Zakaria was born in Erbil, Kurdistan. Born into a musical family he dedicated most of his early childhood to music. In 1993, Zakaria moved to Sweden and began pursuing his music career. He initially played keyboards, composed and arranged, for other popular Kurdish stars. In 1998, his first album "To Hati" (You came) was well received by Kurdish audiences worldwide. The album was recorded with a good help from a swedish popular musician. "To Hati" was the first music video in his career.