Nisar Ahmad Sofi turned folk music videos into a Sufism channel with 17M+ views

Nisar Ahmad Sofi runs a handmade leather-bag workshop in Srinagar and originally used his YouTube channel mostly for Kashmiri folk-music gatherings. In early 2019, he uploaded an interview with Sufism practitioner Ghulam Safdar in which the two openly discussed their divergent views on the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad.

The interview drew more than 50,000 views and unusually active debate. Sofi used that response as a turning point, moving the channel toward long interviews with Sufi practitioners and teaching himself to produce better video with a camera, tripod, laptop, lighting, and microphone.

By the 2023 report, Sofi's channel had more than 88,100 subscribers and over 1,000 videos. Rest of World reported that his channel was among Kashmiri Sufism channels with more than 17 million total views, while some of his Sufi-song videos exceeded one million views.

The channel grew past 88,100 subscribers and 17 million total views, while some of its popular songs passed one million views.

The folk-music channel already supplied an audience and a publishing habit.

The interview created a public format for knowledge traditionally shared only with disciples.

YouTube let younger and time-poor viewers assess whether they connected with a practitioner.

Basic production investment made long, sensitive interviews easier to sustain.

A niche channel can grow by using a familiar format as the entry point, then making overlooked expertise accessible—provided the creator invests in quality and editorial judgment.

Sofi continued publishing interviews and songs and said he was glad other channels were entering the space. The audience expansion did not remove Kashmir's internet shutdowns or the risk of misrepresenting intimate religious ideas, so Sofi and his team kept exercising editorial judgment over what interviewees said publicly.