Yusuf Islam | In Conversation | Showcase

[Music] [Applause] [Music] Yusuf Islam who is better known by his stage name Cat Stevens has come to Turkey the legendary artist is here to promote the turkish translation of his debut book why I still carry a guitar we had a chance to sit down with the recording artist about his spiritual journey life and more [Music] Yussef thank you very much for taking the time to join us at TR t world I know you're a very busy man I told some of my friends and colleagues that I'd be interviewing you and one phrase I kept hearing was he's a cool cat you said you're a legend in the music world in Turkey there's a saying that the real measure of wealth is not money but how many people speak well of you considering that do you feel wealthy well I feel actually more poor than wealthy because when I look at myself I see my work my weaknesses and so from that point of view I'm very grateful for the for the for the love that comes to me but when I look at myself I have to criticize myself just to know that you know that there's only one who is rich you know and and that is God so I tried to keep myself in order your debut book why I still carry a guitar has been translated into Turkish I actually read this version and some of the bits when I was reading I actually felt like I was reading Rumi Yusef what is the core message you try to give with this book and why do you still carry a guitar the book in a way is an attempt to fill in some of the gaps which and in a way clarify the picture which has been made very blurry by the press generally because obviously people don't have time to go into details you know when you read in the paper or watching the news or something it's a very quick snip of news so I wanted to give more detail about the background and you know what it tells you very briefly is about my first dream you know which was basically the American dream you know to be rich and be wealthy to have girlfriends and lots of money and you know good-looking and so all that stuff and then I was a singer and that was the kind of epitome of the success of me achieving all that but that only happened for one year and then I was in hospital and that was like fate said stop you know and at that point I realized that life is very fragile and I wanted to know more because I was not secure if I'd have dropped off the planet what would happen to me so that kind of I tried to give the beginning of how I started to get on my journey and my journey towards you know finding out about the truth what is the truth and what happens after death you know this is a big question we're all human beings have got to solve that question and so it tells you also that I went through certain religions to study Buddhism and you know I've already understood Christianity and Judaism from the Bible but when I got the Quran that was really where I became fully educated spiritually educated because I had all these pieces of religion which all they sounded pretty good you know many of them were saying nice things and I'm very sensible and reasonable and inspiring things but Islam just brought everything together we live in a world where Muslims are under intense scrutiny you say that art can play a healing role in tackling those misconceptions and help in building bridges he touch on that further art has the ability to express what in our hearts and what our spirit symbolizes I think I think it's a very natural one of the most personal and natural instincts to express yourself artistically children do it you know very naturally and they love the splash of red you know it's black whatever however they feel and the artist just develops that to another higher degree so I think that um you know when I say builds bridges you know it helps the fact that I left the music business to become you know or to learn Islam and to fulfill my my life to get alive when I picked up the guitar again it was really after 9/11 because everything I mean actually it was Bosnia you know that was pretty earth-shaking for me to see what was going on in the world when there was this genocide nobody was doing it that was one big message and then things just got worse and was I said well how how bad can they get and I realized especially from Bosnia that when the people have nothing sometimes that's the moment when you need to sing when you're being when you're down when everything is against you that's an inspirational moment to contact to connect your feelings with others and I think that was the beginning when I realized that I need to build bridges again because people were looking at this slamming I in the beginning I thought that I was listening to certain voices that were very conservative and yeah I had some doubts you know about how to use music because the music business is pretty corrupt you know pretty degenerate so therefore it was natural to move away but coming back didn't mean I had to marry rock and roll again I didn't have to become a rock and roller that was never my music but I knew that if I came back a lot of people would start listening and you know when you go to some of my concerts now if you go to Germany some of the play you'll see a foot big like gentleman with big beard and he's crying you know he's crying that's that to me is very very valuable strange sound the B strain come on e string it's busy strain Oh on the B string come on be straight Yussef you've cheated death a couple of times and it shaped your life it's part of your transformation in fact it took a near-death experience for you to find your true spiritual path that story starts with you swimming can you explain what happened that day the thing that happened to me in the Pacific Ocean just off the California coast is described in the Quran it says when a wave came and the shadow of death overtook them then they made their religion sincere to God and that's exactly what I did at that moment when I was sinking or almost drowning in the sea I prayed to God my most sincere prayer because there's no there's there's no one to you know to to hide from at that moment I was completely naked if you like my soul was naked and I spoke to God and I said please save me and that's when the wave came in my favor and pushed me forward so I think we we don't know how many times we escaped death you know God keeps us alive as long as he wishes so I think that you know the Prophet peace be upon him said you know remember death continuously because you never know you know when your time has come and you need to realize when you know that death is there then you have to probably fix your life and make sure you do the right things before