Cat Stevens, was a British singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, humanitarian & education philanthropist. He was one of the most famous pop star of 1970's.
| Cat Stevens / Yusuf Islam |
|---|
Cat Stevens in Böblingen, Germany in 1976
|
| Background information |
| Birth name |
Steven Demetre Georgiou |
| Also known as |
Steve Adams, Yusuf |
| Born |
21 July 1948 (age 65)
Marylebone, London, England, United Kingdom |
| Genres |
Folk rock, psychedelic rock, soft rock, pop rock, synthpop, electro, nasheed, spoken word, Hamd |
| Occupations |
Singer-songwriter, musician |
| Instruments |
Vocals, guitar, bass, mandolin, organ, piano, mellotron, double bass, percussion, synthesiser |
| Years active |
1966–1980 (as Cat Stevens)
1995–present (as Yusuf Islam) |
| Labels |
Deram, Island, A&M, Jamal, Ya |
| Associated acts |
Alun Davies |
| Website |
www.yusufislam.com |
| Notable instruments |
Baldwin piano
Epiphone Casino
Fender Rhodes
Fender Telecaster
Gibson Everly Brothers Flattop
Gibson ES-335
Gibson J-200 |
 |
Stevens performing in Waikiki Shell, Oahu, Hawaii, 1974
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EARLY LIFE
He was a big star. In his thoughts music and media popularity was his god, the goal of making money. His only purpose in life was to make a lot of money,
had a 'great life.'
Then he started
making songs, & become a pop star. Very soon he earned his name as
pop star, he earned great fame in a very short period but with all these
fame he always had a feeling for humanity, a feeling that
if he would be rich he could help the needy. (It says in the Qur'an, we
make a promise, but when we make something, we want to hold onto it and
become greedy.)
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Stevens in 1974. The stage decor reflects his song, "Boy with a Moon & Star on His Head" from Catch Bull at Four
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He has been brought up in the modern world of all the luxury and the high life
of show business, in a Christian home,
but we know that
every child is born in his original nature - it is only his parents that
turn him to this or that religion. He was given this religion
(Christianity) and thought this way. He was taught that God exists, but
there was no direct contact with God, so we had to make contact with Him
through Jesus - he was in fact the door to God.
He narrate : I accept all their teachings but i can't fully swallow them & when I looked at some of the statues of Jesus; they were just stones with no
life. And when they said that God is three, I was puzzled even more but
could not argue. I more or less believed it, because I had to have
respect for the faith of my parents.
AT HOSPITAL
After a year of financial success and 'high' living, he became very ill,
contracted TB and had to be hospitalized. It was then that he started to
think:
What was to happen to me? Was I just a body, and my goal in life
was merely to satisfy this body? I realized now that this calamity was a
blessing given to me by Allah, a chance to open my eyes - "Why am I
here? Why am I in bed?" - and I started looking for some of the answers.
At that time there was great interest in the Eastern mysticism. I began
reading, and the first thing I began to become aware of was death, and
that the soul moves on; it does not stop. I felt I was taking the road
to bliss and high accomplishment. I started meditating and even became a
vegetarian. I now believed in 'peace and flower power,' and this was
the general trend. But what I did believe in particular was that I was
not just a body. This awareness came to him at the hospital.
RELIGIOUS CONVERSION
One day when he was walking & caught in the rain, He began running
to the shelter and then he realized,
'Wait a minute, my body is getting
wet, my body is telling me I am getting wet.' This made him to think of a
saying that the body is like a donkey, and it has to be trained where it
has to go. Otherwise, the donkey will lead you where it wants to go that realized him of a will, a God-given gift: follow the will of God. He then started learning in the Eastern
religion & became fed up with Christianity. He started making music
again and this time he started reflecting his own thoughts.He said:
I remember the
lyric of one of my songs. It goes like this: "I wish I knew, I wish I
knew what makes the Heaven, what makes the Hell. Do I get to know You in
my bed or some dusty cell while others reach the big hotel?" and I knew
I was on the Path. He then wrote many religious songs like
"The way to find God out" .
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Yusuf appearing at the Islam Expo in London, (2008)
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While on holiday in Morocco, Stevens was intrigued by the sound of the Adhan(Azaan),
the Islamic ritual call to prayer, which was explained to him as
"music
for God". Stevens said,
"I thought, music for God? I'd never heard that
before – I'd heard of music for money, music for fame, music for
personal power, but music for God!"
In 1976 Stevens nearly drowned off the coast of Malibu, California,
USA and said he shouted:
"Oh God! If you save me I will work for you."
He related that right afterward a wave appeared and carried him back to
shore. This brush with death intensified his long-held quest for
spiritual truth. He had looked into "Buddhism, Zen, I Ching, numerology, tarot cards and astrology". Stevens' brother David Gordon visit the Mosque (Masjid) in Jerusalem and
was
greatly impressed that while on the one hand it throbbed with life
(unlike the churches and synagogues which were empty), on the other
hand, an atmosphere of peace and tranquility prevailed, then he brought him a copy of the Qur'an as a birthday gift from a trip to Jerusalem. Stevens took to it right away, and began his transition to Islam.
