Yusuf Islam... the artist formally known as Cat Stevens

My dad used to listen to Cat Stevens all the time... And one of the adored memories of my childhood is sitting in the back seat while my father translates Cat Steven's song "Father and Son".

Influenced by this... i grew up loving all Cat Steven's songs.

Then Cat Stevens became Muslim

Cat Stevens, now Yusuf Islam, stopped making music... which was a loss to the world.

anyway... When i was studying in the States... i knew a man named Sadeq and he was also a huge fan of Cat Stevens...

We argued about why Yusuf Islam stopped playing music.

"It was a shame... he stopped being an artist for religion... he should have continued... many great artists stop after being religious just like Sulaiman Zeiman (the Bahraini musician)". I said

"No... When someone converts or changes his life's purpose, sometimes drastic changes need to be made" Sadeq would reply.

I was convinced :-/

I come back home to Kuwait in the summer and casually mentioned this to Dad...

"Quiting music after converting to Islam is a big mistake... it gives music a bad name... makes it a sin. he wasn't singing blasphamy before, and he didn't do anything wrong... why quit?" Dad argued.

of course... i was convinced :-\

I went back and told Sadeq
"Quiting music after converting to Islam is a big mistake... it gives music a bad name... makes it a sin. he wasn't singing blasphamy before, and he didn't do anything wrong... why quit?"

And Sadeq replied
"for Cat Stevens, the guitar symbolizes a life he doesn't want to come back to. He wants to change his life completely... And sometimes to show the world that he truly changed, he needs to truly change. If he started playing again, maybe the guitar would get him back to some of his old habits. He wants a new different life"

Yet again... i was... convinced :-S

Next year in the summer i went back home and told dad...
"for Cat Stevens, the guitar symbolizes a life he doesn't want to come back to. He wants to change his life completely... And sometimes to show the world that he truly changed, he needs to truly change. If he started playing again, maybe the guitar would get him back to some of his old habits. He wants a new different life"

And Dad replied
"Cat Stevens has many followers and if he really wanted to benefit Islam, he could have sang and used his talents to support the Islamic Faith... Not hide away from the media. He could have used his popularity to support his cause... not give up what he does well.

Naturally... (you guessed it) i was convinced :-|

i stopped here... i knew there isn't a right or wrong conclusion to this debate.

Yusuf Islam released an album a couple of years ago, it was about Bosnia but he wasn't singing in the album... other people sang.

This year, Yusuf released a music album. Roard Singer which is GREAT!

Just Yusuf... no Islam?

Here is a clip from an instrumental song, Shamsia. Enjoy. And let me know your opinion regarding the debate above.