Steven Georgiou (birth name) who hails from London, later became known as Cat Stevens (stage name) and then officially changed his name to Yusaf Islam (spiritual name) upon conversion.
When he was about twenty years old, Stevens nearly drowned off the coast of Malibu USA and claims to have shouted: “Oh God! If you save me I will work for you.” He says that right afterward a wave appeared and carried him back to shore. This brush with death intensified his long-held quest for spiritual truth. While on holiday in Morocco, he was intrigued by the sound of the Aḏhān, the Islamic ritual call to prayer, which was explained to him as "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!" And upon converting, he changed his name to Yusaf Islam.
During the time he was studying the Qur'an, he began to identify more and more with the name of Joseph, a man bought and sold in the market place, which is how he says he had increasingly felt within the music business and so he took the name Yusaf, the Arabic rendition of the name Joseph. Following his conversion, Yusuf abandoned his music career; the Imam at the mosque told him that it was fine to continue as a musician, so long as the songs were morally acceptable. But Yusuf says he knew there were aspects of the music business, such as vanity and temptations, that did go against the teachings of the Qur'an, and this was the primary reason he gave for retreating from the spotlight.
Flash forward to now -- and this philanthropist and peacemaker and poet is influencing a generation with his music once again. Check out the video from the Nobel Peace Prize Concert where Yusaf performed the song that is stuck in my head this morning.
PEACE TRAIN
Now I've been happy lately, thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be, something good has begun
Oh I've been smiling lately, dreaming about the world as one
And I believe it could be, some day it's going to come
'Cause out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again
Now I've been smiling lately, thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be, something good has begun
Oh peace train sounding louder
Glide on the peace train oh ah ee ah oh ah
Come on now peace train
Yes, peace train holy roller
Everyone jump on the peace train oh ah ee ah oh ah
Come on now peace train
Get your bags together, go bring your good friends too
'Cause it's getting nearer, it soon will be with you
Now come and join the living, it's not so far from you
And it's getting nearer, soon it will all be true
Oh peace train sounding louder
Glide on the peace train oh ah ee ah oh ah
Come on now peace train, peace train
Now I've been crying lately, thinking about the world as it is
Why must we go on hating, why can't we live in bliss
'Cause out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again
Oh peace train sounding louder
Glide on the peace train oh ah ee ah oh ah
Come on now the peace train
Yes peace train holy roller
Everyone jump on the peace train oh ah ee ah oh ah
Come on, come on, come on
Yes come on peace train
Yes it's the peace train
Oh ah ee ah oh ah
Come on now peace train
Oh peace train
And I believe it could be, something good has begun
Oh I've been smiling lately, dreaming about the world as one
And I believe it could be, some day it's going to come
'Cause out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again
Now I've been smiling lately, thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be, something good has begun
Oh peace train sounding louder
Glide on the peace train oh ah ee ah oh ah
Come on now peace train
Yes, peace train holy roller
Everyone jump on the peace train oh ah ee ah oh ah
Come on now peace train
Get your bags together, go bring your good friends too
'Cause it's getting nearer, it soon will be with you
Now come and join the living, it's not so far from you
And it's getting nearer, soon it will all be true
Oh peace train sounding louder
Glide on the peace train oh ah ee ah oh ah
Come on now peace train, peace train
Now I've been crying lately, thinking about the world as it is
Why must we go on hating, why can't we live in bliss
'Cause out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again
Oh peace train sounding louder
Glide on the peace train oh ah ee ah oh ah
Come on now the peace train
Yes peace train holy roller
Everyone jump on the peace train oh ah ee ah oh ah
Come on, come on, come on
Yes come on peace train
Yes it's the peace train
Oh ah ee ah oh ah
Come on now peace train
Oh peace train
