# Why is singer Cat Stevens AKA "Yusuf Islam" on a national security watch list? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 22, 2004, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-singer-cat-stevens-aka-yusuf-islam-on-a-national-security-watch-list/265431 "2004-09-22T02:48:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Wartime\_Consigliori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@Wartime\_Consigliori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wartime_Consigliori)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2004, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-singer-cat-stevens-aka-yusuf-islam-on-a-national-security-watch-list/265431/41 "2004-09-22T20:48:46Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > So Yusuf Islam can’t travel by plane because he advocates his religious beliefs, he’s spoken out in favor of the death penalty, and he’s had some financial dealings with questionable groups in the Middle East. > > I wonder if George Bush is on the same list? **Nemo** , that was classic 😃 ---
**Author:** ![PaulFitzroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2acd7d/32.png) [@PaulFitzroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulFitzroy)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2004, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-singer-cat-stevens-aka-yusuf-islam-on-a-national-security-watch-list/265431/42 "2004-09-22T21:37:50Z")
Funny joke, stupid point. Bush doesn’t speak out in favor of murdering people for going against Christianity. Furthermore, I love it when Muslims say ‘X behavior is against Islam!’ without providing any citation whatsoever. I want to see Koran citations from any Muslims or Muslim apologists here specifically against the killing of non-Muslim innocents. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-singer-cat-stevens-aka-yusuf-islam-on-a-national-security-watch-list/265431/43 "2004-09-22T22:28:55Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > …Because of the fatwa (which hasn’t been in effect since '98), Rushdie also cannot fly on commercial airlines. Not true based on a thread in GD a +/- 2 years ago. I can’t find it via thread search (might be lost in the blackout). Going from memory here: Air Canada originally announced - but then recinded - their Rushide ban when he flew there on a book tour in early 2002. ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2004, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-singer-cat-stevens-aka-yusuf-islam-on-a-national-security-watch-list/265431/44 "2004-09-22T22:41:34Z")
> [@PaulFitzroy](#): > > Furthermore, I love it when Muslims say ‘X behavior is against Islam!’ without providing any citation whatsoever. I want to see Koran citations from any Muslims or Muslim apologists here specifically against the killing of non-Muslim innocents. I’m sure there are others, but how about: “If they leave you alone and offer to make peace with you, God does not allow you to harm them.” (4:90) There’s also the general: “Warfare is an awesome evil” (2:217) How many citations do any of the sacred texts of any religon have _specifically_ against killing members of other religions? I don’t recall a ‘Thou shalt not kill the people who aren’t what will eventually be called Christians when this is all written down.’ ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-singer-cat-stevens-aka-yusuf-islam-on-a-national-security-watch-list/265431/45 "2004-09-23T04:03:34Z")
[It’s not just Hamas he’s suspected of donating money to…](http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/news/092204_nw_cat_stevens.html) > [@](#): > > It’s alleged he gave thousands to the militant Palestinian group Hamas, and to the son of blind cleric Omar Abdel Rachman who was believed to have masterminded the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Yusuf Islam denies giving money to terrorists, and claims he thought he was donating to the poor. The problem is that many Muslim ‘charities’ have turned out to have ties to terrorist organizations, or to be fronts for them. So even if Cat thought he was donating to a charity, he may in fact have been aiding terrorists. The problem for the government is trying to determine if it was an unwitting accident, or intentional aid for terrorists. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-singer-cat-stevens-aka-yusuf-islam-on-a-national-security-watch-list/265431/46 "2004-09-23T07:16:10Z")
> [@PaulFitzroy](#): > > Furthermore, I love it when Muslims say ‘X behavior is against Islam!’ without providing any citation whatsoever. I want to see Koran citations from any Muslims or Muslim apologists here specifically against the killing of non-Muslim innocents. From Bernard Lewis, _The Crisis of Islam_, p. 39: > [@](#): > > Because holy war is an obligation of the faith, it is elaborately regulated in the shari’a. Fighters in a jihad are enjoined not to kill women, children, and the aged unless they attack first, not to torture or mutilate prisoners, to give fair warning of the resumption of hostilities after a truce, and to honor agreements. The medieval jurists and theologians discuss at some length the rules of warfare, including questions such as which weapons are permitted and which are not. There is even some discussion in medieval texts of the lawfulness of missile and chemical warfare, the one relating to mangonels and catapults, the other to poison-tipped arrows and the poisoning of enemy water supplies. On these points there is considerable variation. Some jurists permit, some restrict, some disapprove of the use of these weapons. The stated reason for concern is the indiscriminate casualties that they inflict. At no point do the basic texts of Islam enjoin terrorism and murder. At no point – as far as I am aware – do they even consider the random slaughter of uninvolved bystanders. ---
**Author:** ![SnakeSpirit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snakespirit/32/7271_2.png) [@SnakeSpirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakeSpirit)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-singer-cat-stevens-aka-yusuf-islam-on-a-national-security-watch-list/265431/47 "2004-09-23T08:03:05Z")
> [@Eva Luna](#): > > but if Ted Kennedy can end up being denied boarding, nothing surprises me at this point. I think it’s because of his belief that semi-automatic weapons “spray bullets like a firehose.” Now _that’s_ dangerous! ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-singer-cat-stevens-aka-yusuf-islam-on-a-national-security-watch-list/265431/48 "2004-09-23T09:13:01Z")
That’s one firehose you _don’t_ want to drink from. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-singer-cat-stevens-aka-yusuf-islam-on-a-national-security-watch-list/265431/49 "2004-09-23T20:35:42Z")
> [@SnakeSpirit](#): > > I think it’s because of his belief that semi-automatic weapons “spray bullets like a firehose.” Now _that’s_ dangerous! The belief, or the weapons? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-singer-cat-stevens-aka-yusuf-islam-on-a-national-security-watch-list/265431.md?page=2)