By Markham Hislop, Editor
Several incidents this past week have me thinking again about the relationship between freedom of speech and religion. First, the Calgary Herald is running a wire story that Danish police have shot an Islamic fundamentalist trying to kill the author of one of the infamous Danish cartoons. Second, the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens arrived in Toronto last week along with 17,000 co-religionists for an Islamic conference; in the late 1980s he supported the Imam Khomeini’s fatwa calling for the murder of British novelist Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses.
Both these events are disturbing, or should be, because they remind us that freedom of expression, a pillar of Western civilization, does not co-exist easily with religion.
Already I can hear my religious friends objecting strenuously. They argue that in North America the religious right is often the most vocal defender of free speech against incursions by the State. To illustrate their point they hold up Canadian human rights commissions, which have stifled Christian criticism of homosexuality (for example, the Alberta Human Rights Commission’s ruling in Lund vs. Boissoin, where Red Deer pastor Stephen Boissoin was fined $5,000, had to publicly apologize for his remarks and was instructed to refrain from commenting publicly about homosexuals, after the local newspaper published his letter to the editor suggesting the gay lifestyle threatened the Canadian social order. The ruling was struck down in 2009 by the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench.)
But Canadian Christianity (or any other faith) is not equivilent to the religion practiced by the cartoonist’s attacker or Yusuf Islam, whose stage name was Cat Stevens.
In Canada, religion is considered a matter of personal belief. It is just another ideology, no different than Marxism or wicca. With a few minor exceptions, such as tax exemptions for churches, it has no special standing in the law, government or politics. For all practical purposes religion has been neutered by secular government and secular society.
This is not the case in many Islamic countries. In those countries belief and faith are held with a fervour that is foreign to the United Church-goers of Canada; or even the most ardent Pentacostals, for that matter. We call them fundamentalists, as if they are equivilent to some tawdry American televangelist, but that comparison disguises the truth. Pakistan or Iran look more like medieval Europe, when the Catholic Church held as much (and sometimes more) power as secular authority.
Real believers are dangerous. They are not live-and-let-live kind of folks. And they are not fond of the Western concept of freedom of expression.
Kurt Westergaard is the 74 year old Danish cartoonist whose life was threatened yesterday. It’s not the first time. In 2008 police arrested three men they suspected of plotting to assassinate Westergaard. Will there be other attempts? Who knows, but two in five years suggests another is not out of the question.
Which brings me to Islam/Stevens, who returned to performing and recording after a 20-year absence. He recently released a new pop album and has been performing public concerts, though apparently not at the Toronto conference. Islam is trying to re-invent himself as a Muslim popular entertainer. Perhaps he is hoping old and new fans will forget his endoresement of censorship by murder.
They shouldn’t. Two decades ago he supported the call for Rushdie to be murdered because he insulted the prophet Mohammed. That would be like prescribing capital punishment for saying “Jesus Christ” as a curse.
Now, in fairness, Islam claims his comments were taken out of context and he denies calling for the writer’s death. Rushdie is having none of it. In a May 6, 2007 letter to the editor of The Daily Telegraph, he writes, “However much Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam may wish to rewrite his past, he was neither misunderstood nor misquoted over his views on the Khomeini fatwa against The Satanic Verses…Let’s have no more rubbish about how “green” and innocent this man was.”
Stevens/Islam has never retacted his comments. He tried to explain them away as an example of dry British humour or as a misunderstanding, but as Rushdie points out in his letter, television interviews speak for themselves.
I grew up on Cat Stevens pop tunes. ”Father and Son” was a favorite, as was “The Boy with the Moon and Star on his Head.” The tunes were catchy and they lyrics were thoughtful by the standards of the day. In a decade of great music Stevens’ music stood out.
Too bad. In the trash they went.
My New Year’s resolution is to boycott Cat Stevens. The same goes for Yusef Islam. No CDs, no iTunes, and if the classic rock station I listen to happens to play one of his tunes I’ll change channels.
Now, refusing to listen to a singer whose last hit was released in 1977 hardly seems like a radical thing to do. But as the Christmas day Globe and Mail story about his arrival in Toronto for the Reviving the Islamic Spirit convention illustrates, the man still has some celebrity. And if his second tour as a pop singer is successful he may yet command a bigger public stage.
He doesn’t deserve it.
What he should do is make a clear apology to Rushdie and an unequivocal call for an end to violence in the name of religion, Islam or Christianity or any other faith. Support for freedom of expression would be nice, too. Perhaps his endorsement of tolerance for differing points of view would discourage extremists from attacking Kurt Westergaard again.
