LONDON, March 22 (AFP) - Yusuf Islam, the British singer formerly known as Cat Stevens, has released an album for children entitled "A Is for Allah," British press reports said Wednesday.
"From day one in the classroom, children are taught 'A' is for 'apple'," the singer said as he launched the album and accompanying book.
"Maybe if faith and its morality are taught from the start ... we can prevent tragic accidents like the recent fatal shooting of a six-year-old" in the United States, The Independent daily quoted him as saying.
The album uses the 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet to list the fundamentals of Islam, which the singer embraced in 1977.
Islam, 51, also commented on moves by the British government to repeal a legal provision barring teachers from presenting homosexuality in a positive light.
"It is part of that overall problem we are facing – the deterioration of morality in education," the singer said as he called for the so-called Section 28 to be retained.
Cat Stevens, born Stephen Demitri Georgiou, burst onto the pop music scene in the 1970s, but after his conversion partially renounced his work, saying life as a pop star was incompatible with Islam.
Since his conversion, the black-bearded singer with wire-rimmed glasses has largely devoted himself to the Muslim community in London, where he lives with his wife and five children.
Last week however he reverted briefly to the name Cat Stevens with the release of an album of best hits from his 1970s albums, which included "Matthew and Son," "Tea for the Tillerman," "Foreigner" and "Number".
