QuoteReplyTopic: My encounter with Yusuf Islam(Alias Cat Stevens) Posted: 27-Jun-2012 at 10:41
THE WRITER WITH YUSUF ISLAM ALIAS CAT STEVENS THE 27th of June 1988-London
IN THE NAME OF GOD THE COMPASSIONATE THE MERCIFUL
Subject: Imminent Muslim Figures I met in my Life…..
It was the 27th of June 1988 in London
YUSUF ISLAM, Formerly (Cat Stevens).
Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou, 21 July 1948) originally and commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English Musician , he is a Singer Writer , Multi Instrumentalist ,Educator ,Philanthropist and above all a Relevant and Prominent convert to Islam.
It goes without saying that the early Seventies saw the driving force and indisputable fameof this famous Person in the form of hisrecord albums “Tea for Tiller man” ,”Teaser & the Fire cat” which certified asTriple Platinum by the RIAA in the United States, his 1972 album “Catch the bull at four “ sold half a million copies in the first two weeks of release alone and was Billboard’snumber-one L.P for three consecutive weeks, moreover, he has also earned two ASCAP songwriting awards in consecutive years for " the First cut is the deepest”, which has been a hit single for four different artists.
Cat Stevens converted to Islam in December 1977 during my stay in London , without being aware of this great event, headopted the “Muslim Name Yusuf Islam”, the following year, and in 1979, he auctioned all his guitars for charityand left his music career to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community , as such he has been given several awards for his work in promoting peace in the world, including 2003's World Award , the 2004 Man for Peace Award, and the 2007 Mediterranean Prize for Peace.
Furthermore, in 2006, he returned to pop music with his first album of new pop songs in 28 years, entitled “Another cup”, he now goes professionally by the single name Yusuf, his most recent album “Road singer” was released on 5 May 2009.
It would be such important stance to recall the early life of this Modest & Relevant figure, Steven Georgiou, wasborn in Marylebone , London, England and he was the third child of aGreek Cypriot father, Stavros Georgiou (b. 1900), and a Swedish mother, Ingrid Wickman (b. 1915), he has an older sister, Anita, and brother, David, the whole family lived above the Moulin Rouge, a restaurant that his parents operated on the north end of Shaftesbury Avenue which was a short walk from Piccadilly circus in the Soho Theatre District of London , all family members worked in the restaurant, but his parents divorced when he was about 8 years old, but they continued to maintain the family restaurant and live above it.
Paradoxically as it may seem , his father was a Greek Orthodox and his mother a Swedish Baptist , the thenGeorgiou was sent to a Catholic school “theSt. Joseph Roman Catholic Primary School in Macklin Street, which was closer to his father's business on Drury Lane, at that time , the thenGeorgiou developed an interest in Piano at a fairly young age, eventually using the family baby grand piano to work out the chords, since no one else there played well enough to teach him, on top of that very well inspired by the popularity of famous “Beatles” and at theage of 15 he extended his interest to the Guitar and did convinced his father to pay £8 for his first instrument, and began playing it and writing songs.
Childish whimsand teenage adventures were present during his early life as he would escape at times from his family responsibilities to the rooftop above their home, and listen to the tunes of the musicals drifting from just around the corner from Denmark Street, which was then the centre of the British music industry, later, Stevens has emphasized that the advent of West Side Story in particular affected him, giving him a "different view of life", he said in 2000, on a VH1Behind the music program ,full of passion and interest to both art and music, he and his mother moved to Gavle in Sweden, where he attended primary school (Solängsskolan) and in this city he also started developing his drawing skills after being influenced by his uncle Hugo Wickman,a painter.
After, a return to London, where Stevens used to perform music and songs in neighbouring pubs and coffee houses, Stevens went on to record and tour with an eclectic group of artists ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Engelbert Humperdinck, truly he was considered a fresh-faced teen star, placing several single releases in the British pop music charts, some of that success was attributed to the Pirate radio station the Wonderful radio London which gained him fans by playing his records. In August 1967, he went on the air with other recording artists who had benefited from the station to mourn its closure, his famous December 1967 album“New Masters” failed to chart in the United Kingdom. The album is now most notable for his song" the First cut is the deepest”, a song he sold for£30 to P.P.Arnold that was to become a massive hit for an international hit for Keith Hampshire, Rod Stewart, James Morrison and Cheryl Crow.
