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Famous Celebrities Who Were Muslim You Didn’t know

Many celebrities have converted to Islam. Here is a short list of famous celebrities who converted to Islam may be you didn’t know and now practicing muslims.

MUHAMMAD ALI

Muhammad Ali born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer. He is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated sports figures of the 20th century. Ali was one of the leading heavyweight boxers of the 20th century.Muhammad Ali evolved considerably in his religious and spiritual views throughout his life. Ali was introduced to the Nation of Islam in 1962, and officially became a member of the organization. Shortly after his first bout with Liston. He converted to Sunni Islam after the death of the Nation’s leader, Elijah Muhammad, in 1975, following which the organization’s leader Wallace D. Muhammad had aligned the ideology of the Nation with Sunni Islam. Around 2005, Ali was inspired by Sufism.

MIKE TYSON

On March 26, 1992, Tyson was sentenced to six years in prison along with four years of probation. Despite being 25 years old at the time of the crime, he was assigned to the Indiana Youth Center in April 1992, and he was released in March 1995 after serving less than three years of his six-year sentence. During his incarceration, Mike Tyson converted to Islam. He took the Muslim name Malik Abdul Aziz.

A.R RAHMAN

Studying in Madras, Rahman graduated with a diploma in Western classical music from the school. A.R Rahman was introduced to Qadiri tariqa when his younger sister was seriously ill in 1984. His mother was a practicing Hindu. At the age of 23, he converted to Islam with other members of his family in 1989, changing his name to Allah Rakha Rahman (A.R Rahman).

WAYNE PARNELL

On 30 July 2011, Parnell announced that he had converted to Islam in January 2011 after a period of personal study. Parnell confirmed that his teammates Hashim Amla and Imran Tahir, along with team manager Mohammad Moosajee, had no influence over his decision to convert to Islam. He considered taking the name Waleed, meaning ‘Newborn Son’, but continues to be known as Wayne.

MICHAEL JACKSON

In 2009, the British tabloid The Sun published a piece claiming that Michael Jackson had changed his name to Mikael Jackson and converted to Islam. Jackson’s lawyer denied the claim, but worldwide interest in Jackson’s alleged conversion remained even after his death.Jackson’s brother Jermaine is a convert to Islam, however.

FRANCK RIBERY

Franck Henry Pierre Ribéry is a French professional footballer who plays for German club Bayern Munich. He is a former France national team player.

Ribéry’s wife, Wahiba, is a French national of Algerian descent and the couple have two daughters named Hiziya and Shahinez and two sons named Seif el Islam and Mohammed. Ribéry is a convert to Islam and following his conversion. He adopted the name Bilal Yusuf Mohammed.

ERIC ABIDAL

A French retired professional footballer, who was diagnosed with a tumour in his liver in March 2011, a year later underwent a second operation on it. He converted from Catholicism to Islam and changed his name to Bilal Eric Abidal, right after his wedding in 2007. A former defender of FC Barcelona is married to the Algerian-born Hayet Kebir who is a former gymnast.

KAREEM ABDUL JABBAR

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr) is an American retired professional basketball player who played 20 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers.

At age 24 in 1971, he converted to Islam and became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He was named by Hamaas Abdul Khaalis. Abdul-Jabbar purchased and donated 7700 16th Street NW, a house in Washington, D.C. for Khaalis to use as the Hanafi Madh-Hab Center.

DJ Khaled

Khaled Bin Abdul Khaled, known as DJ Khaled, is an American rapper, producer an DJ. For him, being Muslim is more than only an identity: “It’s beautiful, it’s amazing, it’s incredible and it has put so many blessings upon me and my family,”.

AKON

Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam (born April 16, 1973), is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, philanthropist and actor.He spent a significant part of his childhood in Senegal, which he described as his hometown. In one of his songs he claims, “So what you know about how God comes first in our lives, everything that we do is for Allah.”

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