Sinead O’Connor has converted to Islam and changed her name.
The ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ hitmaker is now going by the moniker Shuhada’, which means "martyrs" in Arabic, and says the conversion is the "natural conclusion of any intelligent theologian’s journey".
She wrote on Twitter: "This is to announce that I am proud to have become a Muslim. This is the natural conclusion of any intelligent theologian’s journey. All scripture study leads to Islam. Which makes all other scriptures redundant. I will be given (another) new name. It will be Shuhada’
"Thank you so much to all my Muslim brothers and sisters who have been so kind as to welcome me to Ummah today on this page. You can’t begin to imagine how much your tenderness means to me(sic)"
The 51-year-old singer – whose full name is now Shuhada’ Davitt – shared a video of herself singing the Adhan, the Islamic call to prayer.
She tweeted: "Here is my 1st attempt at singing the Azan. I got some pronouncition wrong because emotions took me from my page… but there’ll be hundreds of others onstage to come … (sic)"
But she posted later: "Once I’ve practiced the Azan a hundred times I promise I’ll sing it much better than the one I’ve Posted. (sic)"
Sinead has shared a picture of herself wearing a hijab and changed her profile picture to a Nike tick logo featuring the words: "Wear a hijab. Just do it."
In 2017, she changed her name to Magda Davitt and said at the time: "Sinead O’Connor is gone. That person is gone."
This comes after the ‘Feel So Different’ singer was ordained by a Catholic fringe group in Lourdes, but the Catholic Church, where women cannot be priests, did not recognise the ceremony.
In 2007, Sinead said she considered herself a Christian, and added: "God loves everybody."
Sinead has previously spoke openly about suffering from mental health issues, admitted last year she can be "difficult" at times.
She said: "The fact that there’s such stigma about mental illness means that the illness doesn’t get talked about.
"It’s not easy for families of mentally ill people. We can be difficult."
Sinead O’Connor converts to Islam
