From Cat Stevens to Yusuf Islam: A soulful journey

November 14, 10:27 AMAlbany Interfaith Spirituality ExaminerLinda Van Slyke

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Albany Interfaith Spirituality Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

                      A Call to Prayer  (1879)

On November 15, for the first time in decades, singer-songwriter Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) will be launching a full-scale music tour.

He attributes this return to the realization that music can provide "poetic inspiration" to "someone thirsting for peace and trying to understand the unexplained mysteries of life."  Mr. Islam states that this type of music will not make people Kafirs (non-Believers) "so long as it is within certain moral limits and does not divert a person from worship."

This preoccupation with all things spiritual began long ago.  At the height of his early fame, Cat Stevens asked himself:  Is this all there is? 

This question led to investigations of many a pathway.  He studied Zen Buddhism, astrology, numerology and vegetarianism.  When he came upon Islamic singing in a Marrakech, Morocco marketplace, he was immediately drawn to it.  He later stated:  I've heard of music for praise, for applause, for money, but this was music seeking no reward except from God.

This marked a turning point for Stevens in his own music.  He withdrew from the outer "scene" in order to focus upon learning and developing his new Muslim faith.  He married, began a family, and started the Islamia Primary School in London.  But all the while, music was simmering in his soul.

After the birth of his daughter, Islam wrote a song entitled "A is for Allah."  This song was intended to shift the focus from the creation (apple) to the Creator (Allah).  He slowly began to make his way back to the recording studio.

In 1995 Yusef made the album "The Life of the Last Prophet" on his own "Mountain of Light" label.  Some of these songs "brought the singing and poetry of the Islamic world and culture to many ears for the first time."  He then wrote music to inspire those devastated by the Bosnian genocide.  To date he has released eight Mountain of Light albums, mostly for children.

Yusef Islam's upcoming shows will incorporate parts of a "Moonshadow" musical that he's been writing.  The theme of this musical is a young man's spiritual journey.  Sounds very reflective of Cat Stevens' own soulfully melodic tranformation...