Yusuf Islam Forsakes the Glory of
Singing and Music for the Sake of Islam

Cat Stevens : “My elder brother gave me the Holy Qur’an
as a Christmas present, and that was a turning point in my life”

There were two important stages in the faith journey which led the British singer Cat Stevens to embrace Islam and change his name to Yusuf Islam. These two stages were the main cause of his decision to announce his conversion to Islam in 1977, the first is when his elder brother offered him a copy of the Holy Qur’an as a present, which is the first time when Cat Stevens is introduced to Islam through his brother, and the second when he was saved from drowning while bathing at sea.

His elder brother, who had returned from a visit to Jerusalem in the mid-seventies, was impressed by what he saw there. He started telling his brother about the good impression his visit to the holy city had left on him and about his admiration for the good treatment Muslims gave him there. This  is how Stevens’ faith journey started ; and it was not an easy journey, for it was full of obstacles and difficulties.

In spite of the fact that Yusuf Islam is not a new Muslim, since his conversion took place twenty three years ago, we are exposing the details of his faith journey because it is full of experiences and stands that need to be known in detail. Special mention should be made of the fact that he founded at the beginning of his conversion an Islamic society under the name of the “Islamic Circle”, whose purpose was to take care of new Muslims in an attempt to help them express their religious matters and strengthen faith in their heart.

Since his announcement of his conversion to this day, Yusuf Islam has shown strong enthusiasm for working in the service of Islam and has made valuable efforts for the sake of Islamic Da`wa inside and outside Britain, which gives his Islamic work and efforts a world dimension.

I met the Muslim Da`ia, Yusuf Islam, more than three times in London. I also met him at the Muslims’ Union Congress in North America in Chicago. During these meetings, I explained to him my work on preparing a report about new Muslims. He praised the idea. At the time I did not have any important references related to his conversion to Islam. We also talked more than once about the attention he gave to the Islamic matters and Muslims’ affairs inside and outside Britain. In addition to his attention to Da`wa, Yusuf Islam gave special attention to education. He was a pioneer in founding the first comprehensive Islamic school in Britain, namely the “Islamic School” in north London.

Since he embraced Islam, Yusuf Islam has endeavoured to have a close relationship with the Islamic Cultural Centre in London. Moreover, he participated considerably in charity voluntary work, such as his work in the Society for Building Mosques. Then, he embarked on setting up an Islamic study group which took care of the new Muslims in Britain. As to his faith journey, he said that it was ushered in by a gift from his elder brother which consisted of a copy of the Holy Qur’an and talks about Mosques in Jerusalem. He remarked that after he had finished reading the Holy Qur’an for the first time in his life, he discovered the meaning of creation and life and found a number of answers for a number of puzzling questions that were on his mind and which concerned Creation and the Creator.

Yusuf was able to adapt himself quickly to his new religion and showed great enthusiasm for it, which helped him change himself from a hippy of the 70’s to a leading figure of the British Muslim society.

Stevens, born Steve Georgiou in London in 1947, was the son of a Greek father and a Swedish mother. He started to write songs since his youth, while a student in Hammersmith Faculty in London and had his first hit with “I Love my Dog” in 1966. He started to become a famous singer under the name of Cat Stevens. In January 1967 one of his songs reached the Top Ten.

After his recovery from an illness which made him stop his activities for a period of time, he returned to the world of music in 1970 ; his songs were popular and he became a famous singer and musician, as his songs managed to go beyond the local level to achieve international renown.

In 1977, after spending some time in exile in Brazil away from British taxes, he returned home and embarked on his faith journey in search of convincing answers to puzzling questions about life, death, Creation and the Creator.

Actually, after a patient and in-depth study of religions, Stevens focused on studying Islam and started to read a large number of Islamic books, in addition to reading the Holy Qur’an. He felt an attraction to Islam ; thus, he quickly announced his conversion to Islam in 1977 and changed his name to Yusuf Islam. After that, he gave up singing and music.

In 1979, he married Fuzia Ali, an Asian Muslim girl whom he saw at Kingston Mosque in West London. He had five children with her.

Yusuf Islam started to deeply understand Islam through his in-depth study of the Holy Qur’an. He was fully convinced of the need to give up singing and music and put an end to his career as a singer and a musician. He sold his musical instruments and devoted his income to building an Islamic school where children could have an Islamic education, besides regular general education. Thus he founded the Islamic school in Kilburn in north London.

Yusuf Islam married a Muslim woman whom he saw for the first time in a mosque and whom he had not spoken to before. His wedding was organized in the Islamic manner. He wanted his five children to get a religious education in addition to their regular general education. Perhaps his concern for his children’s education was the reason why he gave much attention to Islamic education in Britain.

Yusuf Islam started to have an interest in Islamic education in Britain in 1983 when he became the president of the Islamic Schools Trust. Thus, he first founded the Islamic Primary School and then the Islamic Secondary School for boys and girls in North London. Yusuf Islam requested the British government to allot a budget to Islamic schools in the same way it provided an amount of money for the schools of the other religious communities such the Catholic, the Anglican and the Jewish ones. Though the British government did not fulfil his request easily, he kept his campaign till his objective was achieved. The British Government approved his request and specified a budget from the Ministry of Education to the Islamic Schools, among which were Yusuf Islam’s Islamic Schools.

Yusuf’s argument with the governments of the 1980’s in this respect was : “Why do the Islamic schools in Britain not enjoy the same rights as the other religious schools such as the Anglican, Catholic and Jewish schools ?”

Yusuf Islam has lived since his childhood the experience of coexistence with various religious denominations. His father was a Greek Christian Orthodox while his mother was a Swedish Christian following the Catholic denomination, in addition to the fact that the British society in which he lived was Anglican. All of these are various religious denominations in Christianity within which he was born and grown. His mother was determined that he would go to a religious school; consequently, he studied in a Catholic school.

At 19, Yusuf Islam was at the top of his fame as a singer and musician. At this time, he became ill with tuberculosis and was forced to give up singing and music, as well as mixing with people. He remained secluded in a hospital where he was given medical treatment. In the meantime, he started to search for a spiritual direction in studying many philosophies and reading various philosophical and religious books.

It was from this point that his faith journey took a spiritual direction the features of whose course were not yet formed, for he remained eager to read more of these books in a quest of psychological peace and in order to fill the spiritual vacuum he was suffering from. This period of time was an important turning point, not only in his faith journey, but also in the whole course of his life. Furthermore, the importance of this period rose from the fact that it was part of the awakening of the sixties’ generation.

Yusuf Islam said : “My elder brother offered me a great Christmas present, namely a copy of the Holy Qur’an, and he started telling me with obvious emotion about the different aspects of what he saw during his visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. At the same time, he was wondering about the secret of the Islamic religion. I felt then that this present came at the appropriate moment, since I was confused, looking for the way to salvation in philosophical and other religions books.”

“When I received this great present, I was like a boat sailing without destination. After reading the Holy Qur’an I became aware of my destination. I planned my road and I felt that my guidance and that of the whole humanity was in the Holy Qur’an. This is how my journey with the Book of Allah led me to the belief in Allah as God, in Muhammad (PBUH) as a Messenger and in the Qur’an as the Book. Thus, I announced my conversion to Islam and changed my name from Cat Stevens to Yusuf Islam because I was greatly impressed by the story of our Lord Joseph (PBUH) in the Holy Book. I decided to give up singing and music, considering them as aspects of a transient life, and took refuge in what is with Allah, which is better and everlasting.”