Sami Yusuf was born in July 1980 in Tehran, Iran, but he grew up in London, UK. His family is from Iran (Azerbaijan). He was born into a musical family, and thus, music played an integral part in his life. Sami’s initial training came from his father, who is a famous composer and musician. Sami is also a practicing Muslim who sees songs as a means of promoting the message of Islam and encouraging the youth to be proud of their religion and identity.

Sami learned to play several instruments at a very young age and gradually began to show a keen interest in singing and composing. He studied under several composers who had graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in London.Sami married a German in 2005. Her name is Maryam, the Arabic version of Mary, or Marian. She converted to Islam five years ago. As Sami mentions in his interviews, at the age of sixteen, he was spiritually awakened. He wanted to leave Music and do something for Islam. He even thought about joining Law School instead, but his best friend Bara Kherigi persuaded him otherwise. In 2003 he started working on Al Mu`alim (The Teacher), his first album. Sami and his friends started their company or foundation by the name of Awakening which produces musical products all over the world. Sami can speak Persian and English, as his family speaks Azeri, but he complains of not speaking Azeri as well. It has been one year that he has been living in Egypt to completing his studies on Islam and Arabic from Al-Zahra university..

Signed to the Awakening label his first album, Al-Mu'allim, was released in July 2003 and attained huge success. His second album, My Ummah, which was released in 2005, comes in two versions, a musical version and one with just percussion. Yusuf's music comprises mostly of songs to do with Islam and being a Muslim in today's world. He also deals with many social and humanitarian issues in his music. At present he is fast becoming a very popular figure in the Islamic world, and has made several videos of his songs.[4] A third album is planned for release during Ramadan or in (Sept-Oct) of this year. Sami showed off two of his songs from his yet-to-be released album in some benefit concerts organized by Islamic Relief. [5]

Nevertheless, he has also sparked controversy due to the nature of his shows which critics claim have more in common with western pop concerts than Islamic spiritual values he claims to espouse.[6] However he has published a rebuttal to these claims on his website.[7]

His international status has taken a clear enhancement on the second album with the participation of the trio of Outlandish on the track "Try Not to Cry".