Convert to Islam

Converted to Islam From Christianity

2010-11-14T08:07:00.000-08:00

Alphapet B

* Benjamin Chavis - controversial former head of the NAACP; joined the Nation of Islam.
* Bernard Hopkins - American boxer
* Betty Shabazz - wife of Malcolm X; former Methodist.
* Bilal Philips - Islamic scholar and author
* Bruno Metsu - French coach of the Senegal team at the 02 FIFA World Cup
* Bryant Neal Vinas - participated in and supported al-Qaeda plots in Afghanistan and the U.S., and helped al-Qaeda plan a bomb attack on the LIRR

Alphapet C

* Colleen LaRose - American citizen charged with terrorism-related crimes
* Chris Eubank - British boxer
* Claude Alexandre de Bonneval or Humbaraci Ahmet Pasa is 18th century French nobleman.
* Count Cassius- Visigothic aristocrat who founded the Banu Qasi dynasty of Muladi rulers.

Alphapet D

* Daniel Maldonado - American Islamist convicted in the United States on charges of training with al-Qaida in East Africa. Raised Catholic.
* Daniel Streich - former member of the right-wing party, Swiss People's Party
* Danny Thompson - English double bass player converted from Catholicism.
* Danny Williams - British boxer
* David Belfield - American, fled to Iran after assassinating Ali Akbar Tabatabai, an Iranian dissident.
* David Benjamin Keldani, a former Catholic priest.
* Dave Chappelle - comedian and television star.
* Dawud Wharnsby-Ali (David Wharnsby) - Canadian singer/poet.

Alphapet E

* Elsa Kazi - German writer of one-act plays, short stories, novels and history, and one of the greatest poets of her time.
* Éric Abidal (changed his name to Bilal) - French football player, currently playing for FC Barcelona, converted to Islam after marriage.
* Everlast - Rapper from the Irish-American hip-hop group House of Pain, converted From Catholicism.

Alphapet F

* Franck Ribéry- a French football player. His name after he converted to Islam is Bilal.

Alphapet G

* Gabriele Torsello - Italian freelance photojournalist based in London who was abducted in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
* Gary Raymond Miller (Abdulahad Omar)
* Gauhar Jaan-British-Indian Singer.
* George XI of Kartli - Saffavid commander.
* Germaine Lindsay - one of the suicide terrorists in the 7 July 05 London bombings in which 52 people were murdered.

Alphapet H

* Hamza Yusuf - American convert from Greek Orthodox; head of the Zaytuna Institute.
* Hedley Churchward - English painter

Converted to Islam From Hinduism

2010-11-14T08:04:00.000-08:00

* Mallu Iqbal Khan - converted to Islam and became one highest army general during the Tughlaq dynasty and Lodhi Dynasty in South Asia.
* Divya Bharti - Indian actress who converted on marriage to producer Sajid Nadiadwala
* Sahaj Ram Sapru - the grandfather of the British-Indian Muslim Philosopher, Sir Dr. Muhammad Iqbal, who was an official in Kashmir during the administration of the Afghan Governor Azim Khan.
* Kamala Suraiyya (formerly Kamala Das) - Anglo-Malayalam writer
* Sharmila Tagore (Begum Ayesha Sultana) - Bollywood film actress, she converted to Islam upon marriage.
* Kabir Suman- Modern Bengali singer & songwriter officially converted to Islam from Hinduism in 00.
* Tansen - Notable musician and poet.
* A.R. Rahman (stands for Allah Rakha Rahman) - Modern South Indian singer ,songwriter & Oscar winner officially converted to Islam from Hinduism.
* Kamala Surayya - a.k.a. Madhavikutty (31 March 1934 – 31 May 09) She was born in a conservative Hindu Nair (Nallappattu) family having Royal anscestry who was an Indian writer who openly and honestly discussed and wrote about the sexual desires of Indian women, which made her an iconoclast of her generation. She officially converted to Islam from Hinduism.
* Steven Vikash Chand - Arrested in the 06 Toronto terrorism arrests.
* Pooja Bedi- Bollywood actress, model, socialite. The daughter of late dancer Protima Bedi and actor Kabir Bedi. She converted to Islam and took the name of NoorJehan on her marriage to Farhan Furniturewala, prominent businessman.
* Dhiren Barot - Born in India to a Hindu family, Barot was later sentenced to 40 years in prison in the United Kingdom for conspiracy to murder. Barot admitted to plotting to bomb the New York Stock Exchange, the International Monetary Fund headquarters, and the World Bank, amongst other targets.

