Cat and the Ayatollah

It was disheartening to learn that singer Cat Stevens, a Muslim since 1977, has backed the Ayatollah Khomeini’s death threat against Salman Rushdie, author of “The Satanic Verses” (Morning Report, Feb. 24, and “The Sound and the Fury,” March 1).

In view of the themes of Stevens’ music, it is curious that the artist, now Yusuf Islam, is suddenly intolerant of another artist.

To think that a brilliant, sensitive and loving soul such as Stevens’ could now deny Christ’s most basic message is, in itself, more of an argument against Islam than anything Salman Rushdie could have written.

ELISA WITTMAN

Rancho Cucamonga