“I am confident that, in the end, common sense and justice will prevail. I’m an optimist, brought up on the belief that if you wait to the end of the story, you get to see the good people live happily ever after.”
― Cat Stevens
“There is a powerful need for people to feel that gust of hope rise up again.”
― Cat Stevens
“A person who steals bread during a famine is not treated as a thief.”
― Cat Stevens
“To be what you want to be, you must give up being what you are.”
― Cat Stevens
“I used to be followed by a moon shadow. Now I’m followed by all these misconceptions, and they’re like a ball and chain. I just want to write music from my heart and give people a message of hope and the search for a better place.”
― Cat Stevens
“I always knew looking back on my tears would bring me laughter, but I never knew looking back on my laughter would make me cry.”
― Cat Stevens
“In a World where people are surrounded by darkness, ignorance and fear, it is a sign of hope to be celebrating Islam’s message of peace and light, and the last great Messenger, born and chosen to deliver them to all mankind.”
― Cat Stevens
“There are certain comforts of living here in Dubai, the comforts of so many mosques and so much good food… It’s just that much more secure. And may God keep it safe.”
― Cat Stevens
“I did not come into contact with any Muslim before I embraced Islam. I read the Qur’an first and realized no person is perfect, Islam is perfect, and if we imitate the conduct of the Holy Prophet… we will be successful.”
― Cat Stevens
“The theatre is a world in itself. The possibility for creating experiences that move people is increased many times over. In the end, the best stories are usually about a battle of good over evil – that has never changed.”
― Cat Stevens
“I became a vegetarian, and I carried around a suitcase full of vitamins and special drinks everywhere I went.”
― Cat Stevens
“I don’t like applause, I must admit. Ultimately, artists are shy creatures; they’re introverts.”
― Cat Stevens
“’Peace Train’ is a song I wrote, the message of which continues to breeze thunderously through the hearts of millions. There is a powerful need for people to feel that gust of hope rise up again.”
― Cat Stevens
“Everything I do is for the pleasure of Allah.”
― Cat Stevens
“Communal well-being is central to human life.”
― Cat Stevens
“Music is a lady that I still love because she gives me the air that I breathe. We need all sorts of nourishment. And music satisfies and nourishes the hunger within ourselves for connection and harmony.”
― Cat Stevens
“When many astronauts go to space, they see the insignificant size of the earth and vastness of space, and they become very religious, because they have seen the Signs of Allah.”
― Cat Stevens
“In music, you can use metaphors with ease – if a person doesn’t understand the parable, they can still enjoy the melody of the music. If, however, a person reads a book and misses the meaning of its metaphors, this will be extremely disheartening for both the reader as well as the author.”
― Cat Stevens
“In the early days I had a very black-and-white view of everything. I think that’s kind of natural for anyone who’s just embraced Islam – or any religion – as a convert. It was important for me to duck out of the fast and furious life I’d been living as a pop star. I was in a different mood.”
― Cat Stevens
“In those days a concert was a personal experience. I wanted to be as close as possible to the audience, and of course big stadiums didn’t enable you to do that. It wasn’t my style.”
― Cat Stevens
“If you want to sing out, sing out, and if you want to be free, be free, cause there’s a million ways to be, you know that there are.”
― Cat Stevens
“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.”
― Cat Stevens
“I became alienated from this religious upbringing, and 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.”
― Cat Stevens
“Though times have changed, it’s a nice surprise to see that youthful feeling of anti-war sentiment returning once more to the cobbled main streets of Europe.”
― Cat Stevens
“It was important for me to duck out of the fast and furious life I’d been living as a pop star. I was in a different mood.”
― Cat Stevens
“Music can be healing, and with my history and my knowledge of both sides of what looks like a gigantic divide in the world, I feel I can point a way forward to our common humanity again.”
― Cat Stevens
“There is a social need within our lives as human beings to have harmony.”
― Cat Stevens
“I’m a mirror glass for the Muslims as well as the Western world, which looks at me in a slightly different way, but they are looking in the same mirror.”
― Cat Stevens
“People who want to remember me as Cat Stevens – welcome. Those who want me as Yusuf, you’re here.”
― Cat Stevens
“My imam at the Central Mosque said there was no problem with making music. In fact, he encouraged me – he said if the songs are moral, not offensive, then go ahead.”
― Cat Stevens
“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.”
― Cat Stevens
“I was brought up in the modern world of all the luxury and the highlight of show business. I was born into a Christian home.”
― Cat Stevens
“I looked at some of the statues of Jesus; they were just stones with no life. When they said that God is three, I was puzzled even more but could not argue. I believed it, simply because I had to have respect for the faith of my parents.”
― Cat Stevens
“I became very famous, as a teenager, and 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.”
― Cat Stevens
“Salman Rushdie, indeed any writer who abuses the prophet or indeed any prophet under Islamic law, the sentence for that is actually death.”
― Cat Stevens
“The very first lesson that I learnt from the Qur’an was the message of unity and peace.”
― Cat Stevens
“There was no division I could see between the essential teaching of all Prophets and wise men of religion.”
― Cat Stevens
“The greatest legacy is that which benefits the widest number of people for the longest period without limit to value. No one but the Prophet Muhammad was given that role as the seal of God’s message.”
― Cat Stevens
“The fact that the Prophet cared for every human being and tried his best to ensure their security in the hereafter must be the most telling of his compassionate and merciful characteristics.”
