Maher Zain is a 34-year-old Lebanon-born Swedish R&B singer, songwriter and music producer who is a strong advocate of anti-terrorism and anti-xenophobia. He showed his stance once again with tweets Monday after the triple suicide bombings rocked Saudi Arabia on the penultimate day of the holy month of Ramadan.
Sharing a photo from the Prophet's Mosque when it was hit by one of the suicide bombings, Zain tweeted "The Prophet's City #Medina. Terror knows no religion! ISIS, They're Godless nihilists! #MedinaAttack", using an acronym for the Daesh terrorist group.
Underscoring that terror really knows no religion with attacks all over the world, the singer reiterated that it is Daesh terrorists who give a bad name to Islam and are the religion's "foremost enemy".
As most terror attacks are blamed on Muslim extremists and the religion of Islam as a whole it is our duty to show that Islam is not about war, is not about disorder, is not about terrorism, says Zain.
Zain on many occasions has advised his fans to "do whatever [they] can to show Islam is not about war," saying "we are the face of Islam."Saying that terror incidents mostly are associated with Islam, Zain advises his fans: "I would like to advise all Muslims who are listening, to always remember we are the face of Islam; whatever we do, this is how people project Islam."
As an artist, Zain has tried to raise awareness through social media and show solidarity with people affected by terrorism.
Having already made songs on Palestine and Syria, Zain also wants to release a single on anti-terrorism, cooperating with multiple artists around the world.
A Muslim artist living in Europe, Zain definitely stands out from the crowd.
He says in his own experience that "it was very hard to find your identity, to understand who you are".
"You mix two countries, two cultures," he says: "But at the same time you learn so much and the main thing is that you can be yourself, you can adapt your culture but at the same time you can live in any country you want in the world," he adds.
"For me as a Muslim I know that it does not contradict, being a Muslim and living in Europe," he says, adding: "Alhamdulillah, it worked very fine for me," using an Arabic expression of relief.