Yahya Hawwa

Hawwa was born in Hama, Syria.[1] Hawwa was five when his father and uncle were killed in front of him in Hama, Syria in 1982 during the era of Hafez al-Assad. He and his mother fled from Syria to Saudi Arabia after his father was murdered. His father and uncle were market traders, selling fruit and vegetables and had a brother who was a leader in the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, and an outspoken critic of the Syrian government.[2]

Hawwa was raised in Mecca, Saudi Arabia where he also completed his secondary education and memorized the Qur'an.[1] He studied Islamic Studies and specialized in fiqh (jurisprudence) at Al-Zarqaa University in Jordan. In 2003, he graduated with a Master's degree in Education and Psychology. During his study, Hawwa was the Imam of Al-Kaluty Mosque in Amman.[1] Hawwan is also classically trained in Qur'anic recitation.[2]

Hawwa started his music career at a young age. After meeting Syrian poet Saleem Abdul Qader who encouraged him, he took up singing. His debut album is Ji'nak (in Arabic meaning We Came to You). Lebanese musician Khaled Janon and Jordanian musician Ayman Tayseer helped him in developing his skills in oriental music singing. He followed studies at the Academy of Music and learned the fundamentals of Western singing with Ameera Al-Naser in the Hefny Institute in Cairo.

Hawwa released albums such as Mutafael (متفائل; meaning Optimistic), Anta Qalbi (انت بقلبي; meaning You Are In My heart), Kon Jamilan (كن جميلا; meaning Be Beautiful), and other albums. He also presented music videos such as (قلبي شدا; meaning My Heart Is Singing), عروس الشام (Bride of Sham), (ايات ربي; meaning God's Verses) and (ياذالجلال; meaning Beholder of Greatness), which won an award from The International Festival of Cairo for Music Videos in 2009. Since 2002, he has produced six albums. He also produced Quranic albums and Nasheed clips.[1]

In 2005, Hawwa released the song "Hayati lillah" (حياتي لله; meaning My Life Is For God), which was broadcast on many satellite channels and was translated into a number of languages, including Spanish, English, Malay, Turkish and Kurdish.

Hawwah has visited many of the Middle East countries, North America and Europe.[1] He has visited countries in the Arab World such as Egypt, Mashriq countries, Maghreb countries and the Persian Gulf, as well as England, Canada, Spain, Russia, Australia, Turkey and Malaysia, and most recently the United States 2012 tour for Syria.

In the space of two years since the Syrian Revolution, Hawwa wrote 30 songs.[2]

Hawwa is married and has five children, Huda, Muhammad, Muneer, Sami and Adam.[3]

• Syrian people
• Music of Syria

• Official website
• Yayha Hawwa at AllMusic
• Yayha Hawwa on iTunes