Striking a chord with soulful strains

Al Jazeera crowned him as the “King of Islamic Pop'', the Guardian described Sami Yousuf as “perhaps the most famous British Muslim'' while Time magazine — a jot melodramatic — elevated him to the lofty heights of “Islam's Biggest Rock Star.''

I am sitting with Yousuf in a pleasant locality in Manchester, an area home to diverse ethnic communities.

We are talking about identity and what it means for Yousuf to be a role model to a generation of young British Muslims confused about their identity.

“Am I British or am I Muslim?'' he asks. “I am both. To not say that would be ingratitude, would be very confusing.''

The room we are in has a bewildering array of Middle Eastern musical instruments — most of them I cannot even name — and Yousuf takes pride in giving me an introduction to his special treasure trove.

On the storey above is his recording studio where the singer keeps busy with his upcoming album.

Yousuf rose to stardom in 2003 with his debut album, Al Mu'allim.

In an age where youngsters are hooked to rap tunes, his songs about spirituality and Islam tap into an often-neglected market.

His albums have sold in millions. His singles top charts in the Middle East and Yousuf has performed for audiences from Dubai to Cairo and Los Angeles.

His page on Facebook boasts over 166,000 fans. In other words, Sami Yousuf is big business.

Yousuf, who is of Azeri origin, was born in Iran. “Iranians want to say I am an Iranian because I was born in Tehran. But I don't feel Iranian. I don't even feel Azeri,'' he says. “I feel like a mishmash.''

In his growing-up years Yousuf remembers feeling kind of British in school and Azeri and Iranian at home.

Besides English he can converse and sing in Persian, Arabic, Turkish and Azeri. “I speak another language, too: A whole lot of nonsense, as my manager put it,'' Yousuf says laughing.

Some of Yousuf's songs reveal the polyglot in him. In the number Hasbi Rabbi he sings in four languages including Hindi.

But the majority of Yousuf's songs are in English and despite his strong affinity with the East, he remains loyal to his British roots.

In the wake of recent years of strained relations between the Islamic world and the West, some hardliners seem to take the view that the words “British'' and “Muslim'' used together make an oxymoron.

But not only is Yousuf a British Muslim, he is proud to be so.
There appears to be an almost saintly aura about Yousuf, although at 28 he may be too young for it.

It is difficult to discern where the media persona ends and the real Yousuf begins. I ask him if he feels pressured to live up to the saint-like image. “I do. That is why I insisted [that my] second album should not be heavily religious.

"My record company wanted it to be purely religious because that sells. It is a dilemma, especially because the video clips make me appear very saint-like,'' he says.

Imagining the possibility of his own sainthood, Yousuf says: “I am not too far from that. I don't know what it is, whether it is a saint or an angel ... but that is me.

“I would help a blind person cross a street. I like to speak the truth. But I am still a human.''

Yousuf has been going through a difficult and very public falling-out with Awakening Records, his “former'' recording company.

The company released an album by him in January despite his protests that the songs, except one, were incomplete, “stolen'' MP3 files.

He has been urging fans to boycott the album. “I'll be taking them [Awakening Records] to court,'' he says. “It is piracy.

I think anyone who hears the album will know something is not right. It just does not sound like me. I am a perfectionist crazy about my work.''

One of the questions that has come up regularly in interviews with Yousuf is on music being haram in Islam. Is he sick of the debate on whether music is permitted in Islam.

“I am,'' he says, denouncing it as “hypocrisy''. “Why don't you ask someone else? Why don't you ask Amr Diab? He is a Muslim. Why don't you ask other singers? Why is it just me?''

Yousuf, however, does acknowledge the argument his critics employ — that the others don't use Islamic words in their songs.

“I think we are hypocritical,'' he says. “At the end of the day if music is haram, it should be haram for all. What those people say is ‘we don't mind listening to pop music because they are not using the name of God.' Haram is haram.

"It doesn't matter whether you use God's name or not.'' Yousuf does not shy away from confronting crimes committed by those within the Muslim community.

In his second album, My Ummah, one of the songs is about the massacre of children in Beslan in 2004.

“Muslims are always talking about the West and America. [But] look, Muslims also commit atrocities and that is what they did. What happened in Beslan was an atrocity.

"Muslims carried out an atrocity in the name of Islam. It is unacceptable. I don't care what your ideals may be, it is very easy for me to judge but that doesn't mean you can kill babies. Killing doesn't exist in my dictionary.''

On the threat posed by the increasing polarisation of Muslims, he says: “I think in the long run those people who ghetto-ise themselves, who like to live in huts, are still in the third century.

They will wake up. That kind of life doesn't work.
“You must acknowledge that we are living in a very small planet with the advent of globalisation.''

