HOUSTON -- Former British pop star Cat Stevens, now known as Yusuf Islam, gave a talk on May 25 at the University of Houston. The title of his talk was "My Rise from an Icon to a Servant." The program was attended, among others, by a large number of South Asian community members, who traveled all the way to Houston from various parts of South Texas on a weekday.

The talk was a recap of his own life story, his position as a world-renowned pop star, his dark period of drug addiction leading to acute health complications, followed by the experiences of his journey to various eastern religions in search of peace and spirituality, and finally his arrival to the destination of Islam.

He pulled a crowd of over 1200 in the auditorium of Arts and Humanities. The dean of the faculty and the student bodies of Houston University welcomed him. Yusuf Islam's talk was simple, straightforward, and touching. His presentations included his songs, his educational children's poems and the excerpts from the Quran, which changed his life. 

Yusuf said he still sings, but does not submit to the lifestyles of drugs, lust, hurtful competition and greed, which, according to him, are a part of the rock and pop world.