Reader Joanne said...
This story seems to be making the rounds, yet when I was in London earlier this month Mr. Islam had no problem shaking hands with and speaking to me and several other women - all of us non-veiled, non-Muslim, and non-family members. Methinks someone has taken what they perceived to be a slight and blown it out of proportion.
Here's the original post:
Muslim singer YUSUF ISLAM reportedly refused to speak with the female guides at a German event over the weekend (24-25MAR07) because they weren’t veiled - despite accepting an honour for building bridges between Eastern and Western cultures.
The star, formerly known as CAT STEVENS, received a special prize at the Echo Awards last night (25MAR07) in Berlin for his musical, social and political work and was praised as a bridge-builder between the West and the Islamic world.
However, when the FATHER AND SON singer, 58, rehearsed his appearance the day before the prize giving (24MAR07), he acted rather narrow minded, according to German publication B.Z.
When the hostesses approached Islam, who arrived with his management and his veiled wife FAEZIA, telling him that they were his guides, he simply ignored them and didn’t even take a look at the women.
Islam’s manager explains, “Mr Islam doesn’t speak with women except his wife. Least of all if they don’t wear a headscarf. Things like that only happen via an intermediary.”
More.
Thanks to Baba Gary.
P.S. An anonymous reader claims that this is innaccurate. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a report to second that claim (although I did find several reports of this incident, albeit not from big news sources). If anyone can point me to some other contradicting sources, that would be great. Thanks.
10 comments:
I saw a video of Yusuf receiving the ECHO award. His wife was not veiled. She had a headscarf on, but that is NOT veiled. Her face was showing - NOT covered by a veil. I have seen photos of her at many events and she has never had her face covered. Yusuf’s daughters wear a very minor headcovering with only their hair covered, not their face or neck, and they are very attractive young women.
I have seen photos of Yusuf talking to women (without headscarfs) at various events. I know of women who have actually met Yusuf who are not Muslim and did not have their hair covered, and he has been genuinely friendly and shaken their hands, had his photo taken with them, and has carried on a conversation with them and he has even asked them their thoughts on his music. His wife is a very friendly person also.
It is really so sad when articles like this are written with no basis in fact. Saying his wife was veiled is a lie right at the beginning of the article.
When Yusuf got up to go onstage to accept his award, as he walked along he shook many people’s hands, women included. He also performed the song, "Maybe There's A World", from his new album. He played guitar and had a backing band.
On Contact Music where I first saw the article, someone posted who says he is Yusuf's manager and he denies that anything in the article happened. He said that Yusuf spoke to everyone who wanted to speak to him and signed autographs for everyone who wanted one. Here is the link:
http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/yusuf%20islam%20ignores%20bare-headed%20women_1026111
Thanks for the comment. I stand corrected and will look up information to correct the article.
This story seems to be making the rounds, yet when I was in London earlier this month Mr. Islam had no problem shaking hands with and speaking to me and several other women - all of us non-veiled, non-Muslim, and non-family members. Methinks someone has taken what they perceived to be a slight and blown it out of proportion.
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