LONDON (CelebrityAccess) — Irish singer-songwriter Sinead O’Connor revealed that she has converted to Islam and changed her name to Shuhada’ Davitt.
O’Connor launched a Twitter account under the name Shuhada’ Davitt, which she started in June that includes a graphic of a Nike logo with the slogan “Wear a hijab. Just do it.”
In a series of Twitter posts, she uploaded videos of herself with the heologian at Islamic Centre Ireland in Dublin, Umar al-Qadri, reciting the profession of Islamic faith known as the “Shahadah.”
— س.ص (@q1q555) October 26, 2018
She also posted a video of herself singing the adhan, or the Islamic call to prayer, though, at least by her account, her Arabic needs some work.
Qadri said that O’Connor chose the name “Shuhada” because it means to “bear witness.”
O’Connor, who was born and raised a Catholic, including a stint at the age of 15 in a notorious reform school run by The Sisters of Our Lady of Charity, had a seemingly ambiguous relationship with the Catholic Church.
In what was perhaps her most notorious moment in 1992, when, while performing as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live, she tore a photo of Pope John Paul II on camera, sparking an international controversy. However, in an open letter the Washington Post in 2010, she credits the time she spent a Magdalene laundry as a teen with “saving her life.”
