Do you remember the ‘90s? More importantly, do you remember the music from the ‘90s? This was the soundtrack of our life when we were growing up.

One song you might remember is Sinéad O’Connor’s hit version of Prince’s song “Nothing Compares 2 U.” The Irish singer’s rendition topped the Billboard Hot 100 list for 4 weeks, and she earned three grammy nominations.

Now, she’s making headlines not for music but for religion, and it’s not the first time. The singer started out Catholic; although, she was quite controversial. In 1992, she actually went on a US television show and ripped up a picture of Pope John Paul II. She said that she did this because of child abuse within the Catholic Church.  

Then, in 1999, in Lourdes, France, a bishop from the Catholic Latin Tridentine Church ordained O’Conner a priest even though the Catholic church does not recognize women as priests. This ordination was dismissed by the Catholic church as “bizarre and absurd.”

Jump to 2011, and she criticized the Catholic church over the sexual abuse scandal again. In an article in the Sunday Independent, she actually called the Vatican “a nest of devils.” She went on to say,

As I see it, the only way this current leadership of the Catholic Church can save the reputation of Catholicism is to walk out of the Vatican now and give us over the keys so we can run the church ourselves.

Now, O’Conner has turned her back on the Catholic church altogether. Her name isn’t even Sinead O’Conner anymore. She officially changed her name to Magda Davitt in 2017, but now she has changed it again. She has also converted to Islam. Her new name is Shuhada’ Davitt.

She announced her conversion to her fans via Twitter. She wrote,

This is to announce that I am proud to have become a Muslim. This is the natural conclusion of any intelligent theologian’s journey. All scripture study leads to Islam. Which makes all other scriptures redundant. I will be given (another) new name. It will be Shuhada.

She also posted a video in which she had recorded herself singing the Muslim call to prayer. Watch her sing it below.

 

This is not the first time a celebrity has converted to Islam. Other people you may know who are now Muslim include Omar Sharif (an Egyptian actor who was nominated for an Oscar), singer-songwriter Cat Stevens (whose real name is Yusuf Islam), rapper Ice Cube, and comedian Dave Chappelle.

What do you think about Sinead O’Conner’s conversion to Islam?