Irish singer Sinead O’Connor (51) has converted to Islam and has changed her name to Shuhada’ Davitt.
She announced her conversion via her Twitter account.
Davitt’s new name means “one who bears witness” in Arabic. Shuhada’ comes from the Arabic word Shahada.
Shahada is the Islamic declaration of faith in which Muslims state (or bear witness to) their belief that there is only one God and Mohammed is his final prophet.
The name also means “martyrs” in Arabic.
Davitt shared several images of herself in hijab, describing her conversion as a “natural conclusion” of religious study.
She has tweeted that she is “very, very happy,” and offered apologies for mispronouncing some Arabic words during her recitation of the Azan.
Although her conversion has attracted some criticism and anti-Islamic remarks, it has been generally welcomed by fellow Muslims online.
“Salaam (a greeting that means “peace”) and keep up the good work,” Immy Khan says. “You have 1.7 billion brothers and sisters now.”
“Thank you so much to all my Muslim brothers and sisters who have been so kind as to welcome me to Ummah (the Muslim community) today on this page. You can’t begin to imagine how much your tenderness means to me.”
The singer formally known as O’Connor made headlines in 1992 when she ripped up a picture of Pope John Paul II during an appearance on a US television show.
She later said she was prompted to do so by the Catholic Church’s record of child abuse.
Davitt was ordained a priest by a bishop of the fringe Catholic Latin Tridentine Church in Lourdes, France in 1999, in which she was renamed Mother Bernadette Mary.
in 2011, Davitt again criticized the Catholic Church over the child sex abuse scandal.
She has also called the Vatican “a nest of devils,” calling for the creation of an “alternative church,” and claiming “Christ is being murdered by liars” in the Vatican.
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