YUSUF Islam

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Sunday 31st October

Clash of Crazy Peace Trains

If you wish for something hard enough, it’s strange how even without praying for it the wish suddenly’s dropped at your door. That was how I felt when an invite to join the Rally for Sanity from Jon Stewart and his ‘Foxy’ cohort, Stephen Colbert, arrived. After grieving a little recently for the disappearance of those reverberating ‘peace waves’ of music and bulldozing optimism of the 60’s (The Never Ending Rainbow), the message came: why not join us at the Rally on the 30th of October? Oh my God! What a good idea. That’s all there was to it.

The skit that the two guys had dreamt up for me was to play Peace Train, nice and soft until Ozzie Osbourne blaring, “all aboard!!” drives me out with a Roots’ backed version of Crazy Train. Then the two titan trains fight it out, skidding along the tracks. This’ll never happen, I thought myself.

Lo and behold, four days later after a frenzied exchange of e-mails and calls with the wish-driven power engine of Jon and his team, I was on board a plane heading for Washington with my ebony J200.

The show was a huge success. At a time when battle clouds are gathering and the country is bracing itself for another dangerous political showdown, about one hundred and fifty thousand ‘sanity seekers’ converged on the Capital and enjoyed a blissfully sunny, bright and funny Autumn afternoon on the lawn.

This event may not change the world, or the destiny of the elections, but it was great reminder of the peaceful hopes of many, to rise up and re-state their ardent wish for more sanity and less fear. Glad I was there.
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Comments
1. It's so great to see you performing again!
  24 Feb 2011 Elaine Report Comment
2. Yusuf I am so glad you were there with a peaceful smile and a guitar and a light heart. I had an infant in the hospital. When I put little headphones on her ears and put music on....her heart beat was faster and her vital signs improved. It was all I could do besides pray. I am just glad it was music she liked. Your music can do this to help heal a lot of hearts. Thank You.
  13 Nov 2010 Cindy Camuso Report Comment
3. Dear Yusuf, You have written: "To safeguard the peace and security of the multi-religious society, Islam wisely prohibits the vilification of what people hold sacred, in order that people do not vilify or mock God the Almighty in return." How then are we to understand the Taliban's destruction of the 2000 year old Bamiyan Buddhas, which were, before they were blown up with dynamite, not only the world's largest scuptures of the great Indian prophet but a landmark of the ancient Silk Road and irreplacable treasure of world heritage. Ack!
  
  Webmaster's Reply: Dear Purplemoon, it's indefensible! Particularly as the land of Afghanistan was inhabited by much higher ranking Muslim generation who were close to the time of the Prophet (p.b.u.h) in 642 CE and who never did such a thing when they could easily have. Also it is implicitly forbidden by this verse of the Qur'an:
  
  Revile not those unto whom they pray beside God lest they wrongfully revile God through ignorance. Thus unto every nation have We made their deed seem fair. Then unto their Lord is their return, and He will tell them what they used to do.
  
  (Al Qur'an, 6:108)
  12 Nov 2010 purplemoon Report Comment
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