By Agencies,
Chennai Famous young Indian music composer Yuvan Shankar Raja announced that he has converted to Islam. Yuvan, son of Indian music maestro Ilayaraja, took to twitter to reveal that he follows Islam, Times of India newspaper reported on Monday.
“Yes I follow Islam and I’m proud about it. Alhamdhulillah (praise be to God).My family supports my decision and there is no misunderstanding between me and my dad,” posted Yuvan on Twitter. Few days later he quit twitter after getting abused online.
Yuvan Shankar Raja
A source close to Yuvan Shankar Raja revealed: “He has been following Islam for more than a year now and he broke the news to the family around eight months ago. I don’t think he’s going to change his name.” Following Yuvan’s confession, his father Ilaiyaraaja and others from the family are expected to make a formal statement soon.
The source added: “Yuvan was very attached to his mother and soon after she passed away, he started missing her a lot. He also met a spiritual guru, but we cannot say what exactly made him follow Islam,” and maintained that, he was definitely not inspired by fellow composer AR Rahman (who had converted to Islam) in his decision.
Yuvan, the source said, has been practicing Islam for almost a year now. “He has been doing namaz five times a day all these months. He is not missing his prayers even when he is at work and ensures that he allots time for it at his studio as well,” said the source. The source added that Yuvan is now in the process of converting to Islam. “Currently, he is planning to convert to Islam and is also thinking of going for a change of name. But, he is yet to decide on these. Since it is his personal decision, his family members respect it.”
Born on 31 August 1979, Yuan is a singer-songwriter, film score and soundtrack composer, and occasional lyricist from Chennai, capital of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He has predominantly scored music for the Tamil films. Being the youngest son of noted film composer Ilaiyaraaja, he began his musical career in 1996, at age 16. After initial struggle, he made his big break with a film soundtrack in 2001, and evolved as one of Tamil cinema’s most sought-after composers by the mid-2000s. Within a span of 15 years, Yuvan has worked on over 100 films. Considered a versatile composer, he often strives for different and innovative music. He has bagged several prestigious awards.