Journalist Yazeed Kamaldien met the late musician Abdullah Ibrahim in Johannesburg, when he was still completing his studies and working freelance.
It is interesting that the late Cape Town-born pianist and composer Dollar Brand renamed himself Abdullah Ibrahim when he embraced Islam in 1968. Ibrahim was baptised Adolph Johannes Brand. His nickname Dollar sounds almost like Dullah, Cape Town’s shortened version of the name Abdullah, which means “slave of Allah”. Abdullah refers to the highest spiritual rank a human can attain, a suitable self-chosen name for a musician who practised spirituality in various forms and especially through his music.
For evidence, listen to his album ‘Solotude’, which I’m playing while writing this tribute, for a meditative music moment. It is my favourite Ibrahim album, with its track ‘The Wedding’ perfect for a quiet night of solitude — and writing.
I would often joke to my filmmaker friend Nadine Cloete: “Hoe gannit met Boeta Dullah?” (How is it going with ‘uncle’ Dullah?)
Cloete wanted to make a documentary film about Ibrahim. She was the first person to phone me this week about his passing on 15 June in Germany where he had been living. He was 91.
