From Dilip Kumar to AR Rahman: How composer embraced Sufi Islam; his mother was a practising Hindu

AR Rahman’s mother was a practicing Hindu before she embraced Sufi Islam

Born as Dilip Kumar, Rahman, in the last 30 years, has been very open about his faith as the composer has said that he was born as a Hindu, but embraced the path of Sufi Islam after his father’s death. In a chat with Nasreen Munni Kabir for the book ‘AR Rahman: The Spirit of Music’, the composer shared that his mother was a “practicing Hindu” and was always “spiritually inclined.” He shared, “My mother was a practising Hindu. She had always been spiritually inclined. We had Hindu religious images on the walls of the Habibullah Road house where we grew up. There was also an image of Mother Mary holding Jesus in Her arms and a photograph of the sacred sites of Mecca and Medina,” he shared.

Rahman shared that during his father’s struggles with cancer, the family met a sufi, and upon meeting the same sufi around 8 years later, they decided to embrace Islam. “There was a sufi who was treating him towards the end days before he died. We later met him after 7-8 years and that’s when we led another spiritual path which gave us peace,” he told Karan Thapar in a chat in 2000. He shared that the change in faith gave them “another spiritual path” that gave them peace. Since this happened back in the 1980s, Thapar was curious to know how the society around them saw this change and the composer said, “No one around us really cared. We were musicians and that allowed us greater social freedom…”

AR Rahman gained nationwide fame after Roja. (Photo: Express Archives)

How Dilip Kumar changed his name to AR Rahman

In the chat with Karan Thapar, Rahman shared that it was actually his mother who gave him his new name Allah Rakha (AR) as she got it in her dream. However, in the book by Nasreen Munni Kabir, he said that he got this name from a Hindu astrologer. He remembered visiting a Hindu astrologer with his mother who wanted to show his sister’s horoscope to discuss her marriage. Around this time, Rahman was dabbling with the idea of changing his name and the astrologer suggested him two names – Abdul Rahman and Abdul Rahim. “He suggested the names: Abdul Rahman and Abdul Rahim and said that either name would be good for me. I instantly loved the name Rahman. It was a Hindu astrologer who gave me my Muslim name,” he recalled.

Rahman’s birth name Dilip Kumar is associated with the screen name of the veteran actor, who was born as Yusuf Khan, but Rahman was not very fond of his name. He told Nasreen, “The truth is I never liked my name. No disrespect to the great actor Dilip Kumar! However, somehow my name didn’t match the image I had of myself.”

AR Rahman is an Oscar, BAFTA award winner. (Photo: Express ARchives)

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He shared that after the family moved from their house on Habibullah Road to Kodambakkam, he felt a major spiritual shift. This was a year after they met the sufi named Qadri Saaheb. He said, “When we moved, I was reminded of what Jesus Christ, peace be upon Him, once said: ‘I wish that you were cold and hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.’ These words taught me that it is better to choose one path. The Sufi path spiritually lifted both my mother and me, and we felt it was the best path for us, so we embraced Sufi Islam.”

AR Rahman is a ‘fan of all religions’

In a chat with Nikhil Kamath in 2025, AR Rahman was asked if he follows Islam, and he replied that he follows Sufism. He said he was a “fan of all the religions” and has studied Islam, Hinduism and Christianity. “My one problem is killing or harming other people in the name of religion. I love to entertain, and when I perform, I feel like it’s a shrine, and we are all enjoying the fruits of oneness. People of different religions, who speak different languages, all come together there,” he said.

When asked to explain religion, he said, “Sufism is like dying before dying. There are screens which will make you self-reflect, and in order to remove those screens, you have to perish. Lust, greed, jealousy, or judgements all need to die. Your ego is gone, and then you become transparent like God. You become part of the light.” Describing himself as a “spiritual beggar”, Rahman said he is on a spiritual path. He said, “You may be rich in money but poor in spirituality. I consider myself a spiritual beggar. I go to a dargah or sit near the beach and meditate to become rich in deeds.”