Al-Hubb was-Salam:

Giving a New Dimension to Love and Peace

Nabil El-Bakly, started the foundation for the band.

Two years ago I was invited by one of my best friends to attend a concert given by a unique Egyptian musical ensemble, one that is “different from anything else you have ever heard,” as she put it. The concert was to take place in Bayt Al-Harrawi in Islamic Cairo, where free concerts by leading bands are given throughout Ramadan. The idea sounded interesting and we invited along many friends, several of whom were not Egyptian. We sat in the small, crowded hall, anxious to hear the music that our friend had been telling us about for so long. After the first song, what caught my attention was the way all our friends, whether Egyptian or foreigner, enjoyed the music, even though not all of them were at the same level in understanding the lyrics. Halfway through the concert, while I was enjoying the music and watching the faces of my friends, I realized that this common understanding and ability for everyone to relate to this music was the whole point behind Al-Hubb was-Salam, which means “Love and Peace.” At that very moment I fell in love with their music and became a regular fan.

The history of the band—which consists of eight members with six instruments/vocals and two main singers—goes all the way back to 1975 when Nabil El-Bakly, an Egyptian composer from Alexandria, started the foundation for a band with a clear objective of exposing the world to a new vision of Egyptian Arabic music. The plan was to sing about a selection of universal topics, conveyed through creative lyrics that would relate to the need of human kind. His vision was to compose music that would touch human beings regardless of their language, race, religion, or beliefs; and from what I have seen, I have to say that he has succeeded to a great extent.

By 1984, the band had already released two albums Remember me, Alexandria and Under 20 Love. Two years after the release of their first album, Love and Peace was awarded the second prize in the Mediterranean Song Festival. The first prize was awarded to a band from France. This festival was considered an intercultural exchange since participants also came from Greece, Spain, Italy, and Cyprus.

By that time, the band had established a strong name in the music world in Egypt and was competing with the renowned band of Hany Shenouda, El-Masriyeen. Other bands started to emerge like Friends and 4M, but El-Masriyeen and Love and Peace remained the two most successful bands with their own original lyrics and music. At the same time, music took a new direction in Egypt, and the famous musician Hameed El-Shaery caused a revolution in music as he brought several new young singers to the field. A new style of music took over, and the emergence of many singers at that time created the mindset that “anybody can sing,” which had its negative consequences, as we can see now. The change in people’s taste and the popularity of the new music was one of the reasons that the band stopped its activity for more than 10 years, in addition to other reasons related to the band members themselves. However, for a few more years to follow, the band continued giving concerts to audiences of all ages. Concerts took place on university campuses, in cultural centers, in private and public clubs, and in parks throughout Egypt.

At the beginning of the 1990s, there were negotiations between the band and superstar Amr Diab, who wanted to buy the rights for the band’s lyrics and music and perform them with his own voice. Although the project did not work out, the negotiations with Amr Diab gave Nabil El-Bakly more confidence about the quality of his music and motivated him to come back to the field. And thus in 1998 the band was revived by Nabil-El Bakly and Ahmed Yosry, its founders, to include new members of talented young people. They believed that new blood was needed for the band to continue its work in the arts. Rehearsals for new songs were held; the band started working again and achieved many successes over the following few years.

In March 1998 Love and Peace received an invitation from the French Cultural Center in Alexandria to give eight concerts in Bressuire, France, at an international festival focusing on the theme “Egypt, Now and Forever.” Before the end of that year, the band dedicated the song “Luxor” to the Cairo International Song Festival in Egypt. The song was quite a success after being chosen for the closing ceremony of the festival. During that year, the band gave many concerts in Cairo, Alexandria, and other cities in Egypt.

In 2000, Love and Peace won the third prize in the Cairo International Song Festival, in which 31 countries participated. In 2001, the song “Ibn Al-Ganub” or “Son of the South” won the first prize in the Cairo International Song Festival. The band also gave a few live concerts in Cairo and Alexandria, among which were a concert in the Cairo Library and an open air concert in Collège Saint Marc for around 2,000 attendees. Other concerts were given in the Library of Alexandria, Mahka Al-Kal’a, and Bayt Al-Harrawi.

The band is expected to release a new album with a collection of their songs within the next two months. They are also planning to shoot a video clip for one of their songs to be released along with the album in an attempt to propel Love and Peace back into the market and expose as many people as possible to their music. Although I am personally skeptical about the success the album will have, given the current status of the market and the change in the standards of art, the existence of Love and Peace and other similar bands still remains significant, as they provide the audience with the variety that is so urgently needed now. The band believes that the current decline in the level of music and art provides them with an excellent competitive edge, as they are presenting themselves as a group of people that offer music with value, something which is very rare at the moment.

The songs of the band focus around certain themes such as the meaning of home and love in all its subtleties, not necessarily that between a man and a woman only, but rather love in the universal sense of the word, encompassing friendship, love for one’s country, and mutual love between human beings.

 Mohammad Shawky, A graduating senior in The American University in Cairo majoring in business administration, but is more passionate about education& learning, social development, performing arts, and creative writing.