The appearance of Yusuf Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens) at Jon Stewart’s “Rally to Restore Sanity” has sparked controversy. At Hot Air, Allahpundit explains why. You can also read these two articles by Nick Cohen in Standpoint magazine (UK) for background on the matter. The gist of the issue is that Yusuf Islam has said that Salman Rushdie, who famously authored The Satanic Verses, deserved to die for his blasphemy against Islam. That is, when faced with a choice between Rushdie and Ayatollah Khomeini (who issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie’s death), Yusuf Islam chose Khomeini.

This should be enough to see that Yusuf Islam is not a moderate Muslim, and that he instead holds some radical beliefs and doesn’t belong at a supposed “Rally to Restore Sanity.”