|
Yusuf Islam to Donate Royalties to Attack Victims
LONDON, Oct 2 (News Agencies) - Popular Muslim entertainer Yusuf Islam announced that he is planning to donate a part of the royalties from his upcoming boxed set to the September 11th fund which was established to help the survivors of the victims of the terrorist attacks in New York.
The rest of the profits will be going to orphans and homeless families in war torn and underdeveloped countries.
Yusuf Islam said that he considers this to be his duty to alleviate the suffering of the victim's survivors. In a statement released by his label, Islam said, "I feel this is my duty. I hope that this donation will bring some comfort."
The much-awaited four-disc boxed set will be released on October 30th and will include material from Islam's earliest recording in 1960s when he was known by the name of Cat Stevens. Yusuf Islam became Muslim in 1977.
The set will also include his 1990s recordings recorded under his Muslim name. The title of the set and track list is yet to be finalized.
Islam supervised the re-release of much of his 1970s catalog last year, royalties from which were donated to charities such as Small Kindness, which help families in Kosovo, Bosnia and other war ravaged nations. "The Peace Train I still pray will one day arrive," Islam said, referring to his 1971 hit.
Following a 17-year hiatus from the music business, he returned in 1995 and has since released three albums of Islam related songs,
The Life of the Last Prophet (1995), Prayers of the Last Prophet (1999) and a record for children,
A Is for Allah (2000). He has sold more than 40 million albums, though few of those are from his Yusuf Islam era.
Islam condemned the September 11 terrorist attacks calling them un-Islamic. "I wish to express my heartfelt horror at the indiscriminate terrorist attacks committed against innocent people of the United States," Islam wrote on his official website.
"No right-thinking follower of Islam could possibly condone such an action," he wrote, adding, "The Qur'an equates the murder of one innocent person with the murder of the whole of humanity."
|
