But if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and
above all CLAIMS TO BE A DUCK...

....... Then we must presume to have a creature of the genus Anatidae on our hands.

Reality check: Stevens wrote some great music - he also wrote some absolute rubbish - same as every other musician who has ever lived (with maybe the exception of Beethoven, Mozart and Brahms - and a couple of others - and even in THEIR day some of their music was looked at askance). Personally, I really like "Matthew and Son" and "Father and Son"

On the subject of "is he or isn't he" - HE claims to be a believer in Islam therefore he is: Much as the Christian faith would prefer NOT to have to acknowledge the patent absurdities of Mormonism and Jehovah's Mitness - they are stii Christian sects - thus Islam is also forced to acknowledge the Ahmadi sect as one of its own.

The bottom line is that Stevens (or Yusuf Islam if you prefer it) was and is high profile in that faith and was / is in a position to pronounce on radicalism and human rights abuses and practices within the Islamic world AND HASN'T.

As for "Man of Peace": he BACKED calls for the fatwah on Salman Rushdie and has reiterated and endorsed other "Jihad" calls over the years - NOT the position of a "Man of Peace".

And PLEASE do NOT compare the likes of a has-been 'pop music hack' with the likes of immortals such as Martin Luther King. Cat Stevens wouldn't even be in a league fit to stand in line to polish Pastor King's shoes!

And before anybody has a go at me for "Islam Bashing", think again, I have many Islamic mates - of differing outlook (Shi'ite / Sunni & Ahmadi) and I have fdiscussed this and other issues with them and have even stood with a couple of them in the face of discrimination / prejudice. I am also a practicing non-denominational Christian and I despise militant radicalism in ALL faiths whether they be Christian, Islam, Judaism, Ba'hai, Buddhist, Sikh, Calathumpianism or bloody Rock-worship.

NONE of it has a place. After all, the three major faiths on the planet today ALL proclaim tolerance and compassion at heir core - it's only the radical 'loonies' on ALL sides who claim the right to kill others in the name of God - nowhere in the Q'ran, Bible or Torah does God say "Thou shalt go out and kill everyone who does not believe the same as you".

Amen, Shalom and S'alaam

Muttley