The Sinead O'Connor Case: Why Does the West Marginalize Its Celebrities after They Revert to Islam?

In complete silence, the renowned Irish singer Sinead O'Connor was buried on August 8, 2023, following a journey that saw her revert from Catholicism to Islam.

Sinead O'Connor, who surprised the world with her announcement of converting to Islam in 2018 at the height of her fame as one of Ireland's most famous singers, faced, like other celebrities who embraced Islam, subsequent neglect.

This struggle was not limited to her home country or Europe after she started wearing the hijab; it extended to the Islamic world itself, where she faced challenges both in life and after her revert.

Despite attempts by the Catholic Church and critics to use her death and funeral to focus only on her singing career and tarnish her image, Irish and Scottish Muslims held her funeral prayers and buried her according to Islamic customs.

The life and death of the world's most famous singer in the shadow of her Islam conversion raises questions about why foreign celebrities are often ignored after embracing Islam and the role of organizations, centers, and Muslim communities.

 

Her Conversion Story

On October 26, 2018, Irish singer Sinead O'Connor announced her conversion to Islam and changed her name to Shuhada' Sadaqat, expressing gratitude through Twitter to Muslims who supported her.

She publicly renounced Catholicism, which she had embraced in the 1990s, and embraced Islam. Umar al-Qadri, an Irish imam, shared a video of her reciting the Shahada (the Muslim profession of faith).

Sinead posted a picture of herself in a hijab with the caption "Happy." She also shared a widely circulated video of herself attempting to recite the Adhan (call to prayer) in Arabic.

She announced that she was now a "proud Muslim" and that she had adopted a new name. "This is to announce that I am proud to have become a Muslim. This is the natural conclusion of any intelligent theologian's journey."

She continued that all scripture leads to Islam. Which makes all other scriptures redundant.

She made public appearances wearing the hijab in several TV interviews. When asked about it by an Irish host, she replied she wears it because she likes it. For her, it's a way of saying that she is a Muslim and part of the family.

During an interview on the Irish TV show The Late Late Show in September 2019, she elaborated that the term "reverting to Islam" implies the idea that if you study the Quran, you realize you've been Muslim all your life without knowing it, which is what happened to her.

She noted that she started studying scriptures from different religions in an attempt to find the truth about God, and she never thought she would convert to any religion. She left her study of Islam until the end because she was biased against it.

Sadaqat, or Sinead, started reading the Quran, and just as she got to chapter two, she realized that she had found her home, her actual home. She had been a Muslim all her life and didn't realize it.

After announcing her conversion to Islam in October 2018, and after a period of silence, the singer Sinead O'Connor returned to Twitter pleading to her fans due to her struggles, saying she is dying of hunger.

She revealed that she suffered from "agoraphobia and a fear of open spaces," which made her unable to leave her home to buy food. Additionally, she lived in a remote area, making it difficult to have food delivered to her, according to the Irish Post on October 16, 2020.

She mentioned that the location of her home also made fast food and meal delivery services difficult to access.

Some activists provided her with links to various delivery services and helplines, but her plea of starving revealed the extent of neglect she faced after her conversion to Islam.

In 2021, her son Shane died by suicide at the age of 17. This deeply shocked her and increased her isolation. She passed away suddenly, two years after her son, on July 26, 2023, at the age of 56. The details of her death or the causes are not known.

Her last tweet was dedicated to her son, where she said, "Been living as undead night creature since. He was the love of my life, the lamp of my soul. We were one soul in two halves. He was the only person who ever loved me unconditionally. I am lost in the bardo without him."

Sinead O'Connor, who released ten solo albums, rose to fame in the 1990s with the song Nothing Compares 2 U, topping favorite song charts worldwide. She was nominated three times for the Grammy Music Award.

 

The West Erases Her Identity

It was notable that the coverage by various media outlets and British newspapers, especially Daily Mail and The Independent, focused primarily on the "artistry" and the late singer's past.

Western media outlets were keen to erase her Islamic history, stopping at her music career and sharing pictures of her with her head shaved, reminiscent of the 1990s, rather than acknowledging the hijab that she wore over her head until her last days.

They delved into her history of rebellion against the church, recounting her clashes with it, starting from the time she protested against a French church by depicting herself as a "priestess" before her conversion to Islam.

