Stories Of New Muslims

11. Mr. Yusuf Islam

How I came to Islam

 

 

All I have to say is all what
you know already, to confirm what you already know, the message of the Prophet
(Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) as given by God - the Religion of Truth. As human beings we are given
a consciousness and a duty that has placed us at the top of creation. Man is
created to be God's deputy on earth, and it is important to realize the
obligation to rid ourselves of all illusions and to make our lives a
preparation for the next life. Anybody who misses this chance is not likely to
be given another, to be brought back again and again, because it says in Qur'an
Majeed that when man is
brought to account, he will say, "O Lord, send us back and give us another
chance." The Lord will say, "If I send you back you will do the
same."

My Early Religious Upbringing 

 

 

I was brought up in the modern world of all the luxury and the
high life of show business. I was born in a Christian home, but we know that
every child is born in his original nature - it is only his parents that turn
him to this or that religion. I was given this religion (Christianity) and
thought this way. I was taught that God exists, but there was no direct contact
with God, so we had to make contact with Him through Jesus - he was in fact the
door to God. This was more or less accepted by me, but I did not swallow it
all. I looked at some of the statues of Jesus; they were just stones with no
life. And when they said that God is three, I was puzzled even more but could
not argue. I more or less believed it, because I had to have respect for the
faith of my parents.

 

Pop Star

 

Gradually I became alienated
from this religious upbringing. I started making music. I wanted to be a big
star. All those things I saw in the films and on the media took hold of me, and
perhaps I thought this was my God, the goal of making money. I had an uncle who
had a beautiful car. "Well," I said, "he has it made. He has a
lot of money." The people around me influenced me to think that this was
it; this world was their God.

I
decided then that this was the life for me; to make a lot of money, have a
'great life.' Now my examples were the pop stars. I started making songs, but
deep down I had a feeling for humanity, a feeling that if I became rich I would
help the needy. (It says in the Qur'an, we make a promise, but when we make
something, we want to hold onto it and become greedy.) So what happened was
that I became very famous. I was still a teenager, my name and photo were
splashed in all the media. They made me larger than life, so I wanted to live
larger than life and the only way to do that was to be intoxicated (with liquor
and drugs).

 

In Hospital

After a year of financial
success and 'high' living, I became very ill, contracted TB and had to be
hospitalized. It was then that I started to think: What was to happen to me?
Was I just a body, and my goal in life was merely to satisfy this body? I
realized now that this calamity was a blessing given to me by Allah, a chance
to open my eyes - "Why am I here? Why am I in bed?" - and I started
looking for some of the answers. At that time there was great interest in the
Eastern mysticism. I began reading, and the first thing I began to become aware
of was death, and that the soul moves on; it does not stop. I felt I was taking
the road to bliss and high accomplishment. I started meditating and even became
a vegetarian. I now believed in 'peace and flower power,' and this was the
general trend. But what I did believe in particular was that I was not just a
body. This awareness came to me at the hospital.

One
day when I was walking and I was caught in the rain, I began running to the
shelter and then I realized, 'Wait a minute, my body is getting wet, my body is
telling me I am getting wet.' This made me think of a saying that the body is
like a donkey, and it has to be trained where it has to go. Otherwise, the
donkey will lead you where it wants to go.

Then I
realized I had a will, a God-given gift: follow the will of God. I was
fascinated by the new terminology I was learning in the Eastern religion. By
now I was fed up with Christianity. I started making music again and this time
I started reflecting my own thoughts. I remember the lyric of one of my songs.
It goes like this: "I wish I knew, I wish I knew what makes the Heaven,
what makes the Hell. Do I get to know You in my bed or some dusty cell while
others reach the big hotel?" and I knew I was on the Path.

I also
wrote another song, "The Way to Find God Out." I became even more
famous in the world of music. I really had a difficult time because I was
getting rich and famous, and at the same time, I was sincerely searching for
the Truth. Then I came to a stage where I decided that Buddhism is all right
and noble, but I was not ready to leave the world. I was too attached to the
world and was not prepared to become a monk and to isolate myself from society.

