Cat Stevens – Yusuf Islam

These thoughts are inspired or rather prompted by the documentary on  Cat Stevens on BBC4 last night. I say “prompted” because I didn’t actually see the programme – far too late for me, what with the one-hour time difference!

It’s hard for people under the age of 50 or so to have much inkling of the extraordinary aura surrounding the pop singer Cat Stevens in the late 60s and the 70s. He was derided in some quarters as a singer for the “bedsitter set”, but his songs had a very powerful presence which has survived intact down the years. His records were also beautifully arranged and produced, and I don’t know whether Cat Stevens himself was responsible for this aspect. He was and is without a shadow of doubt an extremely gifted singer, composer and musician.

If you would like to learn or refresh your memory about him, there’s a very complete article in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_Stevens

But that is not really the point of this post. What I wanted to record is the feeling of dismay, hurt and betrayal that swept over the country when he announced his conversion to Islam in December 1977 and adopted his Muslim name, Yusuf Islam. There was no particularly rabid anti-Islam feeling in England in those days. It was just that we were left feeling bereft and bewildered, as though he had turned his back on his own country or defected to the Russians. No, that’s putting it too high, but something along those lines. Rather like Cassius Clay changing his name to Mohammed Ali. I mean, there are plenty of perfectly good religions available in Britain; why did he have to go shopping abroad?

Not many of us – certainly not I – had the largeness of heart to see that he was embarking on what for him was the most important phase of his life. Today we can see, what we should perhaps have had the courage and tolerance to see at the time, that he is a truly remarkable man.

Which brings me to my last point. Yusuf Islam has found peace and fulfilment in religion. He’s a believer. But it seems to me, you either believe or you don’t. Or perhaps, like me, you sort of half-believe but don’t quite know how much of this is down to the weight of tradition and your education in the early years of your life.