RIYADH, 19 March — Former pop singer Yusuf Islam, here to attend the symposium on "Islam and the dialogue of civilizations", has said that propagators of Islam should try to use music to reach out to the young.
Yusuf Islam explained that he has established a multi-media company, "Mountain of Light", in the UK to provide high quality Dawa material, primarily in audio-visual form.
"We are distributing our products in the UK, the US, South Africa and all around the world. Moreover, we are producing material, especially for the young. They don’t have any musical reservoir. So I am concentrating on this area by producing books, videos, audios and CDs. They are doing very well," he told Arab News.
The first audio recording in this category was the highly popular CD and cassette release of "The Life of the Last Prophet".
Besides music production, Yusuf Islam has also set up the International Board of Educational Research and Resources (IBERR), of which he is the chairman.
This organization provides expert guidance to new and established Muslim schools around the world in terms of staff recruitment, curricular program, teacher training and textbook development. Another of his outfits, the Association of Muslim Schools, plays an advisory role in over 48 schools in Britain.
Yusuf Islam said the main problem in the Kingdom is the distribution of his products. "We have to overcome certain barriers hindering distribution. For instance, in Saudi Arabia you can buy music, but in a music shop. You can buy religious lectures, but only in a bookstore specializing in such material. We have to create a market and let people know where to get it," he advised.
He said he would try to address this problem during his stay in the Kingdom and other Gulf states.
Speaking on the role of the media in Western society, he said it was "imbalanced and lop-sided. The language of the media is not governed by any morality. It is after sensationalism designed to boost newspaper sales. Islam promotes a spirit of inquiry within the bonds of civility. In contrast, the media — in its blind pursuit of sales promotion — has become a purveyor of crime, sex and other cheap material."