2004 September « PM’S World

I thought this article might explain a few of the questions people have been asking about Yusuf islam in the last week since his deportation from the US. Looks like the Department of Homeland Security had better have a better reason for their actions than the rumored support of Palestinian terrorists and calling for the death of Salman Rushdie. For the complete article, follow the link/click on the title.

Perhaps last week’s drama was payback time for a singer who walked away from a glittering career to denounce his songs as akin to blasphemy. He became associated with a conservative outlook that transformed him from a dreamy bedsit songwriter, worshipped by teenage girls, into an increasingly humourless dogmatist. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the intelligence community “has come into possession of recent information that raises concerns against him”. This probably meant someone had turned up Islam’s old rap sheet, beginning in 1988 when he allegedly supported the fatwa against Salman Rushdie for writing The Satanic Verses. Fans and musicians responded angrily to tabloid headlines such as “Kill Rushdie, says Cat Stevens”. In protest, the American band 10,000 Maniacs withdrew their cover version of his song Peace Train from their album.

The artist formerly known as Cat Stevens later explained that he had simply been invited to endorse a letter campaign requesting the book’s publisher to withdraw support. “They ignored the plea,” he said. “Suddenly the media tried linking me to supporting the latest fatwa. The fact is I never supported the fatwa.”

He was forced into denial mode again four years ago when he was deported within hours of arriving in Israel amid claims that he had delivered funds to Hamas, the militant Islamic group, during a 1988 visit to the country. Islam declared that he had “never knowingly supported any group — past, present or future”.

Recently he admitted he had become too partisan, citing Muhammad Ali as another Muslim convert whose radicalism was tempered by time. “There’s always a zealous period,” he said. “I used to want to rebel against everything, and that was great. After that, you get back to the job of living.”

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