The Divine providence was at stake with Stevens’ tuberculosis in 1969 and was close to death at the time of his admittance to the King Edward VII Hospital in Midhurst where he spent months recuperating in hospital and a year of convalescence and during this ordeal, the young Stevens began to question aspects of his life, and spirituality. He later said “to go from the show business environment and find you are in hospital, getting injections day in and day out, and people around you are dying, it certainly changes your perspective and I got down to thinking about myself. It seemed almost as if I had my eyes shut”.
Stevens went on with Mediation, Yoga and Metaphysics and started to read about the different Monotheistic Religions (Islam, Christianity & Judaism) , as a result of his serious illness and long convalescence, and in a bid to fill the Spiritual gap that missed him, and in a spiritual awakening and questioning campaign, he wrote as many as forty songs, many of which would appear on his albums in years to come.
On his Truth seeking probing search and while on holiday in Marrakech, Morocco, and shortly after visiting Ibiza in Spain, Stevens was intrigued by the sound of the “Adhan”, the Islamic ritual call to prayer, which was explained to him as a sort of “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!, so 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 sooth to say that this brush with death intensified his long-held quest for spiritual truth. He had looked into Buddhism, Zen ching, Numerology, Tarot cards, Astrology…. But none of these tenets convinced him , not until his Brother David Gordon brought him a copy of the Holy Quran , the Book of Muslims as a birthday gift from a trip to Jerusalem, Stevens took to it right away, and began his transition to Islam, and during the time he was studying the Qur'an, he began to identify more and more with the name of Prophet Joseph or Yusuf in Arabic, a Man bought and sold in the market place, which is how he says he had increasingly felt within the music business.
Backing up his stance with the right chosen Religion as well as the Right choice he made, he declared to the Rolling Stone Magazine “I had found the spiritual home I'd been seeking for most of my life. And if you listen to my music and lyrics, like "Peace Train" and "On the Road to Find Out", it clearly shows my yearning for direction and the spiritual path I was travelling.
To his Great joy and in full fledged conviction, Stevens converted to Islam on the 23rd of December 1977, taking the name of “Yusuf Islam, Yusuf married “Fouzia Mubarak Ali” on the 7th of 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.
No wonder even being a Freelance Writer it would be hard to mention all the different steps of this Man whom I had both the Honour and Privilege of meeting him a certain date of the 27thof June 1988 in London in the Islamic Primaria School in Brent North of London, thanks to the great help of a very Truthful Brother from Bangladesh (Mr. Abdusalam) who had his two Children in this school and invited me to meet Yusuf on this occasion , as such recalling back a pleasant time which dates back to 24 years ago, is certainly a great event to be meditated for future encounters with such Distinguished and Relevant Persons that are here to serve the ever growing faith of Islam and Humanity at large.
•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk1EUd4YY2Q
•http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=-OjS2ZEEm7M
•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkJCJOHNvMs
•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbd_zr3FDtM
•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L-GOHa5-YQ
Edited by Nick1986 - 29-Jun-2012 at 15:43
Seek Knowledge from the Cradle to the Grave-Prophet Mohamed(P.B.U.H)
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IN THE NAME OF GOD THE COMPASSIONATE THE MERCIFUL
Subject: Imminent Muslim Figures I met in my Life…..
It was the 27th of June 1988 in London
YUSUF ISLAM, Formerly (Cat Stevens).
Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou, 21 July 1948) originally and commonly known by his former stage name Cat Stevens, is an English Musician , he is a Singer Writer , Multi Instrumentalist ,Educator ,Philanthropist and above all a Relevant and Prominent convert to Islam.
It goes without saying that the early Seventies saw the driving force and indisputable fame of this famous Person in the form of his record albums “Tea for Tiller man” ,”Teaser & the Fire cat” which certified as Triple Platinum by the RIAA in the United States, his 1972 album “Catch the bull at four “ sold half a million copies in the first two weeks of release alone and was Billboard’number-one L.P for three consecutive weeks, moreover, he has also earned two ASCAP songwriting awards in consecutive years for " the First cut is the deepest”, which has been a hit single for four different artists.
Cat Stevens converted to Islam in December 1977 during my stay in London , without being aware of this great event, headopted the “Muslim Name Yusuf Islam”, the following year, and in 1979, he auctioned all his guitars for charity and left his music career to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community , as such he has been given several awards for his work in promoting peace in the world, including 2003's World Award , the 2004 Man for Peace Award, and the 2007 Mediterranean Prize for Peace.
