Saw a VH1 special on him a couple weeks back, and watched, just to see what he had to say about the Rushdie thing--I was stunned to see what he has become, which is a totally committed humanitarian and philanthropist--he essentially walked away from his career when it was at the top, and dedicated himself and his considerable fortunes to providing aid, assistance, particularly for children, in such places as Bosnia--and he has been out there, occasionally in the line of fire, fighting for peace, human rights, and all that stuff that he used to just sing about--

As to the Rushdie thing, he says never asked anything directly about Rushdie, he was asked what the Q'uran specified the punishment for blasphemy should be, and as a new and slightly naive religious convert, he simply said what the law was. At any rate, his explanation and other info can be found at catstevens.com--