Owais Raza Qadri

Muhammad Owais Raza Qadri is a Pakistani naat reciter (naat khawan) celebrated for his melodious voice and for the love and reverence his recitations express for the Prophet ﷺ Muhammad. ¹ The circulated biography calls him the "crownless king" of present-day sana khawans (reciters of praise). ¹

He started reciting naats at the age of eight, inspired by AlHaaj Yousuf Ashrafi, the naat khawan he took as his ideal. ¹ His first album was released in 1983, and numerous albums have followed since. ¹

The kalam he most likes to recite is that of Ahmad Raza Khan Barelvi, whom the biography names as his favourite personality. ¹ He has travelled to many countries to recite, including England, Dubai, Iraq, Iran, India, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Malawi, Kenya and Syria. ¹

The biography records that he is educated to intermediate level, that his first Umra was in 1992 and his first Hajj in 1996. ¹

In recognition of his services to the promotion of naats, the Government of Pakistan named him Best Naat Khawan in 2007. ¹ In 2008 the Barkati Foundation ceremonially weighed him in silver in honour of the same services. ¹

His official YouTube channel, @owaisrazaqadriofficial, counted 1,340,000 subscribers, 253,250,714 total views and 1,168 videos as of 5 November 2026 — dated platform figures, not museum-verified facts. ² The channel was created on 24 May 2017, and its most-viewed upload is his naat "Gham Hogaye Beshumar", at 15.69 million views. ²

Copies of the same circulated biography disagree about his birth date, giving 8 July 1970 in some copies and 17 October 1969 in others, so this museum records no birth date for him. ¹

• Islamic Lyrics, "Owais Qadri Lyrics, Naats, Videos & Albums", as read on 5 November 2026. ¹
• vidIQ, "Owais Raza Qadri YouTube Stats", updated 5 November 2026. ²