Yusuf Islam / Cat Steven%u2019s website (Cultural Event #4)

Yusuf Islam / Cat Steven’s website (Cultural Event #4)

For one of my cultural events I also chose to do a review of the Yusuf Islam/ Cat Steven’s website. The following link will take you to the website www.yusufislam.com.

This is not your average and boring website that you might assume, with just information about somebody. It is rather an interactive and creative website with lots of information spread out as links behind objects in a room such as a portrait, television set, record player and many others. Clicking on these objects takes you to the corresponding information associated with it. This made it so much easier for me to explore this website. It also has music playing in the background of the homepage which adds a nice feel to it.

So who is Cat Stevens?  Does the song “The First Cut is the Deepest” ring any bell? Yes, that song which was popularly redone by many artists including recently by Sheryl Crow, was originally done by none other than Cat Stevens. I’m sure many of you would have at least heard one of the songs that he did back in the late 60’s and 70’s that earned him the title of a pop legend. Why did he then abandon his music career? Above all, what convicted him to pursue the Muslim faith and go as far as to change his name? These were the questions I had when I was reviewing this website.

Browsing through the site, I found the link to his bibliography that helped me answer these questions. According to the website, the beginning of his search to finding the purpose of life and something beyond was when he got tuberculosis and felt how it was like being closer to death. However, the real transformation from Cat Stevens to Yusuf Islam took place after he nearly drowned to death in Malibu, California in 1975. He recalled calling out to God to save him in return that he would work for God, and his prayers were answered which led him to believe in a higher control over one’s life. Also, something I found interesting was that in an interview, when asked as to why he completely gave up music instead of accommodating it with his new Islamic faith, he replied “… I suspended my musical activities for fear that it may divert me from the true path”. This shows his true desire for following his new found faith.  

I also asked myself, what connection if any, does Salman Rushdie have to Yusuf Islam because this website was recommended by my ‘Multicultural Literature’ instructor while we were covering the novel East West by Rushdie. Well, it seems to be that during the time when the fatwa was released for the death of Salman Rushdie in 1989, Yusuf Islam was asked for his opinion about it while he was talking to some students at Kingston University. His response was interpreted by the media that he was in favor of it. However he corrected this misinterpretation, saying that he did not imply that in any way.

Another interesting event happened after the tragic 9/11 incident when in September of 2004; Yusuf Islam was denied entry into the US on the basis that he had connections with the Islamic militant group called Hamas. However, Yusuf was later allowed entry into the US in 2006 after his name had been cleared.

I found this website a very unique and helpful one. There are many more things that you can find on it including videos of some of his performances and other information. You should definitely check it out if you are interested in finding out more about Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam.