Following his conversion, Yusuf Islam abandoned his career as a pop star. The use of musical instruments other than the voice and the drum is an area of debate in Muslim jurisprudence, considered harām by some, and this is the primary reason he gave for retreating from the pop spotlight. In his first performance on the television show, Later... with Jools Holland, 27 years after leaving the "pop" Read more...

The singer attracted controversy in 1989, during an address to students at London's Kingston University, where he was asked about the fatwa calling for the death of author Salman Rushdie. Newspapers quickly interpreted his response as support for the fatwa, but he released a statement the following day clarifying that he had not been supporting vigilantism, and was merely explaining the legal Islamic Read more...

Immediately following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, he said:

He appeared on videotape on a VH-1 pre-show for the October 2001 Concert for New York City, condemning the attacks and singing his song "Peace Train" for the first time in public in more than 20 years, an a cappella version. He also donated half of his box-set royalties to the September 11 Fund for victims' Read more...