― Cat Stevens
“I suppose that the media and their portrayal of Islam and the almost tribal separations and divisions of the Muslims are the greatest issues confronting Muslims in the United Kingdom.”
― Cat Stevens
“Ever since I became a Muslim, I’ve had to deal with attempts to damage my reputation and countless insinuations seeking to cast doubt on my character and trying to connect me to causes which I do not subscribe to.”
― Cat Stevens
“All things can be forgiven if we can progress.”
― Cat Stevens
“Music is part of God’s universe.”
― Cat Stevens
“I’ve returned to being an amateur without any ties or strings attached, which gives me a freedom I never had before.”
― Cat Stevens
“It is part of my faith as a Muslim to try to help those who are suffering from poverty or economic or political injustice.”
― Cat Stevens
“It’s very difficult to ignore humanitarian disasters. The royalties from my albums continue to support my charity work.”
― Cat Stevens
“The latest horror to hit the U.S. looks to have been caused by people of Middle Eastern origin, bearing Muslim names. Again, shame. This fuels more hatred for a religion and a people who have nothing to do with these events.”
― Cat Stevens
“I found a religion that blended scientific reason with spiritual reality in a unifying faith far removed from the headlines of violence, destruction and terrorism.”
― Cat Stevens
“Violence is almost an everyday occurrence in some Muslim lands: it should not be exacerbated by revenge attacks on more innocent families and communities.”
― Cat Stevens
“Some extremists take elements of the sacred scriptures out of context.”
― Cat Stevens
“Moderation is part of faith, so those who accuse Muslim schools of fostering fanaticism should learn a bit more about Islam.”
― Cat Stevens
“They have hijacked my religion.”
― Cat Stevens
“I’ve studied various schools of thought… I acknowledge that some Muslims consider music prohibited, but I’ve found a lot of evidence from the life of the Prophet to show that he allowed certainly, but even encouraged, music at certain times.”
― Cat Stevens
“The spiritual quest was always the predominant aspect of my life. It’s always been there. But there’s also an incredible passion connected to it; it’s not just a dry investigative process. I have been extremely emotional about it, and that comes out in the songs.”
― Cat Stevens
“The words of the songs speak for themselves.”
― Cat Stevens
“Because I don’t play guitar any more, African harmonies and rhythms have been an inspiration to me. I love the raw origin of the sound. It complements my voice and words naturally.”
― Cat Stevens
“I had to learn my faith and look after my family, and I had to make priorities. But now I’ve done it all and there’s a little space for me to fill in the universe of music again.”
― Cat Stevens
“A lot of people would have loved me to keep singing… You come to a point where you have sung, more or less… your whole repertoire and you want to get down to the job of living.”
― Cat Stevens
“I suppose that by being absent from the music business, it appeared that I just dropped out, but really I never did. I was continuously working and doing various things.”
― Cat Stevens
“My career is there for everyone to see and delve into.”
― Cat Stevens
“I’m a little bit out of it, I suppose; I’m more of the golden oldie type.”
― Cat Stevens
“It’s an Islamic principle that you must follow the law of the land where you reside.”
― Cat Stevens
“Muslims have been subjected to so many tyrants and oppressive regimes. That’s what the Arab Spring was about, but the problem comes in trying to direct a revolution.”
― Cat Stevens
“One song I do is ‘The First Cut is the Deepest.’ I try to remind people I wrote that song, not Rod Stewart.”
― Cat Stevens
“I wouldn’t be writing songs if I didn’t have something to say.”
― Cat Stevens
“I’m afraid that a lot of things that people believe about Islam are totally different from the religion that most of us recognize. I was really fortunate that I got to know Islam before it became a headline.”
― Cat Stevens
“There’s been this argument about Coldplay stealing this melody from Joe Satriani, but, if you listen to it, it’s mine! It’s the ‘Foreigner Suite,’ it is!”
― Cat Stevens
“I used Coldplay’s mixer, Michael H. Brauer, on ‘Roadsinger’; he’s brilliant. He won a Grammy for their record.”
― Cat Stevens
“My whole aim in whatever I say, whatever I do, is to follow the peaceful line of having people live together… If we can all play in that game, the world will be a better place.”
― Cat Stevens
“The private little world that I create with my music is something that most people like to listen to alone and get into.”
― Cat Stevens
“Maybe some people may have thought or imagined that Islam drains all creativity. In fact, when you look at history, you discover that the golden age of Spain is what actually produced what we call the guitar.”
― Cat Stevens
“I believe Islam was truly spread by example. So whatever good a Muslim does publicly will be seen – the same is true for the bad.”
― Cat Stevens
“Considering the fact that I have been in the spotlight more or less since I was 18, there is an aspect of normality to my public profile, which I have grown to live with. As much as I would like to disappear into the crowd, my work won’t let me – difficult as it is for my family.”
― Cat Stevens
“Businesswomen are fine. But they shouldn’t be forced to pay for the raising of the family. It’s the husband’s job. That’s the way I see it.”
― Cat Stevens
“I think kids relate to me because I have some ability to remain a little bit naive. Even during interviews. Mostly during interviews.”
― Cat Stevens
“I thought everybody would embrace and understand my reasons for becoming Muslim.”
― Cat Stevens
“I grew up in the West End, so my whole background was living among theatres and musicals and the West End’s coffee bars and clubs. It’s kind of obvious that one day I should do something like that.”
― Cat Stevens
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