Iconic singer-songwriter of the seventies, Cat Stevens went off the radar for nearly 3 decades after his conversion to Islam. Now also known as Yusuf Islam, Stevens is back in the music world and is looking towards Sufi influences for his new folk album.
Stevens has sought inspiration from a Sufi poet, Yunus Emre for a song about divine love. Yunus Emre was a classic poet of the 13th century from Islam’s mystical movement of Sufism. He influenced the development of Turkish at a time where it was more common for Sufis to communicate in Farsi or Arabic.
‘See What Love Did To Me’, released on July 20, is the first single of his upcoming album The Laughing Apple, which will be released later in September. It will be Stevens’s fourth album since he ended a three-decade retreat from music following his conversion to Islam.
The musician will be incorporating global sounds in his newest musical outing by making use of traditional instruments as well contemporary ones. He will be bringing together the sounds of an African lute alongside his guitar. The song will also be taking inspiration from Bollywood music!
In the late seventies, Stevens converted to Islam following an incident where he almost drowned. He is quoted to have said that he asked God to save him and if he did, he would devote his life to the service of God. According to him, a wave came by and carried him to the shore at that point. Stevens then studied all major religions of the world but found most comfort in Islam. He decided to stop producing music because there wasn’t a clear answer as to whether music was allowed in Islam or not.