you leave Yusef when I see some celebrities they sometimes wish for immortality what is your relationship to the concept of death I think we all have the same kind of fear you know and that's why ice why it was important for me to find out the truth of them about what is beyond and now we we can't look beyond so therefore the messengers and the prophets of God whether you talk about Abraham Jesus Moses and Prophet Muhammad peace be upon them all they all said the same thing and they all warmed you know there's two like destinations you know so from that point of view you can be driven by fear you can be driven by desire desire for the garden but I think as the Rabia said Oh God if I fear the fire then throw me into the fire if that's why I'm doing this worshipping you but if I'm worshiping you to get the garden don't give me the garden but if I'm worshipping you because you deserve to be worshipped that is my worship I think that's a beautiful saying it keeps you and realizing that Allah is the most merciful and you don't need to look anywhere else you know fear is there to make sure that you get on the right path there's a section in your book where you talk about that cold winter day in December 1977 where you walked into a London mosque to publicly embrace your faith walk us through that day well it was it was a day in winter like December the 23rd and um it was Jumma so it was Friday and all the Muslims were going into the most you know I was pretty scared because I've never been in you know I've never approached a Muslim before and I've been to the mosque properly before and I saw I waited until the Juma was over then and then everybody went out America okay it's less crowded then I went inside and I saw the Imam and and I just went up to him and I said you know I want to be a Muslim and that was the moment he said I think it was a third time because time was short in the winter and so it was very soon after the prayer after Juma so I joined in the prayer and then we went to the room and and then he just simply you know I was asked to bear witness that there's no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and that was it I was Muslim yeah did you feel any sudden change emotionally did you what we experiencing at though I was flying I was lying at that moment was upliftment I was free from serving the world I was now a servant of God who controls the world and everything else so therefore I was feeling very very emancipated sometimes when I talk to some of my Muslim friends they tell me that sometimes they experience God when they look into their daughter's eyes some say they experience God at such dur during prayer at their moment in your life where you can experience God I think that you know there's a saying that every son of Adam sins and the best of those who repent who turn back and there's another saying I think that God loves the repenter more than the man who is lost in the desert and he's lost his camel and then one moment he opens his eyes and his camel has come back to him sometimes it's when you've done something wrong and you turn to Allah that's when you get very close listen to into the wind of my soul [Music] where I'll end up well I think only God after he converted the world witnessed the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan the abandonment of Palestinians the Iranian Revolution the Bosnian war 9/11 and the tragedies go on at that point did you feel like you had to say something yes oh because you know I was in a privileged position so you know there was I want that many famous Muslims around so hey you know what when there's a difficult question they come to me and ask you know what about this what about that you know I've got nothing to do with the Iranian Revolution I didn't start it so what do I do I'm trying to conceptualize my beliefs but they don't I listen to that they want to know about the blood and the gore and how many people have been you know killed and the media has a terrible thirst for what is bloody and as they say if it bleeds it leads they say in English if it bleeds it leads so good news is out there but the media is not focusing on it so part of my reviver if you like in coming back to do art it's not just for the sake of art it's for the sake of giving a good message throughout why I still carry a guitar you talk about your faith as being instrumental in the decisions you make do you apply this for all facets of your life if I look at the Quran and the Sunnah then I can find all the solutions to my life there but I do believe that it's important that you apply a level of intellectual rationale because we're living in a time which is very different from the time of the Prophet peace be upon you does that mean Islam is not applicable of course not but it means we must interpret for the time and the conditions that we're living your book concludes with the message that you generally express in your music that peace and resolve can only be fostered through introspection can you expand on that well as you know I mean Gandhi said it you know be the change you know let the change be as my son-in-law says he made a company called let the change me so but it comes from the Koran it says God does not change the condition of the people till they change that which is with them so it's with us to be the change to do the change and that's a backwards and forwards by the way negotiation transaction when you're young you have heart you have mind you have ideas if you're not careful you can lose your way and your condition changes same when you're an adult and things are bad if you use your heart in your mind and your intellect and follow the guidance your life can change so it's all about changing and it's all about being tested and how do you respond you know to the test which God gives you so that is what we call freedom of will although God decides what we're going to see and what we what's going to happen but how we respond is you know for us to to be guided and to make the right choice you've called your book why I still carry a guitar not why I still hold the guitar or why I still play a guitar is there any significance to your choice of words well because the guitar is actually a symbol of music and it's just a symbol and also a piano is much heavier to carry than the guitar so I would never carry a piano that's one answer the other point is that it's not just a guitar it's a kind of what what it means it symbolizes expression creativity and I think these are things which are gifts if you have a gift an artistic gift creative gift and people have different gifts by the way I mean everybody's got a gift