Until then, boycotting his music isn’t much, but it’s my small contribution to the preservation of free speech.
I urge you to do the same.
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Your article is unspeakably ignorant of Yusuf Islam’s life and work. His efforts for peace and reconciliation have been internationally recognised by the likes of Mikhail Gorbachev, among others. He has always condemned violence and war in the name of religion, he even donated money to a fund for the victims of 9/11.
Your association of the cartoon saga with Cat Stevens is completely daft – the two are unrelated and you should try and justify the association beyond simply using blanket terms about “freedom of speech” and various other stereotypes. Also regarding Rushdie, Yusuf Islam has written about this on his own website. If you are as open minded as you claim to be perhaps you will read Yusuf’s own words and opinion on the issue.
http://www.yusufislam.com/faq/3ed8ab9cb40dcd15dc38b7f0efc2f696/
Your readers can make up their own mind, they are undoubtedly more intelligent then you give them credit for.
Mr Hislop, Editor?
Really sir you should at least make a little bit of effort and research your work before publishing it.
Yusuf or Cat Stevens has on many occasions denied ever supporting the fatwah against Salman Rushdie quote “I never called for the death of Salman Rushdie; nor backed the Fatwa issued by the Ayatollah Khomeini – and still don’t.”
You may want to visit his website cat stevens.com where he explains the events surrounding the controversy. Here’s a direct link for you http://www.yusufislam.com/faq/3ed8ab9cb40dcd15dc38b7f0efc2f696
I have been a long time fan of his music and was also appalled when I heard about the Rushdie business so I looked into it maybe you should too before putting pen to paper. BTW he has succesully sued these allegations.
Roger De Val
Your article is unspeakably ignorant of Yusuf Islam’s life and work. His efforts for peace and reconciliation have been internationally recognised by the likes of Mikhail Gorbachev, among others. He has always condemned violence and war in the name of religion, he even donated money to a fund for the victims of 9/11.
Your association of the cartoon saga with Cat Stevens is completely daft – the two are unrelated and you should try and justify the association beyond simply using blanket terms about “freedom of speech” and various other stereotypes. Also regarding Rushdie, Yusuf Islam has written about this on his own website. If you are as open minded as you claim to be perhaps you will read Yusuf’s own words and opinion on the issue.
http://www.yusufislam.com/faq/3ed8ab9cb40dcd15dc38b7f0efc2f696/
Your readers can make up their own mind, they are undoubtedly more intelligent then you give them credit for.
You’re completely wrong, just for you I’m going to buy 2 albums from Yusuf off itunes that I already own to boycott your boycott.
I did write a much more in depth explanation as to why but the website server crashed. Feel free to email me for the explanation to be re-written.
You also spelt his name wrong various times which shows me that you’ve just picked his name out of thin air to pick on.
Islam is evil, and Cat Stevens is an idiot.
Yet again, the ugly truth of religion reveals itself. Yusuf Islam is as much a victim of coercion as anyone else who shuts their intellect to the falsehoods perpetrated by religion and it’s ‘leaders.’
What the media pointedly ignored when covering the original story is this: Muslims had an issue with ‘mohammed’ being pictures – the fact that the pictures were cartoons is a side issue.
What the media did NOT cover is the FACT that pictures of mohammed – who probably never existed anyway – are readily available on the streets of Tehran and many, many other places; just as readily available as photos and drawings of any other supposed deity and for the same consideration: money.
And as with many other places, people who, in too many cases cannot feed their children, are handing over the little cash they have for pictures of the imagined imaged of a tribal warlord, who if he even existed, was certainly mentally ill and who is dead over 2000 years.
Had the media covered this reality, that the murderous throngs themselves certainly paid for and possessed their own images, the stuffing would have been quickly knocked out of the Islamic argument. As usual, making sure the story had legs took precedence over a minimal amount of necessary research.
As long as humans continue to profess belief in ridiculous stories (flying horses, talking snakes, alchemy) utter, verifiable falsehoods (Jerico, some war outside of New York, virgins being inseminated by angels) and as long as they continue to place their ‘faith’ in liars (Joseph Smith, Charles Taze Russell, whoever recreated Horus as Christ) political regimes (Rome) and small groups (the two-by-twos, etc, etc) bent on social control, we continue to support an us/them culture on this planet.
