Cat on the Road to Findout

Sitting in London Central Mosque in Regent’s Park in autumn 1981 just three weeks after I embraced Islam, I listened to the call to prayer with interest. The voice was unmistakeable. Turning to my Sudanese friend Hassan Hamad I asked: “Cat Stevens?” He nodded. “Yes!”

Hassan introduced me to “Brother Yusuf Islam” after the Friday prayer. In the weeks that followed, we met frequently, and thus started a friendship that has lasted to this day. Over almost 45 years, I have worked for and with Yusuf on a number of projects, some of which are mentioned in Cat on the Road to Findout [sic], his long-awaited autobiography. That’s the full disclosure out of the way.

It must have been hard for Yusuf to write this book, because he has always, in my experience, held back on sharing information. As his personal assistant in the 1980s, the office operated on a “need to know” basis. Reading his book, it is easy to see why. His shy, introvert nature as a boy led to a dislike of press interviews as a teenage pop star. There were also very few “friends” who he could trust. The mistrust of the media carried on into his life as a Muslim. He was a reluctant public figure.