Converted to Islam From Christianity

2010-09-19T03:57:00.000-07:00

Alphabet A

    * Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar (Sharmon Shah) - former NFL player
    * Abel Xavier - former Portuguese professional footballer converted to Islam with his new name Faisal.
    * Abu Tammam - 9th century Arab poet born to Christian parents.
    * Abu Usamah - American-born Imam of Green Lane Masjid in Birmingham, UK.Accused of preaching messages of hate towards non-Muslims in a UK Television documentary.
    * Adam Gadahn (born Adam Pearlman) - al-Qaeda English language spokesman. Homeschooled Christian.
    * Addas - Companion of the Prophet Muhammad Sallaho Alehy Wassallam during his time. One of the earliest Christian convert to Islam.
    * Adi ibn Hatim - Companion of the Prophet Muhammad Sallaho Alehy Wassallam during his time.
    * Ahmad Rashad - Emmy award-winning sportscaster (mostly with NBC Sports) and former American football wide receiver.
    * Ahmed Santos - Filipino, fugitive, founder of the Rajah Solaiman Movement & suspected by Filipino authorities to be an Al Qaeda operative converted from Catholicism
    * Ahmad Thomson - British barrister and writer and also a member of the Murabitun movement.
    * Akhenaton - French rapper and producer of French hip hop.
    * Alexander Litvinenko - former FSB officer converted to Islam on his deathbed.
    * Alexander Russell Webb - Former Presbyterian. American journalist, newspaper owner, and former Consul-General of the U.S.A. in the Philippines.
    * André Carson - former Baptist, second Muslim to serve the United States Congress.
    * Art Blakey - American Jazz musician
    * Aukai Collins - fought in Chechnya, paid FBI informant, author of an autobiographical book
    * Anthony Mundine - former Australian rugby league player for the St George Illawarra Dragons and now a boxer

Converted to Islam From Judaism

2010-09-19T03:49:00.001-07:00

    * Rashid-al-Din Hamadani - 13th century Persian physician
    * Sultan Rafi Sharif Bey (Yale Singer) - a pioneer in the development of Islamic culture in the United States.
    * Tali Fahima - Israeli left-wing activist, convicted of aiding Palestinian terrorists. Converted to Islam in Umm al-Fahm in June 10.
    * Yaqub ibn Killis - 10th century Egyptian vizier under the Fatimids.

Converted to Islam From Buddhism

2010-09-19T03:48:00.000-07:00

    * Dr.Periyar Dasan - Now Dr.Abdullah.
    * Sarah Malini Perera - Sri Lankan housemaid living in Bahrain who was arrested in Sri Lanka for publishing a book condemning Buddhism and upholding extremist Islam funded by Islamic extremists.
    * Tarmashirin - Khan of the Chagatai Khanate following Duwa Timur.
    * Hussein Ye - An Islamic scholar of Chinese descent whose lectures are frequently aired on Peace TV.

Converted to Islam From Hinduism

2010-09-19T03:47:00.000-07:00

    * Murshid Quli Khan - the Mughal governor of Bengal.
    * Malik Kafur - Indian military general.
    * Malik Maqbul - Prime Minister or Wazir of the Delhi Sultanate, during the reign of Feroz Shah Tughlaq.
    * Abdul Wahid Pedersen - Danish cleric.
    * Rama Varma Kulashekhara - Purportedly the first Indian king to accept Islam
    * Muhammed Yusuf Khan - Born Maruthanayagam Pillai, he converted to Islam and later served as Commandant for the British East India Company troops.

Converted to Islam From Paganism

2010-09-19T03:42:00.001-07:00

    * Berke - grandson of Genghis Khan and leader of the Golden Horde who was the first Mongol ruler to establish Islam in a Mongol state.
    * David Myatt - from Paganism, former Neo-Nazi-activist
    * Negudar - Mongol general and noyan
    * Nogai Khan - Mongol general and great-grandson of Genghis Khan.
    * Samori Ture - founder of the Wassoulou Empire who resisted French rule in West Africa.
    * Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan - 9th century Uyghur ruler who was one of the first Turks to convert to Islam.
    * Tuda Mengu - Mongol leader of the Golden Horde
    * Tughlugh Timur - the Khan of Moghulistan.

Converted to Islam From Sikhism

2010-09-19T03:34:00.000-07:00

* Ubaidullah Sindhi - religious leader and political activist has changed his religion Sikhism to Islam.

