Rather than go to a demonstration to burn an effigy of the author Salman Rushdie, I would have hoped that it’d be the real thing.
Some extremists take elements of the sacred scriptures out of context.
All things can be forgiven if we can progress.
I’m not the best of you, but I’m not the worst either.
It’s very difficult to ignore humanitarian disasters. The royalties from my albums continue to support my charity work.
I had to learn my faith and look after my family, and I had to make priorities. But now I’ve done it all and there’s a little space for me to fill in the universe of music again.
This is the beauty of the Qur’an: it asks you to reflect and reason, and not to worship the sun or moon but the One who has created everything. The Qur’an asks man to reflect upon the sun and moon and God’s creation in general.
It seems to be the easiest thing in the world these days to make scurrilous accusations against Muslims, and in my case it directly impacts on my relief work and damages my reputation as an artist. The harm done is often difficult to repair.
In a World where people are surrounded by darkness, ignorance and fear, it is a sign of hope to be celebrating Islam’s message of peace and light, and the last great Messenger, born and chosen to deliver them to all mankind.
Salman Rushdie, indeed any writer who abuses the prophet or indeed any prophet under Islamic law, the sentence for that is actually death.
Islam is not just a religion. Islam is everything.
Say what you think; think what you mean.
Though times have changed, it’s a nice surprise to see that youthful feeling of anti-war sentiment returning once more to the cobbled main streets of Europe.
In those days a concert was a personal experience. I wanted to be as close as possible to the audience, and of course big stadiums didn’t enable you to do that. It wasn’t my style.
I became very famous, as a teenager, and my name and photo were splashed in all the media. They made me larger than life, so I wanted to live larger than life, and the only way to do that was to be intoxicated.
Because I don’t play guitar any more, African harmonies and rhythms have been an inspiration to me. I love the raw origin of the sound. It complements my voice and words naturally.
It was important for me to duck out of the fast and furious life I’d been living as a pop star. I was in a different mood.
Ever since I became a Muslim, I’ve had to deal with attempts to damage my reputation and countless insinuations seeking to cast doubt on my character and trying to connect me to causes which I do not subscribe to.
It is part of my faith as a Muslim to try to help those who are suffering from poverty or economic or political injustice.
When many astronauts go to space, they see the insignificant size of the earth and vastness of space, and they become very religious, because they have seen the Signs of Allah.