Yusuf Islam, commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and musician. He has sold more than 100 million records and has more than two billion streams. His musical style consists of folk, rock, pop, and, later in his career, Islamic music. Following two decades in which he performed only music which met strict religious standards, he returned to making secular music in 2006. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. He has received two honorary doctorates and awards for promoting peace as well as other humanitarian awards.
Islamic music may refer to religious music, as performed in Islamic public services or private devotions, or more generally to musical traditions of the Muslim world. The heartland of Islam is the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Balkans, and West Africa, Iran, Central Asia, and South Asia. Due to Islam being a multi-ethnic religion, the musical expression of its adherents is vastly diverse. Indigenous traditions of various part have influenced the musical styles popular among Muslims today. The word "music" in Arabic, the language of Islam, is defined more narrowly than in English or some other languages, and "its concept" was at least originally "reserved for secular art music; separate names and concepts belonged to folk songs and to religious chants".
"Peace Train" is a 1971 song by Cat Stevens, taken from his album Teaser and the Firecat. The song climbed to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart during the week of November 6, 1971, becoming Stevens' first US Top 10 hit. The song also spent three weeks at No. 1 on the adult contemporary chart. It is also featured on The Very Best of Cat Stevens compilation album. He re-recorded the song for the charity War Child in 2003.
Gerald Conway was an English folk and rock drummer and percussionist. He performed with the backing band for Cat Stevens in the 1970s, with Jethro Tull during the 1980s, and was a member of Fairport Convention from 1998 to 2022. Conway also worked as a session musician. He was married to vocalist Jacqui McShee, the singer of the band Pentangle, of which he was also a member.
Dawud Wharnsby is a Canadian Universalist Muslim singer-songwriter, poet, performer, educator and television personality. A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known for his work in the musical/poetic genre of English Language nasheed and spoken word.
A Nasheed is a work of vocal music, partially coincident with hymns, that is either sung a cappella or with instruments, according to a particular style or tradition within Sunni Islam.
Sami Yusuf is an Azerbaijani-British singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and composer. He gained international attention with the release of his debut album, Al-Muʽallim, in 2003. As of 2020, he has released eight studio albums, five live albums and one compilation album. His studio albums were mostly released by Andante Records, with the first two being released by Awakening Records. He has sold over 34 million albums as of 2016.
A is for Allah is the name of a double album created for Muslim children by Yusuf Islam. The album was released on 11 July 2000 by Resurgence UK Records. The title song was written in 1980 upon the birth of Yusuf's first child, a girl named Hasanah. Yusuf wanted his daughter to learn the Arabic language as well as read and understand the Qu'ran. He himself was raised in London, England, the same city where they still lived, and had kept a home there throughout his life. Being a recent convert to the Islamic religion, he was concerned with the difficulties he would face securing a high-quality 'Islamic' education for his children.
Sufi music refers to the devotional music of the Sufis, inspired by the works of Sufi poets like Rumi, Hafiz, Bulleh Shah, Amir Khusrow, and Khwaja Ghulam Farid.
Tala al-Badr Alayna is a traditional Islamic nashid that the Ansar supposedly sang for the Islamic prophet Muhammad upon his arrival at Medina.
Yusuf is a male name meaning "God increases". It is the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew name Yosef and the English name Joseph. It is widely used in many parts of the world by Arabs of all Abrahamic religions, including Middle Eastern Jews, Arab Christians, and Muslims.
Idris Phillips was an American musician, composer, songwriter, and music producer based in Nashville.
MuslimFest is an annual three-day festival that celebrates the best in Muslim Art, Culture, and Entertainment. The event showcases Muslim artists, musicians, and comedians, and takes place every summer in Mississauga, Ontario. MuslimFest is a signature event in Canada that won various awards including Top 100 by FEO and also Greenest Festival in Canada award. The 2023 event will take place at the Mississauga Celebration Square from July 07 to July 09.
The Global Peace and Unity is a recurring two-day event/festival and conference held at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre in Royal Victoria Dock, London, England and organized by the Islam Channel. It is the largest Muslim, interfaith and multicultural event of its kind in Europe. There have been six conferences since its inception. The first was on 4 December 2005, with others in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2013. The 2006 event attracted over 55,000 visitors from five continents. The conference includes an Islamic exhibition, an evening nasheed concert, as well as a series of talks, workshops, seminars and lectures from international speakers over two days.
Zain or Zayn is an Arabic personal name meaning "beautiful" or "handsome". Zayyan is a variation of Zain.
Alun Davies is a Welsh guitarist, studio musician, recording artist, and composer who rose to fame primarily with his supporting guitar work and backing vocals as accompanist for English musician Cat Stevens, from early 1970 to 1977.
Nazeel Azami is an English singer.
Maher Zain is a Lebanese-Swedish R&B singer, songwriter and music producer. He released his debut album Thank You Allah, an internationally successful album produced by Awakening Records, in 2009. He released his follow-up album Forgive Me in April 2012 under the same production company, and a third album One in 2016.
Emel Mathlouthi, also known professionally as Emel, is a Tunisian-American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger and producer. She rose to fame with her protest song "Kelmti Horra", which became an anthem for the Tunisian Revolution and the Arab Spring. Her first studio album, also titled Kelmti Horra, was released worldwide in 2012 to critical acclaim: she combined Arabic roots with western influence. Her second album, Ensen, was released in 2017, blending electronica with classical music. On Everywhere We Looked Was Burning in 2019, she sang all the lyrics in English.
Mesut Kurtis is a Turkish-Macedonian singer who is represented by and signed to Awakening Records. He has released four albums namely "Salawat", "Beloved", "Tabassam", and "Balaghal Ula" and one mini album namely "Azeem Al-Shan".
