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Showing posts from February 19, 2012

Robert Fisk and Islam

I have been an admirer of The Independent 's crack Middle East reporter Robert Fisk for 15 or more years. I have read some of his books; I have read many of his articles. I was surprised, therefore, to read to-day's ' I ' (a subset of The Independent ) and a comment by Fisk about the singer Cat Stevens (a.k.a. Yusuf Islam). In the article, Fisk refers to Stevens' conversion to Islam (in the late 1970s) and infers that Stevens "... frittered away more than 20 years of his life ...". Presumably in Stevens' pursuit of knowledge about Islam. Just how had Stevens "frittered away" his time, I wish to know. Clearly, Stevens was guided by something about Islam that had inspired him, and I happen to know that he became a respected figure at Regent's Park Mosque in north London, where he was frequently to be seen. I believe that Stevens' presence in Islam has been of a constructive nature. Islamic people were civilised centuries before M