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It
is quite an intriguing fact to know how a pop star
can end up becoming a Muslim, from being a self absorbed super star
to absorbing himself in devotion to ‘The Superpower’:
God.
Yusuf
Islam was actually born Steven Demetre Georgiou in London, 21st
July 1948. Stevens was extremely attracted to what the world had
to offer, particularly in regards to entertainment and the arts.
So after leaving school at 16, he entered Hammersmith Art College
and the following year, 1966, he recorded his first single and became
Cat Stevens.
As Cat Stevens was growing up he was beginning to question the Christian
faith. He was taught that God exists, but there was no direct contact
with Him. Stevens accepted this but did not believe it. At this
stage, he was beginning to feel alienated from his religious upbringing,
and so this led him to his music career.
For
twelve years Cat Stevens was selling number one records throughout
the world. Some of you who are my age or younger may not have heard
of Cat Stevens but I can assure you that you would have thought
he was the ‘BOMB’.
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At
the tender age of 16 Cat Stevens was number one and had the
world at his feet. He was making more money than any teenager
could ever dream of making and his name and picture were all
over the media. I mean, isn’t this what so many of us
can only dream about? Just being famous would allow us to have
everything we want, so why was Cat Stevens feeling so empty? |
After living a year of luxury and financial success Cat Stevens
became very ill and was hospitalised. While Stevens was in hospital
he spent most of his time thinking to himself. The one thought that
was constantly on his mind was, “Was Cat Stevens just a body
and was he merely just put on this earth to please this body of
his?”
This calamity was a blessing given to him by Allah. This opened
his mind and he began to ask himself many questions. Questions like,
“Why am I on this earth? Why am I here? Why am I in this bed?”
This was the beginning of a new journey for Cat Stevens. This was
the time for him to start searching for the answers to the question’s
he asked himself. He then began to read into many religions.
Stevens
tried many different things. He tried meditation and even thought
that becoming a vegetarian might help him find more meaning to life.
It was the age of peace and ‘flower power’, but Stevens
was still not content. He then tried Buddhism, Zen and Ching, numerology,
tarot cards and astrology. He even tried to look back into the Bible
and did not find anything he could hold onto.
At this stage Cat Stevens knew nothing about Islam and what he considers
a miracle occurred. His brother had visited a mosque in Jerusalem
and was greatly impressed that while on the one hand it throbbed
with life, an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity prevailed. When
his brother came back to London he brought back the English translation
of the Holy Quran, which he gave to Cat Stevens.
When Stevens received the Quran, he felt that this was a guidance
that would explain everything to him. He felt it would provide him
with the answers he had been searching for.
Stevens
was now discovering his new faith. “I now feel I’m
a Muslim. On reading the Quran, I now realised that all the
prophets sent by God brought the same message,” he said.
He saw that the beauty of the Quran in the way it asks you to
reflect and reason on the things around you.
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When
he read further into the Quran he saw that it talked about prayer,
kindness and charity. While reading all of this he had not become
a Muslim but felt that the answer for him was now from the Quran
and God had sent it to him.
Stevens then decided to journey to Jerusalem. While at Jerusalem
he went to the mosque and sat down. A man asked him what he wanted.
He turned around and told him, “I am a Muslim.”
In 1977, about one and a half years after he first received the
Quran, Cat Stevens declared the shahadah, declaring that there is
no deity worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His
messenger. He now became Yusuf Islam.
Yusuf Islam now does everything for the pleasure of Allah and prays
that everyone gains some inspiration from his experiences. Do remember
that Yusuf Islam did not come into contact with any Muslims before
he embraced Islam. He read the Quran first and realised that not
everyone is perfect, but Islam is perfect.
By Amna Elghoul
References:
http://www.mountainoflight.co.uk/pages/profile/yusuf_profile.html
http://www.yusufislam.org.uk
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