The performance of a classic Arabic song by a group of École Secondaire Publique De La Salle school children in Ottawa touched the hearts around the world. The song went viral over the weekend in connection with the arrival of the first plane-load of Syrian refugees in Canada. However, the choir director Robert Filion clarified that the decision to use the song was made even before the Canadian government announced that it would accept 25,000 Syrian refugees, CBC reports.
The beautiful song belonging to the Arabic poetry genre called ‘Nasheed’ i.e children songs with religious value and interest, has tremendous historical significance as it was reportedly sung by girls to welcome prophet Muhammad in Medina in the seventh century A.D. This is a reminder of one of the very first migrations in Islam and is indicative of the deeper themes of welcoming the refugees with open hearts.
The song is an effort to promote the wider themes of promoting multicultural in Canadian society. “Every year we try to touch different cultures, and a year ago we started planning to do a Muslim-inspired piece,” Filion told the CBC. “We came up with that tune … and the rest is history.”
Shared on Friday, More than 900,000 people have viewed the song over youtube including Prime minister Trudeau who later Tweeted a “well done” praising the choir’s performance. It was shared Friday after the first planeloads of refugees began arriving in Canada. The song touched the audience around the world and youtube was swarmed with a large number of comments.
People in Canada and around the world seemed relieved after the xenophobic speeches by political leaders and expressed love and compassion on youtube site of the song saying “Thank you Canada u made me feel that there still hope in this world.”
