Source: BBC News

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

On September 20, 2005 BBC News reported, "Former pop star Yusuf Islam - previously known as Cat Stevens - has opened a faith centre focusing on Islam and Muslims in Britain. 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. 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.'"