Umm Kulthum is undoubtedly
the most famous and recognized person in the History of the Middle East.
It would be difficult indeed to find an Arab and almost impossible to find
an Egyptian today who did not know Umm Kulthum. While she was alive
her broadcasts were aired live on Egyptian radio, and later throughout
the Arab world, on the first Tuesday of every month. During
the broadcasts, the streets of some of the most populous cities in the
world were eerily quiet as most people were in their homes tuned attentively
to their radios. Umm Kulthum was born near the beginning of the century
to a poor rural family. Her father was a Shaykh who taught her how
to chant the Qur’an. She attended the Kuttaab when she was five years
old where she recited and memorized the Qur’an. 
Her
classical education in the Qur’an became her strongest asset as a singer.
She was precise and deliberate in her diction which enabled her to manipulate
words and phrases precisely to captivate her audience’s emotions.
She did not use musical scores, she simply sang a few simple lines over and over altering them as her heart saw fit. She was fueled by her audience and created complex scales to feed their moods.
Umm Kulthum took
advantage of changing technology, while keeping to classical Arabic music
and instruments. She was a pioneer in using the phonograph, radio
and cinema that magically allowed her voice to be “mixed with the air”
(Umm Kulthum, A voice like Egypt, Arab film distribution). The combination
of advanced technology, traditional sounds and a strong voice catapulted
Umm Kulthum into the home and heart of every Egyptian. She was, in
her time, a major force in creating an Egyptian nationalism and even unified
the entire Arab world beneath her. Her songs moved and touched people
in a unique way that connected them together.
Umm Kulthum was
powerfully emotional. Her emotion drove her to perform and to be
excellent at her craft. Her emotions also transferred to her fans
which created an energy that focused on the causes that she felt drawn
to. She performed benefit concerts for students and rallied people
to demonstrate against the British Army’s occupation of Egypt. She
sang; “Give your soul in sacrifice to the nation. We will perish,
but our Egypt will live forever and we will live on in those who remember.”
She felt anger and disappointment at Egypt’s loss to Israel in 1948.
Umm Kulthum threw a party for the returning army officers who became national
heroes. Gamal Abdul Nasser was one of those heroes who would later
become one of Umm Kulthum’s biggest supporter and closest friends.
Umm Kulthum sang; “Not through hope will the prize be obtained. The
world must be taken by struggle” which became the motto of the demonstrations
against the corrupt King Farouk. Umm Kulthum’s voice stood firmly
behind the group of army officers that took control of the government in
July 1952. She supported Nasser and brought along with her the hearts
of the Egyptian citizens.
On February 4th,
1975, Egyptian radio aired the chanting of the Qur’an. It was the
sign that someone important has died. Umm Kulthum’s funeral drew
more than four million people to the streets of Cairo to publicly mourn
her passing. More than twenty four years after her death, she is
still heard daily on the radio and her albums are top sellers.