraging them toward writing their own journals, poems , stories and songs. Listening to songs can be good for the heart, and writing is good for the mind. Surah "Iqra" begins with the command to "Read/Recite", but it continues on reminding us that God has also taught us the use of the "Pen". Change of heart can come through what we learn, but change of the world for the better must come through the hands, insha Allah. Please do keep in touch and please remember my family and I in your prayers.

Thank you so much for reaching out to connect and share your experience. It means a great deal to me knowing that, in some small way, I may have been a part of your journey at such an important time. Please remember my family and I in your prayers, especially during these last 10 special days of Ramadan. Peace my friend.

@@DawudWharnsbyOfficial Ok big brother.. I will.. I love you in Allah SO MUCH❤️❤️❤️ Thanks for being you 🌹

Thanks GrimFate. Generally speaking, “music” is sound, made up of vibrations. There is music all around us in nature: rhythmic rain, whistling breezes, clapping waves, singing streams and thumping thunder! Even the human voice is "musical" by it's very nature ~ being produced by our breath vibrating our vocal chords and resonating in the cavities of our faces. Qur'an even states that we are made of "SOUNDING clay" with a soul “blown” into us. The word “music” comes from the Greek word “muse” or “divine inspirer”. Qur'an teaches that we must be careful not to waste our sacred breath or powerful words in “idle chatter” or by speaking ill of others, their traditions, faith or characters. Poets are also cautioned not to be hypocritical by speaking one way, then acting contrary to their words and misleading people. By those suggestions, indeed, we can see how much of what the world knows now as “popular (pop) music” falls into question. Some muslims throw the baby out with the bath water and say “music is haram”: cut and dried. Some muslims say “music is halal” and open the flood gates for people to drown themselves into sounds, songs and environments that wash away their faith, devotion, dignity and decorum. Neither the Qur'an nor the holy prophet (upon whom be peace) ever categorically deemed beautified sounds, songs or "music" as “haram” ~ but the cautions of their words about how we use sound, what environments we foster with it and what we say when we speak or sing are VERY clear: “Either say what is good, or be silent”. If certain types of music or certain songs inspire you to do good, be a better person, comfort you in times of struggle and/or remind you of your divine purpose in life: celebrate them and sing them! I spent thirty years or more trying to do that with the best of my ability, integrity and heart. If (on the other hand) music, in general, distracts you from remembering God and clutters your mind or heart, I’d suggest avoiding human-made "music" and enjoy the sounds of God's creation as the soundtrack to your life. At this time in my life (I will not mince my words) that is what I have needed to do. The quiet around me these days has been very helpful to my heart and soul. Thanks for your question. Hope my answer wasn’t too long or confusing. Wa Allahu Alim.

@@DawudWharnsbyOfficial big waffler ain't ya.

@@DawudWharnsbyOfficial ok sheikh mufti jazakallah for your clear cut fatwa, makes sense 👍

@@GrimFate08 Just a human being trying my best. That's all any of us can do my friend. ...and indeed, I do love to eat waffles. 😜

@@GrimFate08 No fatwas from me... just thoughts, reflections, deductions, opinions, well intended suggestions and respectful replays to questions I always assume are asked with the similar degrees of respect.

Dear Mowliid Mohamed ~ as salaam alaikum and thank you so much for sharing these songs with me over the years. Thanks also for being in touch personally to let me know. That is a kind effort I do not take lightly.

Thank you Ahmad.

So honoured that you shared my songs with me as a child ~ and that they bring something special to you now as an adult. Your prayers too are very kind, masha Allah ~ thank you.

Warmest thanks Eternalx! Goodness me, you make me feel old!!! Hahahahaha... that's ok. I AM old! Indeed, life has changed so much since the days when I wrote the songs you may recall. What is crazy though, is that: when I think back to many of those old songs, I realize that I was just as concerned back then (in the mid to late 1990's) as I am now about so many of the same issues. And alas, many of those issues have become far worse in our world over the past 25 years. Many times I felt I was just singing into the wind. It comforts me to know that my strains were not lost into the universe...with some, perhaps, still echoing in people's memories and hearts. These days, I have stepped aside from singing "professionally", as I try to follow my heart's passion for "community music" and not "commercial music", religious or otherwise. I write new poems for my daughter's lunch bags each and every day and that brings me joy ~ alhamdulillah. Knowing you still recall my older more "public" songs, brings me joy too. Thank you.

