Yusuf Islam, aka Cat Stevens, is NOT stuck up, fool!

He obviously talks to women who are not veiled. How else would he get Dolly Parton's endorsement?

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Yusuf Islam wins damages for "veiled women" slur

LONDON (Reuters) - British folk singer Yusuf Islam, formerly Cat Stevens, accepted libel damages and an apology on Friday from a news agency that reported he had refused to talk to women at an awards ceremony who were not wearing a veil.

The artist, who changed his name after becoming a Muslim in the late 1970s, will donate the "substantial" payout to Small Kindness, a U.N.-linked charity he chairs.

Adam Tudor, the singer's attorney, told London's High Court that the story behind the legal action was published by World Entertainment News Network and was used on Contactmusic.com, a website said to have 2.2 million page views a month.

The article appeared in March last year and suggested that the singer was "so sexist and bigoted that he refused at an awards ceremony to speak to or even acknowledge any women who were not wearing a veil," Tudor said.

"It went on to suggest that Mr. Islam's manager had stated 'Mr. Islam doesn't speak with women except his wife, least of all if they don't wear a headscarf. Things like that only happen via an intermediary.'"

Tudor said the article had embarrassed the singer, creating a false impression of his attitude to women and also casting serious aspersions on his religious faith.

World Entertainment News Network issued an apology, saying:

"We now accept that these allegations ... are entirely without foundation, and that Mr. Islam has never had any difficulties working with women, whether for religious or for any other reason."

Islam, 59, is still best known for his hits as Cat Stevens, including "Wild World," "Morning Has Broken" and "Moonshadow."

He sold an estimated 60 million albums as Stevens, but retired from showbusiness in 1978 after converting to Islam. He released his first mainstream pop album since then in 2006.

Reuters/Nielsen

Cat Stevens releases first album since embracing Islam in 1970s

This is great! Although it's weird that they say he hasn't released an album in 30 years, because I know he's released Islamic music since then.. I guess that doesn't count?

Yusuf Islam, the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens before he became a Muslim in the 1970s, has released his first commercial album for nearly three decades.

click here for full article

How did you get here?

So I was looking at my blog stats and found this section where it shows what people typed into google to land on my blog. Turns out, out of the last 35 hits that came from a search engine, 65% of them were searches on Huma Abedin. A while ago, I wrote a short profile on her and France's Rachida Dati, two powerful Muslim women. So... with Hillary Clinton so far ahead in the polls, she may indeed become the Democratic Presidential nominee... perhaps even the President! And if that happened, could Huma Abedin become a member of her cabinet? Imagine... a Muslim woman working directly for the US President, as there is currently working for the French President. Pretty cool, huh?

As a side note, here are some other seaches that somehow led people to my blog:

• muslim cat
• preteens boob job
• husband makes bigoted remarks about my family

Cute cat (and dog) photos

I just have to share these two photos... My husband emailed me this one.

When Cats Go Bad...




And here's an ADORABLE one w/ Ginny the dog who rescues cats. Click on the picture for Ginny's fan club.

Dolly defends Yusuf Islam

I have always LOVED Dolly Parton (and Cher, but that's for another time...), and now I love her EVEN MORE!

http://tinyurl.com/8u4h6

Country superstar Dolly Parton was thrilled when Yusuf Islam agreed to collaborate with her on her new covers album because she wanted to show fans he's a "really sweet man."

Parton has been a longtime friend and fan of the folk icon, formerly Cat Stevens, and was horrified when she learned he had been refused entry to America last year.

Islam was turned back when his name appeared on a mysterious list of potential terrorist sympathisers. He has been fighting the humiliating immigration mess ever since. And, by including him on her new album, Those Were The Days, patriotic Parton felt she was doing him a great service because her fans would never expect her to collaborate with anyone who meant to harm Americans.

She says: "I had recorded a song on this CD, called Where The Children Play, and I thought it was worth a chance (to ask Islam to join her), so we sent an email… and he said: 'Sure, I'll play the guitar.'

"He's a precious man. He's got a lot of bad press lately but I think he's out to try to save the world, not destroy it."