I found a religion that blended scientific reason with spiritual reality in a unifying faith far removed from the headlines of violence, destruction and terrorism.
It is part of my faith as a Muslim to try to help those who are suffering from poverty or economic or political injustice.
In those days a concert was a personal experience. I wanted to be as close as possible to the audience, and of course big stadiums didn't enable you to do that. It wasn't my style.
Salman Rushdie, indeed any writer who abuses the prophet or indeed any prophet under Islamic law, the sentence for that is actually death.
I suppose that by being absent from the music business, it appeared that I just dropped out, but really I never did. I was continuously working and doing various things.
I was brought up in the modern world of all the luxury and the highlight of show business. I was born into a Christian home.
This is the beauty of the Qur'an: it asks you to reflect and reason, and not to worship the sun or moon but the One who has created everything. The Qur'an asks man to reflect upon the sun and moon and God's creation in general.