As he tells it in a number of interviews, most notably the VH1 Behind the Music (on my myspace site or Youtube or the interviews on his other two DVD’s) he had a couple of frightening brushes with death.

He went swimming off the coast of Malibu and the rip current swept him out to sea and suddenly he did not have the strength to swim back.

At that moment he was aware that nothing and no one could save him. Not his fans, not his money, not his manager. He was about to drown.

He cried out to God, if You save me, I will work for You. Suddenly, as he tells it,a wave pushed him from behind and before he knew it he was back on shore.

But he was different. He had made a promise. Not long after that he was given a copy of the Koran as a birthday gift by his brother.

He began to reform his life, stopped drinking, etc and realized that he wanted a family, children, a normal life, and that the rock and roll lifestyle was not conducive (we’re talking the seventies here) to leading a “Godly” life.

He had been searching different spiritual paths - you can pretty much hear it in his music - since his first near death experience with Tuberculosis when he was 18. He had achieved fame, partied a lot, and wound up confined to bed with a collapsed lung and on IV antibiotics and bed rest in a TB hospital watching people die all around him.

He has been very happily married to his wife for 30 years and has five beautiful children and a grand-daughter.

He established several schools for Muslim children in England.

He has also despite the tabloids been the recipient of numerous humanitarian and peace awards for his philanthropic work.

His legacy is much more than just “pop star” now.