He said:
And when I received the book, a guidance that would explain everything
to me - who I was; what was the purpose of life; what was the reality
and what would be the reality; and where I came from - I realized that
this was the true religion; religion not in the sense the West
understands it, not the type for only your old age. In the West, whoever
wishes to embrace a religion and make it his only way of life is deemed
a fanatic. I was not a fanatic, I was at first confused between the
body and the soul. Then I realized that the body and soul are not apart
and you don't have to go to the mountain to be religious. We must follow
the will of God. Then we can rise higher than the angels. The first
thing I wanted to do now was to be a Muslim.
I realized that everything belongs to God, that slumber does not
overtake Him. He created everything. At this point I began to lose the
pride in me, because hereto I had thought the reason I was here was
because of my own greatness. But I realized that I did not create
myself, and the whole purpose of my being here was to submit to the
teaching that has been perfected by the religion we know as Al-Islam. At
this point I started discovering my faith. I felt I was a Muslim. On
reading the Qur'an, I now realized that all the Prophets sent by God
brought the same message. Why then were the Jews and Christians
different? I know now how the Jews did not accept Jesus as the Messiah
and that they had changed His Word. Even the Christians misunderstand
God's Word and called Jesus the son of God. Everything made so much
sense. This is the beauty of the Qur'an; it asks you to reflect and
reason, and not to worship the sun or moon but the One Who has created
everything. The Qur'an asks man to reflect upon the sun and moon and
God's creation in general. Do you realize how different the sun is from
the moon? They are at varying distances from the earth, yet appear the
same size to us; at times one seems to overlap the other.
Even when many of the astronauts go to space, they see the insignificant
size of the earth and vastness of space. They become very religious,
because they have seen the Signs of Allah.
When I read the Qur'an
further, it talked about prayer, kindness and charity. I was not a
Muslim yet, but I felt that the only answer for me was the Qur'an, and
God had sent it to me, and I kept it a secret. But the Qur'an also
speaks on different levels. I began to understand it on another level,
where the Qur'an says,
"Those who believe do not take disbelievers for friends and the believers are brothers."
Thus at this point I wished to meet my Muslim brothers.
Then I decided to journey to Jerusalem (as my brother had done). At
Jerusalem, I went to the mosque and sat down. A man asked me what I
wanted. I told him I was a Muslim. He asked what was my name. I told
him, "Stevens." He was confused. I then joined the prayer, though not so
successfully. Back in London, I met a sister called Nafisa. I told her I
wanted to embrace Islam and she directed me to the New Regent Mosque.
This was in 1977, about one and a half years after I received the
Qur'an. Now I realized that I must get rid of my pride, get rid of
Iblis, and face one direction. So on a Friday, after Jummah' I went to
the Imam and declared my faith (the Kalmah) at this hands. You have
before you someone who had achieved fame and fortune. But guidance was
something that eluded me, no matter how hard I tried, until I was shown
the Qur'an. Now I realize I can get in direct contact with God, unlike
Christianity or any other religion. As one Hindu lady told me, "You
don't understand the Hindus. We believe in one God; we use these objects
(idols) to merely concentrate." What she was saying was that in order
to reach God, one has to create associates, that are idols for the
purpose. But Islam removes all these barriers. The only thing that moves
the believers from the disbelievers is the Salat. This is the process
of purification.
Finally I wish to say that everything I do is for the pleasure of Allah
and pray that you gain some inspirations from my experiences.
Furthermore, I would like to stress that I did not come into contact
with any Muslim before I embraced Islam. I read the Qur'an first and
realized that no person is perfect. Islam is perfect, and if we imitate
the conduct of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) we will be
successful. May Allah give us guidance to follow the path of the ummah
of Muhammad (Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). Ameen!
He permanently turned to Islam, done a lot of work for peace & humanity and turned his name permanently to YUSUF ISLAM.
Yusuf married Fauzia Mubarak Ali on 7 September 1979, at Regent's Park Mosque in London. They have five children and three grandchildren and currently live in London, spending part of each year in Dubai.
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Yusuf at the 2009 MOJO Awards in London.
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HIS VIEWS ABOUT 9-11 INCIDENT
Immediately following the 11 September 2001, attacks on the United States, he said:
- I wish to express my heartfelt horror at the indiscriminate
terrorist attacks committed against innocent people of the United States
yesterday. While it is still not clear who carried out the attack, it
must be stated that no right-thinking follower of Islam could possibly
condone such an action. The Qur'an equates the murder of one innocent
person with the murder of the whole of humanity. We pray for the
families of all those who lost their lives in this unthinkable act of
violence as well as all those injured; I hope to reflect the feelings of
all Muslims and people around the world whose sympathies go out to the
victims of this sorrowful moment.
I am here posting this article for all those people who were saying that he is non-Muslim as his father practices Hindu religion. Here are answers for your every question. He is not only a Muslim but a practicing one Ma Sha'a Allah :)
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