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I never looked into the reasons why he as well as Cassius Clay converted and changed their names and everything, but both of those Muslim converts have spoken out against the terror acts of 9/11, religious extremism and violence in the name of Islam.

on March 8, 1989, while speaking in London's Regents Park Mosque, Yusuf Islam was asked by a Christian Science Monitor reporter how he would "cope with the idea of killing a writer for writing a book." He is reported to have replied:

In Islam there is a line between let's say freedom and the line which is then transgressed into immorality and irresponsibility and I think as far as this writer is concerned, unfortunately, he has been irresponsible with his freedom of speech. Salman Rushdie or indeed any writer who abuses the prophet, or indeed any prophet, under Islamic law, the sentence for that is actually death. It's got to be seen as a deterrent, so that other people should not commit the same mistake again.

Two months later Yusuf Islam appeared on a British television program, BBC's Hypotheticals, an occasional broadcast which featured a panel of notable guests to explore a hypothetical situation with moral, ethical and/or political dilemmas. In the episode, ("A Satanic Scenario") Stevens/Islam is recorded having this exchange with moderator and Queens Counsel Geoffrey Robertson:[6][7]

Robertson: You don't think that this man deserves to die?
Y. Islam: Who, Salman Rushdie?
Robertson: Yes.
Y. Islam: Yes, yes.
Robertson: And do you have a duty to be his executioner?
Y. Islam: Uh, no, not necessarily, unless we were in an Islamic state and I was ordered by a judge or by the authority to carry out such an act - perhaps, yes.
[Some minutes later, Robertson on the subject of a protest where an effigy of the author is to be burned]
Robertson: Would you be part of that protest, Yusuf Islam, would you go to a demonstration where you knew that an effigy was going to be burned?
Y. Islam: I would have hoped that it'd be the real thing

The New York Times also reports this statement from the program: [If Rushdie turned up at my doorstep looking for help] I might ring somebody who might do more damage to him than he would like. I'd try to phone the Ayatollah Khomeini and tell him exactly where this man is.[8]

That's pretty disappointing about Cat Stevens. FWIW, according to Wiki sources he claims his quotes were taken out of context and he never supported the fatwa. I would like to give him the benefit of the doubt, he was a man of peace in his youth, but your quotes indicate he was spouting hateful rhetoric.

On the issue of the 9/11 horror I found the following:

"I wish to express my heartfelt horror at the indiscriminate terrorist attacks committed against innocent people of the United States," Islam wrote on his official Web site. In his statement, Islam emphasized that the terrorists' actions contradict the peaceful teachings of Islam. "No right-thinking follower of Islam could possibly condone such an action," he wrote. "The Quran equates the murder of one innocent person with the murder of the whole of humanity."

Islam said his thoughts are with the victims and their families, and he stressed that most Muslims share his views.