List of converts to Islam

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The following is an incomplete list of notable people who converted to Islam from a different religion or no religion. This article addresses only past professions of faith by the individuals listed, and is not intended to address ethnic, cultural, or other considerations. Such cases are noted in their list entries. The list is categorized alphabetically by their former religious affiliation.

List of converts to Islam from Major Religions 

• List of converts to Islam from Christianity
• List of converts to Islam from Judaism
• List of converts to Islam from Buddhism
• List of converts to Islam from Hinduism
• List of converts to Islam from Zoroastrianism
• List of converts to Islam from Paganism
• List of converts to Islam from Atheism

Sabianism 

• Hilal al-Sabi - a historian, bureaucrat, and writer of Arabic.
• Sinan ibn Thabit - a physician and son of Thābit ibn Qurra.

Undetermined former religion 

• Abd al Malik - birth name Régis Fayette-Mikano — French rapper of Congolese origins.
• Abd al Haqq Kielan - Swedish cleric.
• Abdallah Schleifer - prominent Middle East expert, former NBC Cairo Bureau chief, and a professor of TV journalism at the American University in Cairo who converted to Sufi Islam.
• Abdul Alim Musa - Muslim activist and director of Masjid Al-Islam in Washington, D.C.
• Abdullah Ibrahim - South African Jazz musician.
• Abdur Raheem Green - Born Anthony Greene, Islamic preacher and founder of iERA 
• Ahmad Jamal - Jazz pianist.
• Ajdin Muzaka - was the commander in the Battle of Torvioll.
• Ali Shaheed Muhammad - member of A Tribe Called Quest.
• Ali Mirza - was a prince of the Georgian.
• Alys Faiz - human rights and peace activist; converted at the time of her marriage to Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz.
• Amir Butler- author, engineer and Islamic activist.
• Anthony Mundine - Australian Boxer, Former 2 time Super Middleweight Champion.
• Antoni Aleksander Iliński - a Polish-Ottoman military officer and general.
• Apisai Tora - Fijian politician.
• Abdul Mirza, first Yusupov Prince.

B

• B.G. Knocc Out - American west coast rapper.
• Begum Om Habibeh Aga Khan - born Yvette Blanche Labrousse, Miss France 1930, wife of Aga Khan III.
• Bob Denard - French mercenary.
• Brandon Mayfield - American attorney-at-law who was erroneously linked to the 2004 Madrid train bombings.

C

• Celestino Caballero - Boxer and former Super Bantamweight Champion.
• Charles John Pelham (Abdul Mateen)- 8th Earl of Yarborough.
• Colleen LaRose - alleged intended assassin of Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks.
• Craig Hodges - former NBA player.

D

• Daniel Streich - Swiss politician, and former member of Swiss People's Party.
• Dave Chappelle - American comedian, screenwriter, television/film producer, actor, and artist.
• Derrick Shareef- charged in a plot to set off four hand grenades in garbage cans 22 December at the CherryVale Mall in Rockford, Illinois during the Christmas rush.
• Diam's - French female rapper, born Mélanie Georgiades, converted 2010.
• Divine Styler - American hip-hop musician.
• Dwight Muhammad Qawi - Former boxing world Light Heavyweight and Cruiserweight champion.

E

• Lady Evelyn Cobbold - Scottish noblewoman.
• Everlast - Irish-American rapper and singer-songwriter.

F

• Frithjof Schuon - Swiss-German metaphysician, poet, painter, philosopher and leading figure of the perennialist school.
• Frank Ribery - A French national football team player and Bayern Munich German football team adopted the name of Belal.

G

• Gary Legenhausen - American philosopher and writer.
• Ghostface Killah - member of the Wu-Tang Clan.
• Gigi Gryce - American saxophonist, flutist, clarinetist, composer, arranger, and educator.
• Gustave-Henri Jossot - French caricaturist, illustrator and Orientalist painter.

H

• Hamza Yusuf (born Mark Hanson)- American Islamic scholar and co-founder of Zaytuna college 
• Hasan Akbar (born Mark Fidel Kools) - American sentenced to death for the murder of two fellow soldiers during the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.
• H. Rap Brown - civil rights activisit.

I

• Ibrahim Hooper (Douglas Hooper) - Islamic activist, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
• Ibrahim Savant - one of the suspects arrested in the UK in connection to the 2006 transatlantic aircraft terrorist plot in the United Kingdom.
• Idris Muhammad - American jazz musician.
• Iliaş Colceag - Moldavian military commander in the Ottoman and Russian Empire.
• Ilich Ramírez Sánchez - aka "Carlos the Jackal", convicted murderer and terrorist, currently in prison in France.
• Isabelle Eberhardt - explorer and writer.

