I bought The Very Best of Cat Stevens on iTunes yesterday. His 70's albums (Tea for the Tillerman, Teaser and the Firecat, Catch Bull at Four) were quite formational in my early teen years. I still think this is some of the best music ever recorded.
The thing that touched me then and still does now is the cry I hear for something beyond the superficial world. Cat Stevens and other artists around that time (late 60's early 70's) began asking questions that previous generations generally took for granted - a move (among other things) from a rationalistic modernistic view to a post-modern view where the values of 'science and progress have all the answers', and 'the world is getting better' were questioned. We had the threat of nuclear war, pollution, the assassination of Martin Luther King and JFK and Vietnam as evidence that science and progress did not answer the inner need of humankind.
The post-modern view rejected the meta-narrative handed down from previous generations, some rejecting in the process that there could even be a big picture that gave meaning to life. Others found an alternative story they could relate to. The questions Cat Stevens was asking lead me into a search for spiritual reality and a meta-narrative which I found in the story of Jesus. Stevens (real name Steven Georgiou) sought through Buddhism, Zen, and I Ching, Numerology, tarot cards and Astrology, finally to settle into Islam; changing his name to Yusef Islam and leaving music for 25 years.
He has found his Peace Train in Islam, speaking out against those who practice terror and killing in the name of Allah. I have a great deal of respect for his humanitarian work and efforts to bring peace.
Islam as a religion / philosophy at its core seeks to submit fully to God (that is what the word means). It is based on the same law given to the Jews and seen by Christians in what we call the Old Testament. Like Judaism and Christianity Islam is monotheistic, believing in one true creator God. Islam believes that both Judaism and Christianity are perversions of the true way. The follower of Islam seeks to please God through keeping the law, which has been codified into five pillars.
Just as in Judaism in Jesus day (and to a degree today) there are those in Islam who believe submission to God is a matter of personal peity and treating others justly and those who seek submission to God through violence and military might imposed on those who do not obey their laws. Christians have also fallen into these camps over history.
The key difference between Islam and Christianity is the place of Jesus. Islam regards him as a human prophet of God as were Abraham, Moses and Muhammad. Christianity regards Jesus as the unique Messiah, God in the flesh who came to reveal God to humankind and make a way for humankind to be reconciled and reconnected back to God through his death and resurrection on behalf of fallen humans. The New Testament teaches that submission to God is not actually possible by human effort - we stuff it up! It's only possible by the work of the Holy Spirit within us restoring us to relationship with God.
End of lesson - more another time.