Furthermore, in 2006, he returned to pop music with his first album of new pop songs in 28 years, entitled “Another cup”, he now goes professionally by the single name Yusuf, his most recent album “Road singer” was released on 5 May 2009.
It would be such important stance to recall the early life of this Modest & Relevant figure, Steven Georgiou, was born in Marylebone , London, England and he was the third child of a Greek Cypriot father, Stavros Georgiou (b. 1900), and a Swedish mother, Ingrid Wickman (b. 1915), he has an older sister, Anita, and brother, David, the whole family lived above the Moulin Rouge, a restaurant that his parents operated on the north end of Shaftesbury Avenue which was a short walk from Piccadilly circus in the Soho Theatre District of London , all family members worked in the restaurant, but his parents divorced when he was about 8 years old, but they continued to maintain the family restaurant and live above it.
Paradoxically as it may seem , his father was a Greek Orthodox and his mother a Swedish Baptist , the thenGeorgiou was sent to a Catholic school “the St. Joseph Roman Catholic Primary School in Macklin Street, which was closer to his father's business on Drury Lane, at that time , the thenGeorgiou developed an interest in Piano at a fairly young age, eventually using the family baby grand piano to work out the chords, since no one else there played well enough to teach him, on top of that very well inspired by the popularity of famous “Beatles” and at the age of 15 he extended his interest to the Guitar and did convinced his father to pay £8 for his first instrument, and began playing it and writing songs.
Childish whims and teenage adventures were present during his early life as he would escape at times from his family responsibilities to the rooftop above their home, and listen to the tunes of the musicals drifting from just around the corner from Denmark Street, which was then the centre of the British music industry, later, Stevens has emphasized that the advent of West Side Story in particular affected him, giving him a "different view of life", he said in 2000, on a VH1Behind the music program ,full of passion and interest to both art and music, he and his mother moved to Gavle in Sweden, where he attended primary school (Solängsskolan) and in this city he also started developing his drawing skills after being influenced by his uncle Hugo Wickman,a painter.
After, a return to London, where Stevens used to perform music and songs in neighbouring pubs and coffee houses, Stevens went on to record and tour with an eclectic group of artists ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Engelbert Humperdinck, truly he was considered a fresh-faced teen star, placing several single releases in the British pop music charts, some of that success was attributed to the Pirate radio station the Wonderful radio London which gained him fans by playing his records. In August 1967, he went on the air with other recording artists who had benefited from the station to mourn its closure, his famous December 1967 album“New Masters” failed to chart in the United Kingdom. The album is now most notable for his song" the First cut is the deepest”, a song he sold for£30 to P.P.Arnold that was to become a massive hit for an international hit for Keith Hampshire, Rod Stewart, James Morrison and Cheryl Crow.
The Divine providence was at stake with Stevens’ tuberculosis in 1969 and was close to death at the time of his admittance to the King Edward VII Hospital in Midhurst where he spent months recuperating in hospital and a year of convalescence and during this ordeal, the young Stevens began to question aspects of his life, and spirituality. He later said “to go from the show business environment and find you are in hospital, getting injections day in and day out, and people around you are dying, it certainly changes your perspective and I got down to thinking about myself. It seemed almost as if I had my eyes shut”.
Stevens went on with Mediation, Yoga and Metaphysics and started to read about the different Monotheistic Religions (Islam, Christianity & Judaism) , as a result of his serious illness and long convalescence, and in a bid to fill the Spiritual gap that missed him, and in a spiritual awakening and questioning campaign, he wrote as many as forty songs, many of which would appear on his albums in years to come.
On his Truth seeking probing search and while on holiday in Marrakech, Morocco, and shortly after visiting Ibiza in Spain, Stevens was intrigued by the sound of the “Adhan”, the Islamic ritual call to prayer, which was explained to him as a sort of “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!, so 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 sooth to say that this brush with death intensified his long-held quest for spiritual truth. He had looked into Buddhism, Zen ching, Numerology, Tarot cards, Astrology…. But none of these tenets convinced him , not until his Brother David Gordon brought him a copy of the Holy Quran , the Book of Muslims as a birthday gift from a trip to Jerusalem, Stevens took to it right away, and began his transition to Islam, and during the time he was studying the Qur'an, he began to identify more and more with the name of Prophet Joseph or Yusuf in Arabic, a Man bought and sold in the market place, which is how he says he had increasingly felt within the music business.
