The Yusuf Islam Interview


The iconic folk music superstar and prominent revert was slated to appear on MHI one fine morning in November some 12 years ago, but it was cancelled at the very last minute due to unforseen circumstances. No one was more disappointed than yours truly, who had been assigned to interview him while on a rare visit to Malaysia.

But the MHI team worked really hard to re-arrange the session, and by the same evening, I was asked to standby to interview him at any time at a different location.

By 6pm, I was told that it was really happening later that night. It was then time to re-focus mentally and go through the questions once again.

The interview took place at the hotel he was staying and I got there about an hour earlier to go through things over with the producer.

And right on time at 10.30pm, Yusuf arrived together with his wife and friends. My first impression was that the man had a calming presence with a great aura. And yes, I was a bit star struck.

The interview went smoothly, but due to the limited time allocated (from a production standpoint), I had to skip several questions that I had earlier prepared.

Yusuf was an attentive interviewee, always looking me in the eye and replying my questions with great clarity and thought.

It was such a great honour talking to a man who has positively impacted the Muslim world through his humanitarian efforts, outspokenness and creative works. A memorable experience indeed!

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