“The Choirs performed it at a festival called “Les Choralies à De La Salle”.įilion said the song was his attempt at bringing in diversity and cultural inclusion and was not originally intended for the Syrian refugees. “The song was renamed Alhamdoulillah,” said the choir’s director Robert Filion. In this video posted on December 11 with the title “Welcome To Canada Syrian Refugees,” the song was arranged by Canadian composer Laura Hawley. The song, ‘Tala’ al-Badru ‘Alayna,’ is a traditional Islamic melody sung to the Prophet Muhammad to welcome him as he sought refuge in Madinah after being forced to leave his hometown of Mecca. This YouTube video shows an Ottawa children’s choir singing what appears to be a welcome song for Syrian refugees in Arabic. MONTREAL - It’s a shaky and grainy video, but its message is what has the Internet in tears.
Regarded as the first nasheed (Islamic religious song), Tala' al-Badru Alayna was sung to the Prophet after he fled persecution in Mecca in 622. A look at choir's members shows diversity and multiculturalism, hailed by Canadians to be some of the most important values in the country, in addition to human rights. Nevertheless, in the video, a group of children aged 8-12 are seen singing the song, with piano playing in the background. The story of Kilani's video turning into a touching news story praising Canada and its recent stance on refugees also became a good example of verifying the source and how stories published in social media can transform into massive and misleading hits.
Kilani, who was touched by the event and the song, posted the video to her Facebook account with the title "Syrian refugees welcome to Canada", and the rest of the story followed. The video was initially shared by proud parent Dima Kilani, a Canadian Muslim, whose child took part in the choir. The Qatar-based Al Jazeera network, which also featured the choir as a welcoming event for refugees, published an article on Tuesday stating that the video was merely a choir activity in a multicultural French school in Ottawa. However, recent reports suggested that the choir and the song did not have anything to do with welcoming the refugees, though it remains to be unusual choice for a Western country. The story was featured in numerous Canadian news outlets along with various other news outlets around the world, including Daily Sabah. Talaal-Badru alayna, min thaniyyatil-Wada wajaba al-shukru alayna, ma daa lillahi da O the White Moon rose over us From the Valley of Wada And we owe. A video recently posted on YouTube, featuring a children's choir singing Tala' al-Badru Alayna, which was sung by Prophet Muhammad's companions to welcome him as he sought refuge in Medina, went viral as it was shared as a welcoming event for refugees in Canada while the country was getting ready for the second group of refugees.