Umm Kulthum (c. 1904–1975)

Umm Kulthum
(c. 1904–1975)

Umm Kulthum (also Om Kultum, Oum Kalsoum, Umm Kaltum, Um Kultum) Ibrahim al-Baltaji was one of the most famous singers of the Arabic-speaking world in the twentieth century. Her eventual role as a cultural icon made her arguably the most important Arab musician of her time.

PERSONAL HISTORY

Umm Kulthum was born in Tammay al-Zuhayra, a village in the Egyptian delta, probably in 1904. Her father, Ibrahim al-Baltaji, was the imam or prayer leader of the local mosque; her mother, Fatima al-Maliji, was a housewife. She had an older brother, Khalid, and sister, Sayyida. The family was poor and its lifestyle not different from most of her Egyptian contemporaries. To make extra money, Umm Kulthum's father sang religious songs for social occasions such as weddings or saints' days and trained his son to accompany him. Umm Kulthum learned these songs by virtue of proximity and surprised her family with her strong voice. Eventually, dressed as a boy, she joined her father's group and performed regularly in the eastern delta. Despite efforts to disguise her gender, she soon was known as the little girl with the powerful voice and became a local curiosity that attracted attention to the family troupe.

She also joined her brother in Qur'an school, or kuttab, small local schools designed to teach children to recite the Qur'an properly, to read, write, and sometimes to do some arithmetic. (During Umm Kulthum's childhood, British colonial authorities did not encourage further education for Egyptians.) Although attendance at kuttab was more routine for boys than girls, there were other girls in Umm Kulthum's class and, in fact, the lessons of the kuttab formed a common fund of knowledge for most Egyptian Muslims of Umm Kulthum's generation. Despite the predictable variability in teaching at these schools, the children tended to absorb a respect for careful pronunciation of Arabic and a sense of the beauty and elegance of the language that remained with many of them throughout their lives. These widely shared sensibilities informed Umm Kulthum's later aesthetic choices and helps explain the strong connections many of her compatriots felt for her art.

The then-new sound recordings—78 rpm gramophone records that circulated all over Egypt in the early years of the twentieth century—provided another means for Umm Kulthum and her family to learn the art of singing and new songs. Because record players often appeared in public spaces—coffeehouses, for example—even people who could not afford the equipment could hear the recordings. The father of one of Umm Kulthum's childhood friends also owned a record player and invited villagers to listen to records in his home. From these, Umm Kulthum learned to love the religious poetry (Arabic: qasa'id, singular: qasida) performed by al-Shaykh Abu'l-Ila Muhammad who later became her teacher in Cairo.

Following years of traveling the delta, Umm Kulthum came to the attention of musicians from Cairo, themselves traveling to perform at events often sponsored by local wealthy families. They encouraged her father to move the family to Cairo, where increased income and opportunities would be available. After some consideration, the family decided to join the large numbers of villagers migrating to the city in search of work. …