So happy that you have been enjoying "Allah Knows". Zain has been a dear, close friend of mine for over twenty years and that song holds so many wonderful memories for us. Thank you for your sweet note and for taking the time to be in touch with me.

Mesajınız ve yıllardır şarkılarımı benimle paylaştığınız için teşekkür ederim. Lütfen dualarınızda beni unutmayın ve barış ve adalet için şarkı söylemeye devam edin!

Thank you so much my friend. Please do remember my family and I in your prayers. Masha Allah! Such an honour to have a note of support all the way from Bangladesh!

May Allah bless you for taking the time to post such a sweet message. How lovely it is to know that my old songs remain a part of your fond memories from childhood. Those early days of our lives are so sacred. My songs sit atop the shoulders of many other wonderful teachers, writers, activist and singers who's songs were a part of my own special childhood memories ~ people like Pete Seeger, Johnny Denver, Harry Chapin and others. Without them, I wouldn't have been inspired to share the types of songs I have with folks like you and your family. Keep on taking new steps every day to be the best you can be ~ a good muslim, a good citizen, a good neighbour and a good friend to all. Thank you for reminding me, in my greying years, to keep making those steps as well!

...and what a lovely note and kind sentiments you took the time to post! Thank you. Blessings to you as well.

Thank you for dropping a note. Happy to hear that you are brightening the world with song. There can never be too many people singing songs of hope, as far as I am concerned! As for Yusuf, Zain and I singing again... oh Goodness me! That was so many years ago when we all sang together. Back in about 2001 wrote and recorded a song called "The Prophet's Hands" ~ a sort of song of longing for comfort during troubled times. That was twenty years ago! A lot has changed in all of our lives since then. These days I am pretty absorbed in caring for my family and neighbours ~ singing only while I weed my garden and help my daughter fall asleep. Perhaps if more folks sang while they gardened, cooked and put their kids to sleep, we wouldn't need to pay others to sing for us! Song would be around us and in us like oxygen, instead of compressed into our ear-buds and iPhones.

@@DawudWharnsbyOfficial wow bro very inspirational my favorite somg of yours is the world is not a box i wish we colaborate on a project hit myemail we cansee a way of working together mashallah wa jakallah kher say hi to ur family

@@mohammedyahya972 Keep singing my brother. Sorry that I am not taking on any new projects of song these days ~ my daughters and father really need me at this important time in their lives. What I'd suggest is using your talents to sing with children and youth in your local community. Write and record with children! It will inspire them to grow up and, in turn, perhaps write and record with even more children! Before you know it you will be "Grandpa Yahya" and those kids will never forget the inspiration you brought them - insha Allah. I've left about 200 songs for the world to kick around...now I must focus on my helping my father organize his medications and my daughters organize their homework! :)

Dear brother Bilal, as salam alaikum. What a lovely note ~ thank you! It is wonderful to hear about your journey and the important paths of service you have chosen ~ medicine and the preservation of the Qur'an. Warmest congratulations on your marriage. May your path forward be one of joy, adventure, romance, peace and rich contentment with your life partner. In no way did I drop off the earth ~ though I wish I could have blasted off of it a few times! (What a crazy race of beings we humans are!) Over the years I simply shifted my energies from songwriting, toward the ever changing needs of my family and local community. It is touching to know that folks like you are still listening to my old songs after so many years. Songs can be wonderfully inspirational. If I had it all to do over again though my brother, honestly, I would have written songs while I did the dishes or cut the grass, and worked harder in school to be a nurse, a doctor or a Firefighter like my father. I would have sang more in the kitchen with my mother before she passed away and put more time into memorizing Quran, instead being a travelling troubadour away from home so much with such little Qur'an in my memory. Allah Alim! All I can say is: thank you for singing along with me and know that this old songwriter is very proud of you for choosing the path you chose to make this world a better place.

Dear Sabbir, greetings of peace and thank you for your comment.

@@DawudWharnsbyOfficial My beloved sir, I didn't expect that you would ever read my comment But Allah has made it false. Again I'm saying, Please give up music, Don't Throw yourself in Helfire. I know it's hard to give up one's profession but not impossible. You may know the history of Pakistan's great musician Junaid Jamshed (Rahimahollah) who totally left music just for Allah and dedicated his voice on Islamic Music.

@@ahmadtwopointo As salaam Alaikum.

@@DawudWharnsbyOfficial Oalaikum as salam oa rahmatullahi oa bakaratuh