Vogue did not mention anything about the singer's Islam and focused only on her Catholic background and her rebellion against the church.

The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Chicago Sun-Times provided only brief notes indicating that she changed her name and religion.

This led Islamic affairs writer Khaled Beydoun to criticize the Western media's focus in their eulogies on her previous artistic history rather than acknowledging her Islamic identity, saying: "If she could, Sinead--who embraced the name Shahuda after becoming Muslim--would speak up against the mainstream media tributes rolling out right now in real time. Tributes that overlook or erase her Muslim identity, portraying the patented shaved head of the 90's instead of the Hijab she wrapped around her head until her last day."

Beydoun mourned her in an extensive post, in which he stated that amid the rising Islamophobia phenomenon across Europe, Sinead said, "If somebody hates me as a Muslim, I stand a bit taller."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) also criticized the focus on the images used in her obituary, showcasing her appearance before her conversion to Islam and not including pictures of her wearing the hijab.

He stated in a Twitter post: "We extend our condolences to the family of Sinead O'Conner, may Allah have mercy upon her. We also urge media to respect her acceptance of Islam by acknowledging the name she chose for herself, Shuhada' Sadaqat, & using recent photos that depict how she chose to present herself."

O'Connor had performed some spiritually inclined songs while fully veiled in her hijab.

 

Celebrities Reverted to Islam

Celebrities who embraced Islam have often faced the same Western neglect, even in the Muslim world, leading some of them not to talk about their faith publicly in order to maintain their livelihoods.

Singer Cat Stevens, who adopted the name Yusuf Islam after reverting to Islam in 1977, exemplified this trend. He took a hiatus from his music career and only returned to it in a limited capacity in 2006.

Similarly, rapper Ice Cube, who reverted to Islam in 1990, admitted in 2017 that he still identifies as a Muslim but had hidden it due to the prevalent hatred.

He consistently emphasized his deeply personal relationship with God, but felt more comfortable expressing his faith in the privacy of the mosque.

Comedian Dave Chappelle, who embraced Islam in 1998, shared with Time magazine in 2005, "I don't normally talk about my religion publicly because I don't want people to associate me and my flaws with this beautiful thing. And I believe it is beautiful if you learn it the right way."

Numerous Hollywood celebrities view religion as a deeply personal matter and refrain from discussing it, despite their pride in and practice of their faith. Some have revealed their conversion to Islam only in rare instances, acknowledging their choice to embrace the religion.

Among the Muslim celebrities in Hollywood, some of whom weren't widely known for their faith, is Michael Jackson's sister, actress Janet Jackson. She married a Qatari businessman who is Muslim and later divorced, but she did not publicly renounce her faith after their separation.

International Business Times quoted her in June 2014, during the start of Ramadan, saying that for newly reverted celebrities, resisting the temptations of life through fasting might be tougher.

Similarly, Jermaine Jackson, the elder brother of Michael Jackson, reverted to Islam in 1998 during a trip to the Middle East, stating at the time that when he reverted to this religion, he felt like he was reborn.

Rumors circulated that he attempted to persuade his brother Michael to revert to Islam, but Michael's true stance on his brother's invitation remained undisclosed.

Among them is American actress Ellen Burstyn, an Emmy Award winner, who expressed her belief in the teachings of all religions. However, she found spiritual comfort in Islam.

Comedian and widely recognized host of The Daily Show, Hasan Minhaj, also adopted Islam. Born in India and raised in the UK before eventually moving to Tampa, Florida, he described his unique experience as an American Muslim with South Asian heritage, celebrating the richness of various cultures.

Rapper Akon also embraced Islam, expressing his religious beliefs in his songs. In his track Senegal, he mentioned the name of God, "Allah," several times.

Singer T-Pain, also known as Faheem Rashad Najm, a Grammy Award winner, consistently voiced his opposition to negative stereotypes about Muslims.

There are other American celebrities beyond Hollywood who have reverted to Islam. Mike Tyson, the former world heavyweight boxing champion, reverted and performed the Umrah pilgrimage in Mecca.

Jemima Khan reverted from Judaism to Islam shortly after marrying cricket player, businessman, and former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, in 1995. They later divorced.

In addition to these, some Hollywood stars have been rumored by foreign magazines and media outlets to have reverted to Islam, although some have denied these claims.