Sinead O’Connor Changes Her Name As She Announces Conversion To Islam

"This is the natural conclusion of any intelligent theologian’s journey."
|

Sinead O’Connor has announced she is changing her name after converting to Islam. 

The Irish singer, who was ordained as a priest in 1999, is now known as Shuhada Davitt. 

Open Image Modal
Twitter

She described finding Islam as a “natural conclusion of any intelligent theologian’s journey” in a post on Twitter.

“This is to announce that I am proud to have become a Muslim,” she wrote.

“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.”

Shuhada, who last year legally changed her name to Magda Davitt, also thanked her “Muslim brothers and sisters”, adding: ”[You] have been so kind as to welcome me to Ummah today on this page. You can’t begin to imagine how much your tenderness means to me.”

Irish Imam Shaykh Dr Umar al-Qadri also shared a video on Twitter of Shuhada reciting the Islamic declaration of faith.

He wrote: “World renowned singer Shuhada Davitt @MagdaDavitt77 (#SineadOConnor) has proclaimed the #Shahadah with me in #Ireland. She is so happy ! Masha Allah.”

Shuhada has spoken about religion many times during her career. 

In 1992, she ripped up a picture of Pope John Paul II during an appearance on US show ‘Saturday Night Live’. 

Seven years later, she was ordained as a priest by a Catholic group unconnected to the Roman Catholic Church, which she has been a vocal critic of. 

The ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ singer has also been candid about her struggles with her mental health in recent years. 

In 2017, she posted a tearful 12-minute video message, in which she discussed how she had experienced suicidal feelings for two years, and opened up about how alone she felt after losing custody of her teenage son.