I was given this gift so I think it's it's important to share it and that's what the guitar do you want to see more Muslim artists and do you think art can really bring people together for sure I mean everybody likes a good Disney film you know everybody loves what Disney's filmed I mean most of them and so therefore it shows you that and that's a high level of communication you know he chose a very specific genre which is looking after the family entertainment I think more concentration in that area would be very good I mean I don't like some of the well I do watch some of the horror films sometimes you know what I want to go to sleep of which one of these but everybody gets killed you know I mean we do watch that kind of thing but in the end it's always a happy ending that we're looking for and so Muslims need to turn up the volume in whatever field whether as I say it's media it covers movies you know radio music art photography architecture you know I think also architecture is a big thing you know we need to redefine how we build cities to make them more human-friendly you know because sometimes in the concrete we get lost so there's so many ways you can you can influence the world and that's what I think the job is just to try and make the world a better place Youssef you know we live in a world where everyone's trying to get famous whether it's on Instagram or YouTube and you are someone who's left the limelight once what does the concept of Fame mean for you well of course I've had it and even when I was very young I was a little bit of a showman you know I was you know always entertaining the family with dances or whatever it was so and then of course I made it on the big platform the big stage from that point of view after the curtain comes down what happens you know if I've been reading a book by George Harrison recently it was the most devastating moment because that's when you're faced with yourself you're left with yourself and your own weaknesses and you know and deficiencies so Fame is not that great what's important you know you said it in the very beginning that if people like you that's good and that's very good it could be a reward and I think that helping people being good and being able to face yourself at any moment and and and feel confident about your own identity that's more important than Fame so maybe a might know himself better than a very very famous Justin Bieber whoever you want to choose it's knowing yourself along with being a legendary singer songwriter you also have another title philanthropist can you talk about some of the projects you've been involved in was always involved in charity in in some way you know when I'm made my fortune if you like as a singer I also felt guilty you know there's a lot of money so I started to try and give money you know some what some money to charity and so I was one of the first ambassadors for UNICEF of course in Islam zakah is is one of the pillars of Islam and and when I became Muslim then I started to look for a place where I could pay my zakat and I helped to establish an international aid organization and then later I I established a smaller one more for the family so that we could contribute to orphans and widows but particularly in the Balkans I mean at that time and these days I support charities that do work obviously with refugees and at the moment we're thinking about making up a piece train Caravan which will be a transportable school but can go to refugee camps and help children get some education inshallah so you know there's many ways to help and the last option is that you do nothing and that is not an option he was alone when he was 12 only his thoughts which he kept to himself he didn't have a place to play friend to call or word to say but he had a hope that one day he'd fly over the rainbow up through the sky he was alone he didn't have much and all he had he couldn't turn what was life like as Cat Stevens who in the 1970s sold millions of albums and was surely one of the greatest artists on the planet was at all rock and roll no it was it was never really rock and roll it was more to do with recording my feelings and my emotions and my questions and some of the answers which I received somehow mysteriously it was to do with as I said sharing this gift which I had and so really if you want to know more about what it was like you have to listen to the songs the songs will tell you everything whether it's on the road to find out or I listen to the wind morning is broken or peace train or where do the children play or first cut is the deepest I mean there are emotional songs too so if you want to know how it felt just listen to music yes I'm being followed by a moon shadow moon shadow shadow [Music] how can I turn to explain Gosselin a2d turns away again it's always been the same same old story in your book you speak of those who were shocked at and I quote an iconic long-haired hippie pop star that sang and embodied their dreams ended up a Muslim prostrating in prayer five times a day and abandoning alcohol parties adoration and applause do you think people understand you now I think the objective of my book is to try and help people understand the transition because obviously from a public point of view from the media's point of view it was a very kind of switch from there to there but in fact it was a long drawn-out process and if it my songs also describe that process very well my job was to try and overcome the blur which the media creates and to give clarity I'm also writing another book by the way which is a bit longer than this one is about 450 pages so in that one there'll be more details but this one gives a good impression and good explanation what is the use of a psalm Cat Stevens legacy for you for me it's what you what you give is your legacy and what you take with you are your deeds and your intentions so I hope that I've left I will have left something good we have schools we have centers we have songs we have words we have inspiration which I hope will help some people who are in the same kind of dark spots that I was in to see that there's a light that you can reach the truth is there you just have to go for it it's a wild world Yusuf Islam thank you very much for your time thank you pleasure [Music] you

Channel: TRT World

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Keywords: yusuf islam, yusuf islam interview, showcase yusuf islam, yusuf islam turkey, cat stevens turkey, turkey, Art, Culture, Life, TRT World, TRT, TRT News, Omer Kablan, Ömer Kablan, Omer, Ömer, Kablan

Id: 95Mfo10QoYc

Length: 26min 1sec (1561 seconds)

Published: Wed May 17 2017