I
tried Zen and Ching, numerology, tarot cards and astrology. I tried to look
back into the Bible and could not find anything. At this time I did not know
anything about Islam, and then, what I regarded as a miracle occurred. My
brother had visited the mosque in Jerusalem and was greatly impressed that
while on the one hand it throbbed with life (unlike the churches and synagogues
which were empty), on the other hand, an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity
prevailed.

The Qur'an

When he came to London he
brought back a translation of the Qur'an, which he gave to me. He did not
become a Muslim, but he felt something in this religion, and thought I might find
something in it also. And when I received the book, a guidance that would
explain everything to me - who I was; what was the purpose of life; what was
the reality and what would be the reality; and where I came from - I realized
that this was the true religion; religion not in the sense the West understands
it, not the type for only your old age. In the West, whoever wishes to embrace
a religion and make it his only way of life is deemed a fanatic. I was not a
fanatic, I was at first confused between the body and the soul. Then I realized
that the body and soul are not apart and you don't have to go to the mountain
to be religious. We must follow the will of God. Then we can rise higher than
the angels. The first thing I wanted to do now was to be a Muslim.

I
realized that everything belongs to God, that slumber does not overtake Him. He
created everything. At this point I began to lose the pride in me, because
hereto I had thought the reason I was here was because of my own greatness. But
I realized that I did not create myself, and the whole purpose of my being here
was to submit to the teaching that has been perfected by the religion we know
as Al-Islam.

At
this point I started discovering my faith. I felt I was a Muslim. On reading
the Qur'an, I now realized that all the Prophets sent by God brought the same
message. Why then were the Jews and Christians different? I know now how the
Jews did not accept Jesus as the Messiah and that they had changed His Word.
Even the Christians misunderstand God's Word and called Jesus the son of God.
Everything made so much sense. This is the beauty of the Qur'an; it asks you to
reflect and reason, and not to worship the sun or moon but the One Who has
created everything. The Qur'an asks man to reflect upon the sun and moon and
God's creation in general. Do you realize how different the sun is from the
moon? They are at varying distances from the earth, yet appear the same size to
us; at times one seems to overlap the other. Even when many of the astronauts
go to space, they see the insignificant size of the earth and vastness of
space. They become very religious, because they have seen the Signs of Allah.

When I read the Qur'an
further, it talked about prayer, kindness and charity. I was not a Muslim yet,
but I felt that the only answer for me was the Qur'an, and God had sent it to
me, and I kept it a secret. But the Qur'an also speaks on different levels. I
began to understand it on another level, where the Qur'an says, "Those who
believe do not take disbelievers for friends and the believers are
brothers." Thus at this point I wished to meet my Muslim brothers.

Conversion

Then I decided to journey to
Jerusalem (as my brother had done). At Jerusalem, I went to the mosque and sat
down. A man asked me what I wanted. I told him I was a Muslim. He asked what
was my name. I told him, "Stevens." He was confused. I then joined
the prayer, though not so successfully. Back in London, I met a sister called
Nafisa. I told her I wanted to embrace Islam and she directed me to the New
Regent Mosque. This was in 1977, about one and a half years after I received
the Qur'an. Now I realized that I must get rid of my pride, get rid of Iblis,
and face one direction. So on a Friday, after Jumma' I went to the Imam and
declared my faith (the Kalima) at his hands. You have before you someone who
had achieved fame and fortune. But guidance was something that eluded me, no
matter how hard I tried, until I was shown the Qur'an. Now I realize I can get
in direct contact with God, unlike Christianity or any other religion. As one
Hindu lady told me, "You don't understand the Hindus. We believe in one
God; we use these objects (idols) to merely concentrate." What she was
saying was that in order to reach God, one has to create associates, that are
idols for the purpose. But Islam removes all these barriers. The only thing
that moves the believers from the disbelievers is the salat. This is the process of purification.

Finally
I wish to say that everything I do is for the pleasure of Allah and pray that
you gain some inspirations from my experiences. Furthermore, I would like to
stress that I did not come into contact with any Muslim before I embraced
Islam. I read the Qur'an first and realized that no person is perfect. Islam is
perfect, and if we imitate the conduct of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) we will be
successful. May Allah give us guidance to follow the path of the ummah of Muhammad (Sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam). Ameen!

Yusuf Islam

(Formerly Cat Stevens)

 

End