Would he consider diversifying his music to include love songs? “I do sing romantic songs but my kind is different. I don't sing about girls because I am married.''

That is no excuse. After all, there are many married artistes making that genre of music.

“They do. But that is pop music. That is when music is purely for business. I make music for myself because I have a story to tell. I believe in certain things and the rest is in God's hands,'' he says.

His next album is less religious and “more spiritual and human'', Yousuf says.

“It talks about a lot of personal things that I am going through. My previous albums were more about ‘you', not preaching but less focused on me. This album is more ‘me'.''

The talk then turns to Holy People, the song he is working on the day I interview him. “The lyrics talk about how I don't believe in holy people,'' he says.

“I believe in holy deeds. Ammal, the deeds, are what make a person holy. Not the name. You can be Mohammad, you can be Ali, you can be Hussain, Hassan, Jabar ... Whatever your name might be, in the end it is your actions that count.

"This song is about something I am proud of. I think it will raise a lot of eyebrows because it comes from someone like me who is essentially associated with Islam and religion.

“I think it is important in this day and age. Young people look at someone with a beard, see the mark on his head, see him praying, and think, ‘Wow he is an angel.' But he is no angel,'' Yousuf says.

“We are all humans. People have jealousy in their hearts, they have the potential to love, to hate, to be good and to be bad.''

Of all countries where Yousuf is famous, his fan base in Turkey is huge. One of his concerts in Istanbul drew 250,000 people.

What drives his popularity there? “One of the reasons, I think is I don't use the commercial tools often used to draw attention. I just be myself and concentrate more on relating to people. And they relate to me.''

Yousuf feels being a Western artiste and his video clips also help.

“Turkey is one of those countries that has gone through a lot politically, with the rise of Islamism. They see someone such as myself and think, ‘Hey it's cool, it's not all the bad stuff we hear. It's not all the bad things we hear about Muslims.'

"Sometimes you find more animosity and ... mistrust towards Islam among Muslims than among non-Muslims.

"They are Muslims in name but look at Islam with extreme caution. It is nice to do namaz but is that enough? They don't want to talk about anything else. The word Sharia freaks people out.''

Among his legions of followers, Yousuf has had his share of the obsessive. There was a woman who, after listening to one of his songs, converted to Islam.

But then she turned into a stalker, following Yousuf all the way from London's Royal Albert Hall to Egyptian shows in Alexandria and Cairo.

Another pair of loyal fans is a husband and wife from Sweden who travel to see Yousuf perform in various countries. “Not stalkers, they are just truly wonderful fans,'' he says.

Reconciling fame with spirituality is tricky business. How does Yousuf manage it? “You can't believe in fame,'' he says.

“You can, but if you do, you will go down like Britney Spears. No kidding. She is talented but why did she go down in life? Why did she become such a wreck? She began to believe in the camera.''

Like Michael Jackson? “Yes, look at him, he is a wreck. Such a talented guy, a genius — there is no comparison. There is no artiste who hasn't been influenced by Michael Jackson.''

So is Yousuf, too? “Absolutely, who isn't? He is a musical genius; I am not talking about what he does in his private life. Musically he is a school.''

So how does Yusuf see himself? After a brief pause he answers. “A musician with a message,'' he says.

“It is boring but it is the truth. It's not Islam's biggest rock star, not the biggest anything. Just a musician.''

Syed Hamad Ali is a writer based in the UK.

Rise to stardom

He was born in Tehran in 1980 and is of Azeri origin. His family moved to the United Kingdom when Yousuf was 3.

He went to study at the Royal Academy of Arts but left after eight months because he didn't like the environment there.

He even considered studying law. But music was in his blood and he decided to make his own album.

Before he became a star, Yousuf got a number of opportunities to hone his musical skills.

His father trained Yousuf and by 15 he was working as a producer for big-time Iranian pop artistes such as Moin, Omid and Homeira.

“I was producing, arranging amd orchestrating,'' he says. “But you don't see my name because I never liked it. I always ask God to save me because I never liked the [Iranian] music industry.''

On a political note

Yousuf makes no secret of his delight at the departure of the “Republican hawks'' from the White House.

“Bush was such a curse in this world for everyone, not just for Muslims, for everyone. His philosophy is all Right wing.''

The artiste, however, is more optimistic about Obama: “I am interested in how things are going to develop with Obama.

“He talks of eradicating nuclear weapons. This is brilliant. It's very difficult but noble to say that.

“I feel so happy because of the time we are living in, with Obama winning, and what is happening with global politics.

"The religious bigots are being pushed aside and the moderates are coming on and they are speaking the language of reason, which is often the most powerful.''