Malliana-Affreville-El-khemis mon Amour.

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's 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, he adopted 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 then Georgiou 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 then Georgiou 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 27^thof 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