Backing up his stance with the right chosen Religion as well as the Right choice he made, he declared to the Rolling Stone Magazine “I had found the spiritual home I'd been seeking for most of my life. And if you listen to my music and lyrics, like "Peace Train" and "On the Road to Find Out", it clearly shows my yearning for direction and the spiritual path I was travelling.
To his Great joy and in full fledged conviction, Stevens converted to Islam on the 23rd of December 1977, taking the name of “Yusuf Islam, Yusuf married “Fouzia Mubarak Ali” on the 7th of 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.
No wonder even being a Freelance Writer it would be hard to mention all the different steps of this Man whom I had both the Honour and Privilege of meeting him a certain date of the 27thof June 1988 in London in the Islamic Primaria School in Brent North of London, thanks to the great help of a very Truthful Brother from Bangladesh (Mr. Abdusalam) who had his two Children in this school and invited me to meet Yusuf on this occasion , as such recalling back a pleasant time which dates back to 24 years ago, is certainly a great event to be meditated for future encounters with such Distinguished and Relevant Persons that are here to serve the ever growing faith of Islam and Humanity at large.
•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk1EUd4YY2Q
•http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=-OjS2ZEEm7M
•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkJCJOHNvMs
•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbd_zr3FDtM
•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L-GOHa5-YQ
A known and admitted supporter of fatwa tho he continues to deny...which means he is an extremist. he may have walked that back because of the bad press and potential lost revenue.....but until he categorical deny's his position relative to fundamentalist extremism and clears up the matter of possible funding to Hamas...he remains a suspect covert terrorist...a mouth piece flammer.
So I'm not impressed.
Edited by Centrix Vigilis - 27-Jun-2012 at 12:33
"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"
S. T. Friedman
Pilger's law: 'If it's been officially denied, then it's probably true'
Hamas was based in London, banked in British banks and protected from Israel and the US by the British government.
All he really did was quite legally in Britain, give money to registered charity and deposit it in a high street bank. (I think quite legal in the US too)
I think that if you are going to level terrorism and fundamentalism charges at him, you need to include the British government and banking system in the accusation too.
Stupidity got us into this mess, why can't it get us out?
Hamas was based in London, banked in British banks and protected from Israel and the US by the British government.
All he really did was quite legally in Britain, give money to registered charity and deposit it in a high street bank. (I think quite legal in the US too)
I think that if you are going to level terrorism and fundamentalism charges at him, you need to include the British government and banking system in the accusation too.
I think I can speak for CV when I say"hey, no problem consider the British Gov. and banks included".
Abu, Stevens isn't the best example to use if your trying to get folks to take you seriously. For the most part, he's considered to be a flaming nut case who, realizing his career was in the toilet, figured he could get some press by taking an anti US stance. A strategy that might have worked in the 60's, however all he seemed to achieve was to piss off the people he was trying to impress, the record buying public.
Edited by red clay - 27-Jun-2012 at 13:42
"Arguing with someone who hates you or your ideas, is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter what move you make, your opponent will walk all over the board and scramble the pieces".
Unknown.
Quite a shame, my father used to listen to him when he was young but then the who Salman Rushdie thing came along and ruined his image. Feels bad to see people transform into despicable biggots.
I think I can speak for CV when I say"hey, no problem consider the British Gov. and banks included".
Hey! Great I agree too. It's not North Korea and Iran, but Britain and the United States that are the two world's worst supporters of international terrorism and have been since WWII.
Edited by Toltec - 27-Jun-2012 at 15:26
Stupidity got us into this mess, why can't it get us out?
First of
all great THANKS to all my dear audience who have “contributed” through their
opinions and views although it may seema negative one , still all respect to such freedom of speech and
analysis, but it seems to me quite funny and it is both deplorable and peculiar that the Western attitude to this MAN is
reallyenigmatic , once he was CAT
STEVENS , he was welcomed, accepted , cheered and Blessedand when he converted to Islam he turned up to be
Rejected, unwelcomed, dismissed and blamed , such behavior is that of the
Primitive pagan tribes that history told us about !!!
It goes
without saying that this double standard policy is mainly due to the western
mainstream mediawhich does not uphold professional and impartial views and
principles and favours certain people and groups as well as tilting towards
certain political directions , thus history fallacy facts as well as Religious
hatred are very detrimental to Humankind and the dialogue of Civilisations!!!!
Seek Knowledge from the Cradle to the Grave-Prophet Mohamed(P.B.U.H)
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