MIM: In 2004 Yusuf Islam was banned from entering the US as a threat to national security. Previously he had been denied entry to Israel because of Hamas funding. Islam's 'charity' Muslim Aid was on a 2002 list compiled by Spanish police as "an organisation which funds and recruits Al Qaeda Muhajideen in Bosnia'. . The webmaster of Muslim Aid was Al Qaeda operative Asaria Iqbal. Islam's ample terrrorst funding credentials are no doubt backed by the largesse Doha luminaries such as Yusuf Qaradawi aka 'The Terror Theologian', and others dedicated to promoting Wahhabism.

At the new Islamist propagation center at Cardiff University, cynically dubbed a 'faith center', (ie a reference to Islam as the only truth faith), students can take a post graduate course entitled "Contemporary Islam in Britain", which aims to "make Islam more integral into British society". Sucessful completion of the course presumably means the recitation of the Shahada in place of a dissertation.

The center is intended to promote a 'scholarly and public understanding of Islam in Britain' with the help of members of the local Muslim community who will form part of the advisory committee".

Let's hope that many Brits will have learned more then they care to know about 'the religion of peace' after the July 7th terrorist bombings, which were carried out by bombers who frequented an 'Islamic learning center', and demand that law enforcement, and not just 'local Muslims', be taking an active interest in Islam's newest Da'wa enterprise.

For more on Yusuf Islam's terrorism ties see: 'Yusuf Islam and The Muslim Council of Britain's Terrorism Ties -Muslim Aid 'charity' funds Al Qaeda & sent Mujahideen to Bosnia'

http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/293

MIM: The former Cat Steven's style change from 'mullet to mullah' also made him an expert on Islamic education and da'wa overnight . His standing in the Muslim community is due in no small part to the money and celebrity status he aquired with his music before his reinventing himself as 'Yusuf Islam'. His conversion is a case study in how Islam enabled him to go from 'useless idiot to useful idiot' and will no doubt be an inspiration to students at his newly opened 'Muslim faith center'.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4261292.stm

Singer opens Muslim faith centre

The Muslim community in Cardiff has a long history, said Yusuf Islam

The musician, who had a string of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, is chair of the Islamia Schools Trust.

The unit at Cardiff University is the first of its kind in Britain and will lead research on Muslims in the UK.

The centre also offers a postgraduate course called Islam in Contemporary Britain.

Speaking at launch on Tuesday at Cardiff Business School, he said the centre was a "symbol of opportunity" to bridge the gulf of understanding he thought there was between Muslims and wider society.

Few people know that the first mosque in the UK was established in Cardiff in 1860 Centre director Sophie Gilliat-Ray

He said: "Now is a chance, I think, to have a partnership, an academic understanding also, of how Islam impacts on the sociological behaviour of people, Muslims and non-Muslims.

"I think it's important for non-Muslims to walk a little bit closer towards understanding Islam, and for Muslims to come closer to explaining it in a better, more academic and understandable way.

"It's a two-way partnership. And (the centre) is a great symbol of opportunity, in the background that we have today, to go forward and perhaps make Islam a bit more integral to the British society, which it is capable of doing."

Centre director Sophie Gilliat-Ray said Cardiff was an ideal location for the venture because the city was home to one of the oldest Muslim communities in Britain.

"Few people know that the first mosque in the UK was established in Cardiff in 1860," she said.

As the singer-songwriter Cat Stevens, Yusuf Islam had many hits

"From this early history, there is now a sizeable and well-established Muslim population in the city, making Cardiff one of the best places to fully appreciate the full and dynamic history of Islam and Muslims in Britain."

The research centre will be based in the School of Religious and Theological Studies. Members of the local Muslim community will form part of the advisory committee.

The university said its aim was to promote "scholarly and public understanding" of Islam and the life of Muslim communities in Britain.

As well as offering new masters and diploma qualifications, the centre will provide professional development courses for specific groups, such as prison officers, police officers and teachers.

The centre will also host a public lecture series and international conferences.

A new MA in Islam in Contemporary Britain will be offered by the centre

Mohammed Evans, from the Ethnic Minority Achievement Service in Cardiff Council, said the centre would be an "accessible, vibrant, and inclusive hub of learning about Islam in Britain, for Muslims and non-Muslims alike".

Yusuf Islam - whose songs included Moon Shadow, Peace Train and Morning Has Broken - became a Muslim in 1977.

He did not record another pop song until March 2003, when he contributed to a charity album to raise money for the children of Iraq.