The Singing Sheikh

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Sheikh Imam Mohammad Ahmad Eissa, born 1918, is famous throughout the Arab world for his folk songs indicting the ruling classes. Considered the voice of the oppressed, he is banned from state television and radio, and has been imprisoned numerous times, including in 1974 for the occasion of President Nixon’s visit. With scenes of Egyptian street life set to his often caustic musical criticisms of his native Egypt’s upper classes, the Sheikh’s message is that “If a beautiful thing is suppressed today, it will rise tomorrow.”