Converted to Islam From Zoroastrianism

2010-09-19T00:55:00.000-07:00

    * Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa - author and translator of Kalila wa Dimna from Middle Persian.
    * Naubakht - Pahlavi translator of the Abassid court.
    * Fadl ibn Sahl - Persian vizier of the Abassid era.
    * Rattanbai Petit - second wife of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan
    * Saman Khuda - founder of the Samanid dynasty, one of the first native Persian dynasties in the Middle East and Central Asia after the collapse of the Sassanids.

Converted to Islam From Atheism

2010-08-20T10:29:00.001-07:00

    * Zhang Chengzhi - contemporary Hui Chinese author; raised as an atheist.
    * Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) - British musician and singer (had a nominally Christian upbringing, but never was a believer)
    * Martin Lings - a widely acclaimed British scholar. He was raised as a Protestant, became an atheist, and later converted to Islam.
    * Mos Def - American rapper and actor.
    * Nursultan Nazarbayev - The incumbent President of Kazakhstan. Formerly held atheistic views during the Soviet era.
    * Jeffrey Lang

Other Converted (From Undetermined Former Religion)

2010-07-19T08:57:00.000-07:00

* Abd al Malik - birth name Régis Fayette-Mikano — French rapper of Congolese origins.

* Abd al Haqq Kielan - Swedish cleric.

* Abdul Alim Musa - Muslim activist and director of Masjid Al-Islam in Washington, D.C.

* Abdul Waheed (Don Stewart-Whyte) - accused of participating in the 06 transatlantic aircraft plot.

* Abdullah Ibrahim - South African Jazz musician.

* Ahmad Jamal - Jazz pianist.

* Philippe Fragione - French rapper and producer of French hip hop.

* Ali Shaheed Muhammad - member of A Tribe Called Quest.

* Alys Faiz - human rights and peace activist; converted at the time of her marriage to Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz.

* Amir Butler- author, engineer and Islamic activist.

* Anthony Mundine - Australian Boxer, Former 2 time Super Middleweight Champion.

* Apisai Tora - Fijian politician.

* B.G. Knocc Out - American west coast rapper.

* Begum Om Habibeh Aga Khan - born Yvette Blanche Labrousse, Miss France 19, wife of Aga Khan III.

* Bob Denard - French mercenary.

* Brandon Mayfield - American attorney-at-law, was erroneously linked to the 04 Madrid train bombings.

* Busta Rhymes - American rapper, songwriter and actor

* Charles Brooks, Jr. - converted while serving a sentence for murder; first person to be executed by lethal injection in the United States.

* Ilich Ramírez Sánchez - aka "Carlos the Jackal", convicted murderer and terrorist, currently in prison in France.

* Celestino Caballero - Boxer, Current Super Bantamweight Champion.

* Charles John Pelham (Abdul Mateen)- 8th Earl of Yarborough.

* Christian Ganczarski- Head of "al Qaeda in Europe".

* Christopher Paul (aka Paul Kenyatta Laws aka Abdulmalek Kenyatta) - American citizen, alleged member of al-Qaeda.

* Colleen LaRose - alleged intended assassin of Danish cartoonist Lars Vilks.

* Craig Hodges - former NBA player.

* David Hicks - convicted Australian terrorist.

* Derrick Shareef- charged in a plot to set off four hand grenades in garbage cans December at the CherryVale Mall in Rockford, Illinois during the Christmas rush.

* Divine Styler - American hip-hop musician.

* Dwight Muhammad Qawi - Former boxing world Light Heavyweight and Cruiserweight champion.

* Edoardo Agnelli - eldest son of Gianni Agnelli, the industrialist patriarch of Fiat.

* Everlast - Irish-American rapper and singer-songwriter.

* Frithjof Schuon - metaphysician, poet, painter, philosopher (in the original and Platonic sense of this term), and a leading figure of the perennialist school.

* Gary Legenhausen - American philosopher and writer.

* Ghostface Killah - member of the Wu-Tang Clan.

* Gigi Gryce - American saxophonist, flutist, clarinetist, composer, arranger, and educator.

* Gustave-Henri Jossot - French caricaturist, illustrator and Orientalist painter.

* Hasan Akbar (born Mark Fidel Kools) - American sentenced to death for the murder of two fellow soldiers during the 03 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

* H. Rap Brown - civil rights activisit.

* Ibrahim Hooper (Douglas Hooper) - Islamic activist, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

* Ibrahim Savant - one of the suspects arrested in the UK in connection to the 06 transatlantic aircraft terrorist plot in the United Kingdom.

* Idris Muhammad - American jazz musician.

* Isabelle Eberhardt - explorer and writer.

* Jack Roche - convicted of involvement in an al-Qaeda plot to blow up the Israeli embassy in Canberra.

* Jan Janszoon - Dutch pirate.