There is no pantheon of invisible beings living in the clouds; there is no old white guy who directs human traffic on this planet; there is no evidence at all that christ or mohammed or any other ‘god’ even existed but there is MUCH to quickly divest humans of these silly notions.
There is ample, endless proof, not to mention unending wars, boiling hate, putrid social and civil conflict, that should convince humans to abandon childish beliefs in unseen spirits.
And before you all get your backs up and try to convince me how wrong I am and how I’m an infidel and going to hell, read up. READ up. Read something other than your so-called ‘holy’ texts. Find out where your religion came from, who had a hand in it and WHY.
Humans are innately moral and ethical. This is an established, testable FACT. Religion makes us immoral and unethical and prone to perpetrating hell on our fellow humans in the name of impotent imaginings.
READ any of the following
Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion
Christopher Hitchens’ God is not Great
Sam Harris’s Letter to a Christian Nation
And may I say, if you will not educate yourself, you cannot argue. One must know all sides of the ‘argument’ in order to argue effectively. For the record, yes, I have and I can.
What kind of juvenile journalist wrote this? It’s embarrassing that this story is even able to draw the amount of readers that it does. Speaking of boycotts, lets start with Markham Hislop (see? It’s not hard to spell someone’s name correctly).
Great post, thank you! I really love it!
I find this article particulary spiteful, under-researched and to be honest a little childish. Having been a long time fan of Yusuf Islam (mainly in his previous incarnation as Cat Stevens) I was actually shocked to realise that some of his comments regarding Rushdie were extremely harsh. I also think, to some extent, Rushdie is right in saying that Yusuf was not misquoted. I saw a YouTube video of Yusuf (in his early days as a Muslim) where he actually confirmed his ill-will towards Rushdie – in no uncertain terms!
However, you have to look at it in context of where he was in regards to learning his faith. At this time he was extremely dedicated, to some extent I suspect fanatical, in learning the history and faith of Islam. This was a man that had given up everything and who saw no way of incorporating any music accompanied by instruments into his life. He threw himself into Islam, learning Arabic and Islamic law from strict Muslim scholars and clerics – all the while whilst under the spotlight of being a famous novice Muslim! I believe he does feel misquoted about Rushdie and genuinely did quote the law as it stands according to Islam. However, I think at the time he DID support it.
It shoudlnt be forgotten that the Satanic Verses text is extremely insulting to the Muslim faith and unsurprisingly many Muslim’s responded with anger and outrage upon its publication. Yusuf Islam, like any of us, is capable of acting out of emotion. Its obvious from his previous songwriting and the vigour with which he embraced Islam that he is an intense personality.
To drag up old news from over 20 years ago and start suggesting a boycott of all Yusuf Islam / Cat Stevens music is pathetic. It’s like someone taking offence to an article you had written in the past and using it to negatively affect your life in the future. You would be deeply offended and would probably even find it hard to relate to what you had once written in the years past.
I see Yusuf Islam as a man who has made some errors of judgement along the way but whose foundation is still of love and peace. From his constant self development and education Yusuf has grown into a man who has redefined his own boundaries and seeks to find better ways of presenting the modern Islamic faith to all. His tireless charitable work and devotion to education of children has been recognised worldwide; hence his 2004 Man For Peace award by The World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates.
Yes, I believe in free speech. No, I am not a Muslim. But I do take offence at journalism that serves to undermine an individuals efforts to make the world a better place and to be harassed by comments made so long ago in the past.
I fully expected fans of Stevens/Yusuf to be offended by my column. But I stand by my opinions. Stevens/Yusuf has a nasty little secret in his past. As a writer, I find it particularly offensive that he supported the call for Rushdie’s murder and has never apologized for it. In fact, he has tried to sweep it under the rug, pretending he didn’t say it or that he was misunderstood. His refusal to admit his mistake and take responsibility is a stain on his current record, however stellar that may be. As recently as 2007 Rushdie felt strongly enough about the issue to write a critical letter to the editor in a UK newspaper condemning Stevens/Yusuf. Clearly the issue is still fresh for the man who lived under an armed guard for nine years thanks to Khomeni’s fatwa. It’s not hard to see why Stevens/Yusuf wants to ignore the issue. His resurgent music career might take a hit if his ugly behavior of 20 years ago was revealed.
Cat Stevens should be recognised for what he really is. A Muslim who actively supported the fatwah against Salman Rushdie and incited others to kill him.
I do not need to put it into the context of the time to make me realise how evil he is.
Oh, and his songs are banal and really only appreciated by the intellectually challenged.
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