Article: Playing God's music; The artist formerly known as Cat Stevens seeks an Islamic alternative to hip hop.

Byline: LESLEY GARNER

WHEN Yusuf Islam was in his Cat Stevens incarnation, back in the early Seventies, he was on holiday in Marrakech - a favourite pop-star destination.

"It was around midnight and I heard this music going on, very mysterious," he says. "So I went out to try to find it and I asked someone in the street, 'What's that music?' And he said, 'That is music for God.' And I thought, music for God? I'd never heard that before - I'd heard of music for money, music for fame, music for personal power, but music for God!"

Music for fame and money was what he was into at the time, but, with hindsight, even his hugely popular songs were ...

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