* Jason Walters - of the Netherlands, member of the Hofstad Network, convicted on charges of terrorism.

* Jeff Fort - former Chicago gang leader, co-founder of the Black P. Stones gang, and founder of its El Rukn faction. He was convicted in 1987 of conspiring with Libya to perform acts of domestic terrorism.

* Jeffrey Mark Deskovic - served 15-year wrongful imprisonment sentence.

* Jemima Goldsmith daughter of the billionaire Sir James, who was married to Imran Khan

* John Allen Muhammad - convicted serial killer, known as the Beltway Sniper.

* John Ward - (changed name to Yusuf Reis) British corsair and pirate.

* Johann von Leers - advisor to Muhammad Naguib known for his anti-Semitic polemics.

* José Padilla - the respondent in Rumsfeld v. Padilla currently on trial as an alleged al-Qaida operative, converted while in prison for aggravated assault.

* Juan Carlos Gomez - Former Cruiserweight Boxing Champion.

* Kérim Chatty- Swedish bodybuilding stuntman who was once suspected of attempted hijacking. The preliminary inquiry was dropped.

* Khaled Edward Blair - British barrister, later married Princess Badiya bint Al Hassan of Jordan.

* Larry Johnson - retired American professional basketball player.

* Lim Yew Hock - Singapore’s second Chief Minister from 1956 to 1959.

* MC Ren - American rapper and hip-hop producer.

* Malik ul Salih - established the first Muslim state of Samudera Pasai.

* Maryam Jameelah - formerly Margret Marcus. Author of many books covering several subjects, including Modernism, Sociology, History, Jihad, Theology and Technology.

* Maurice Béjart - French choreographer.

* Mike Tyson (Malik Abdul Aziz) - former heavyweight boxing champion of the world. Converted while in prison after being convicted of rape.

* Mohammed Knut Bernström - Swedish ambassador.

* Michael Wolfe - American poet, author, and the President and Executive Producer of Unity Productions Foundation.

* Michael X - civil rights activist in the United Kingdom

* Nahshid Sulaiman - alternative hip hop artist.

* Nur al-Anwar al-Jerrahi (born Lex Hixon) - syncretist, Sufi convert, and co-founder of the Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order in the United States.

* Omar Ong Yoke Lin - (1917–10) Malaysian politician, former government minister and founder of the Malaysian Chinese Association.

* Baron omar Rolf von Ehrenfels - Austrian anthropologist and orientalist.

* Philippe Grenier - (1865–1944) French doctor, first Muslim MP in France.

* Q-Tip - North American hip-hop emcee, actor, and hip hop producer who was the leader of the critically acclaimed group A Tribe Called Quest.

* Rakan Ben Williams - suspected member of Al-Qaeda terrorist.

* Robert "Kool" Bell - musician.

* Robert D. Crane - former Presidential advisor and ambassador.

* Ronald Bell - musician.

* Rory McLeod - British snooker player.

* Sahib Shihab - jazz saxophonist and flautist.

* Stephen Schwartz - American journalist, columnist, and author.

* Susanne Osthoff - German archaeologist who had worked in Iraq since 1991 and had been taken captive there for three weeks.

* Thomas J. Abercrombie -Famous photographer and writer for National Geographic Magazine http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/06/04/06/AR060406087.html

* Tiara Jacquelina - Malaysian actress.

* Titus Burckhardt - Swiss writer and scholar.

* Umar Islam - one of the suspects arrested in the UK in connection to the 06 transatlantic aircraft terrorist plot in the United Kingdom.

* Vladimir Khodov - leader of the Beslan school hostage crisis- converted in prison.

* Walt Hazzard - former NBA player.

* Yusuf Chambers - U.K. based Da'ee of international fame. Yusuf Chambers is a young preacher from London, has greatly involved himself in many organizations in U.K. and outside like Peace TV, Islam Channel, Al-Jumuah magazine, Unity TV etc.

* Yusef Lateef - American Jazz musician.

Converted to Islam

2010-04-25T00:37:00.000-07:00

Abdul Alim Musa - Muslim activist and director of Masjid Al-Islam in Washington, D.C.
B.G. Knocc Out - American west coast rapper.
Charles John Pelham (Abdul Mateen)- 8th Earl of Yarborough.
Divine Styler - American hip-hop musician.
Gary Legenhausen - American philosopher and writer.
Idris Muhammad - American jazz musician.
Jeffrey Mark Deskovic - served 15-year wrongful imprisonment sentence.
Michael Wolfe - American poet, author, and the President and Executive Producer of Unity Productions Foundation.
Tiara Jacquelina - Malaysian actress.