AR Rahman says changing his faith made him ‘more peaceful’, recalls how rejected jingles were accepted after Sufi’s blessing

Rahman said that the Sufi blessed his studio and Rahman found that his teachings brought a certain kind of peace to his life. “Nobody told us that you have to come to this faith. I was just more peaceful. I felt like something special, like things were working out. The jingles which were rejected, after prayers would get accepted,” he shared. It was at this point that Rahman told his mother that they had to choose a new faith and she agreed with his decision.

Rahman said that this is when “things kind of opened up. We were going to the Sufi shrines. I was buying all the books and it was just fascinating,” he shared.

When asked if there was any social changes that the family had to face because of their change in faith, Rahman said that Indians are very accepting people and they did not face any kind of discrimination. “Indians are very open people, especially in south, they are very open, very embracing and they are happy people. They want everybody to live and let live and that’s what happened,” he said. Rahman noted that the situation in India has largely been the same but acknowledged that the “past few years have been strange because of political stuff.”

AR Rahman was born as Dileep and his mother was a practicing Hindu until the family decided to change their faith.