List of converts to Islam

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Many people converted to Islam from a different religion or no religion. The list is categorized alphabetically with their former religious affiliation, where known.

According to The New York Times, 25,000 Americans convert to Islam every year.[1] According to The Guardian, about 5,000 British people convert to Islam every year, mostly women.[2] According to The Jerusalem Post, in the United Kingdom and France, up to 100,000 people converted in the last decade in each country.[3] According to Yedioth Ahronoth, Germany has up to 4,000 people convert each year.[4]

Alphabetical order by last name

A

B

C

D

  • Michael D'Andrea – Former Central Intelligence Agency officer and former director of the CIA counterterrorism center.
  • Periyar Dasan – Professor, scholar, eminent speaker, psychologist, activist, national award-winning film actor from Tamil Nadu.[60][61]
  • Maria Massi Dakake – American scholar of Islamic studies and associate professor of Religious Studies at George Mason University.
  • Aliya Danzeisen – American–New Zealand lawyer, teacher and the national coordinator of the Islamic Women's Council of New Zealand.
  • Merryl Wyn Davies – Welsh Muslim scholar, writer and broadcaster who specialised in Islam.
  • Aine Davis – British convert to Islam who was convicted in a Turkish court of being a member of ISIL.
  • Gervonta Davis – American professional boxer
  • Uri Davis – Middle East academic and activist who works on civil rights in Israel, Palestinian National Authority and the Middle East[62]
  • Bob Denard – French mercenary. Born a Catholic, converted to Judaism, then to Islam, and finally back to Catholicism.[63]
  • Jeffrey Mark Deskovic – served 15-year wrongful imprisonment sentence.[64]
  • Diam's – French rapper, born Mélanie Georgiades, converted in 2010.[65]
  • Nasreddine Dinet (born Alphonse-Étienne Dinet) – French orientalist painter, converted to Islam in 1908.[66]
  • Budi Djiwandono – Indonesian politician currently serving as the Chairman of the Gerindra Party Faction in the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia (DPR RI) since 2024.
  • Deso Dogg (Abu Talha al-Almani, born Denis Cuspert) – former German rapper who became a member of the Islamic State.[67]
  • Arnoud van Doorn – Dutch politician.[68]
  • Vivian Dsena – Indian television actor[69]
  • Nooruddeen Durkee – Muslim scholar, thinker, author, translator, and the Khalifah (successor) for North America of the Shadhdhuli School for Tranquility of Being and the Illumination of Hearts, Green Mountain Branch.
  • Dutchavelli (stage name for Stephan Allen) – British rapper.[70]
  • Yaroslav Dyblenko – Russian professional ice hockey defenceman.
  • John Drysdale (historian) – also known as Abbas Idriss, was a British-born army officer, diplomat, writer, historian, and businessman.

E

Yusuf Estes

F

G

H

  • Javidan Hanim – Hungarian noble, and Khediva consort of Egypt from 1910 to 1913 as the second wife of Khedive Abbas II of Egypt.
  • Carl Eduard Hammerschmidt – Austrian mineralogist, entomologist, and physician.
  • Guillaume Hawing – Guinean teacher, inventor, and politician.
  • Armand Hussein – American professional wrestler.
  • John Darwin Hinds – politician who became Wales' first Black and first Muslim councillor in 1958 and later, in 1975 became Wales's first Black mayor.
  • Balozi Harvey – American activist, community organizer, diplomat, and public official based in New Jersey and New York.
  • Ubayd Haider – Fijian professional boxer who competed between 2019 and 2024.
Murad Wilfried Hofmann
Murad Wilfried Hofmann

I

J

K

L

Lil Jon

M

Anthony Mundine

N

O

P

Marmaduke
Marmaduke Pickthall
  • Neil Prakash – Australian Islamic State group recruiter[198]
  • Parameswara (king) – last king of Singapura and the founder of Malacca[199]
  • Omar Pasha – Ottoman field marshal and governor. Born in Austrian territory to Serbian Orthodox Christian parent
  • Abd al Wahid Pallavicini – leading figure of Sufism in Europe, his spiritual quest led him to convert to Islam in 1951 thanks to the teachings of Titus Burckhardt
  • Gladys Milton Palmer – British film producer and heiress, member of the ruling dynasty of Sarawak
  • St John Philby – British Arabist, advisor, explorer, writer, and a colonial intelligence officer who served as an advisor to King Abdulaziz ibn Saud.
  • Vyacheslav Polosin – Russian Muslim academic and former priest of the Russian Orthodox Church
  • José Peleteiro – commonly known as Jota and Jota Peleteiro, Spanish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder
  • Poppy Liu – American actress of Chinese descent
  • Karl Procaccini — is an associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court.
  • Hacı Salih Pasha — was Ottoman grand vizier.
  • Tynan Power — is a progressive Muslim activist who advocates for gender equality and transgender rights in Muslim communities.

Q

  • Abdullah Quilliam (born William Henry Quilliam) – British convert from Christianity to Islam, noted for founding England's first mosque and Islamic centre.[200]

R

S

T

Andrew Tate
Mike Tyson

U

  • James Ujaama (born James Earnest Thompson) – social activist/entrepreneur from Seattle, known for helping black youth; established the Bly training camp; accused of militant intentions, but allegations were negated; later convicted for violating IEEPA, by installing software for a friend, to use on a computer owned by the Taliban[248]
  • Abu Usamah – Imam at Green Lane Masjid in Birmingham, England.
  • Daniil Utkin – Russian football player who plays as a central midfielder for Baltika Kaliningrad on loan from Rostov, and the Russia national team

V

  • Joram van Klaveren – former Dutch politician who attempted to ban mosques and all Islamic practices from Netherlands; after working on a book to conclusively 'disprove' Islam, Joram's research (and discussions with Timothy Winter) drastically changed his views, he later converted to Islam[249]
    Joram van Klaveren
  • Jorvan VieiraLuso-Brazilian football coach[250]
  • Bryant Neal Vinas – Hispanic American, once joined al Qaeda training camps, later turning on them to help the US, in attempt to turn his life around; his prosecutors called him the "single most valuable cooperating witness" about Qaeda activities; his judge was angered when, after a 3-month sentence, the FBI refused to provide him witness-protection[251][252]
  • Michel ValsanRomanian diplomat and author
  • Pierre Vogel – German former boxer, now an Islamic preacher[253]
Pierre Vogel

W

X

Malcolm X

Y

Hussein Ye

Z

By former religion

See also

References

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