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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 the Qur'an
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
the 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 tranquility 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.
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 Jummah I went to the Imam and declared my
faith (testifying to the oneness of God and that
Muhammad is His messenger) at this 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, which are idols
for the purpose. But Islam removes all these barriers.
The only thing that separates the believers from the
disbelievers is the salat ( prayer ). 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 (PBUH) we will
be successful. May Allah give us guidance to follow the
path of the ummah (nation) of Muhammad (PBUH). Ameen!
Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens)
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