Yusuf Islam
From TheHeroesWiki
Yusuf Islam (formerley known as Cat Stevens) was a great Rock star. He had (according to the western culture) everything: the money, the fame, the fans and the power. However, he wasn't satisfied with this materialistic life so he searched for the missing ingreidient in his life which was spirituality, after a long journey he converted to Islam and became one of the pioneers in the field of Islamic nasheed songs directed to English speakers.
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His Beginning and his huge success
Born Steven Demetre Georgiou, the son of a Greek Cypriot father and Swedish mother, Yusuf Islam grew up above the family shop in London. He studied at Art College and he was auditioned by a record producer who was so impressed so much that the young artist - now known as Cat Stevens - was selected to launch the company label.
Cat Stevens went on to become one of the biggest solo artists of the 1960s and 1970s and some of his releases sold over 50 million LPs.
Conversion to Islam
Stevens undertook an ongoing search for peace and ultimate spiritual truth. After almost drowning in the Pacific Ocean at Malibu he received a translation of the Quran as a gift from his elder brother, David. His spiritual quest for answers was fulfilled and he embraced Islam in December, 1977. Six months later he changed his name to Yusuf Islam, walked away from the music business to start a new life and raise a family.
His work after conversion
Today, Yusuf Islam is arguably one of the world's most famous converts to Islam. His pioneering work in the field of education resulted in securing a landmark decision by the British government to certify and support Islamic education throughout Great Britain. Since he helped to found three Islamic schools.
His U.N.-registered charity, Small Kindness, provides humanitarian relief, through direct aid as well as social and educational programs, to orphans and families in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and other regions of the world.
Since 1994 he has once again turned his attention to the recording studio, releasing ten albums to date under his Mountain of Light label. His Sarajevo concert in 1997, to celebrate Bosnian culture, was his first public appearance for 20 years. Recently he has contributed to a number of major charity concert events including Nelson Mandela's 46664 AIDS benefit concert at the close of 2003 in Cape Town where he coupled with Peter Gabriel and the Soweto Choir to perform Wild World, and also a fund-raising concert in Jakarta to aid the victims of the recent tsunami where he premiered a new song, Indian Ocean, inspired by the disaster.
In 2003 Yusuf Islam was awarded the 'World Social Award' for his humanitarian relief work.
More recently, in November 2004, he was honoured with the 'Man for Peace' award by a committee of Nobel peace laureates.
Yusuf Islam is currently working on a new album of spiritually inspiring songs as well as a stage musical based metaphorically on his spiritual journey.
Sources and some external links
Yusuf Islam from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Collection of some of Yusuf Islam's Nasheeds
