1978–present

Following his conversion, Yusuf Islam abandoned his career as a pop star. Song and the use of musical instruments is an area of debate in Muslim jurisprudence, considered har?m by some, and is the primary reason he gave for retreating from the pop spotlight.

He decided to use the continuing wealth he earns from his music career on philanthropic and educational causes in the Muslim community of London and elsewhere. In 1981, he founded the Islamia Primary School in Salusbury Road in the north London area of Kilburn; after that, he founded several Islamic secondary schools and devoted his energy to providing an Islamic education to children and to charitable causes. He founded, and is chairman of, the Small Kindness charity, which initially assisted famine victims in Africa and now supports thousands of orphans and families in the Balkans, Indonesia, and Iraq. He also was chairman of the charity Muslim Aid from 1985 to 1993.

In 1985, Yusuf Islam decided to return to the public spotlight, for the first time since his religious conversion, at the historic Live Aid concert, inspired by the famine threatening Ethiopia. Though he had written a song especially for the occasion, his appearance was skipped when Elton John's set ran too long.