J

• Jack Roche - convicted of involvement in an al-Qaeda plot to blow up the Israeli embassy in Canberra.
• James Achilles Kirkpatrick - was the British Resident in Hyderabad.
• Jan Janszoon - Dutch pirate.
• Jason Walters - Dutch member of the Hofstad Network, convicted on charges of terrorism.
• Jeff Fort - former Chicago gang leader, co-founder of the Black P. Stones gang, and founder of its El Rukn faction. He was convicted in 1987 of conspiring with Libya to perform acts of domestic terrorism.
• Jeffrey Mark Deskovic - served 15-year wrongful imprisonment sentence.
• Jemima Goldsmith daughter of the billionaire Sir James, who was married to Imran Khan
• Jermaine Jackson brother of Michael Jackson and former member of Jackson 5 group
• Jesse of Kakheti - a ruler of Kakheti in eastern Georgia from 1614 to 1615.
• John Ward - (changed name to Yusuf Reis) British corsair and pirate.
• Jonathan A.C. Brown - American Islamic scholar and Assistant professor at Georgetown University 
• Johann von Leers - advisor to Muhammad Naguib known for his anti-Semitic polemics.
• José Padilla - the respondent in Rumsfeld v. Padilla currently on trial as an alleged al-Qaida operative, converted while in prison for aggravated assault.
• Juan Carlos Gomez - Former Cruiserweight Boxing Champion.
• Julia Volkova - Russian singer and actress best known as a member of the Russian pop duo, t.A.T.u., along with Lena Katina.

K

• Kérim Chatty- Swedish bodybuilding stuntman who was once suspected of attempted hijacking. The preliminary inquiry was dropped.
• Khaled Edward Blair - British barrister, later married Princess Badiya bint Al Hassan of Jordan.
• Khalid Sheldrake - an English pickle manufacturer who established a branch of the Western Islamic Association in South Shields in 1930.

L

• Larry Johnson - retired American professional basketball player.
• Lauren Booth - a British broadcaster, journalist and human rights activist.
• Li Nu - a Chinese scholar in the Ming dynasty who visited Persia, converted to Islam, married a Persian or an Arab girl and brought her back to Quanzhou in Fujian.
• Lim Yew Hock - Singapore’s second Chief Minister from 1956 to 1959.
• Lewis Arquette - actor and father of actors David Arquette and Rosanna Arquette; father-in-law of actress Courteney Cox.

M

• MC Ren - American rapper and hip-hop producer.
• Malcolm X - American to Nation of Islam to Sunni Islam, African-American civil rights leader.
• Malik ul Salih - established the first Muslim state of Samudera Pasai.
• Maryam Jameelah - formerly Margret Marcus. Author of many books covering several subjects, including Modernism, Sociology, History, Jihad, Theology and Technology.
• Maurice Béjart - French choreographer.
• Michael Jackson - was an American singer-songwriter, entertainer, dancer, arranger, music producer, choreographer, actor, businessman, musician.</ref>
• Michael Wolfe - American poet, author, and the President and Executive Producer of Unity Productions Foundation.
• Michael X - civil rights activist in the United Kingdom
• Mike Tyson (Malik Abdul Aziz) - former heavyweight boxing champion of the world.
• Mohammed Knut Bernström - Swedish ambassador.
• -MuertoKennedy- - content creator of the page Juventud Punkera Contra La Porquería Del Reggaeton
• Mutah Beale better known as 'Napoleon,' former member of Tupac Shakur's rap group, the Outlawz.
• Myriam Francois-Cerrah, British Journalist.

N

• Nahshid Sulaiman - alternative hip hop artist.
• Nur al-Anwar al-Jerrahi (born Lex Hixon) - syncretist, Sufi convert, and co-founder of the Nur Ashki Jerrahi Sufi Order in the United States.
• Nicolas Anelka a French national team football player who also played for several clubs such as Juventus in Italy and Chelsea in England. He changed his name to Belal.

O

• Omar Ong Yoke Lin - (1917–2010) Malaysian politician, former government minister and founder of the Malaysian Chinese Association.
• Baron omar Rolf von Ehrenfels - Austrian anthropologist and orientalist.
• Omar Kanoute - A French Malian football player who currently playes for the Chinese super league team Beijin Guoan.

P

• Philippe Fragione - French rapper and producer of French hip hop.
• Philippe Grenier - (1865–1944) French doctor, first Muslim MP in France.

Q

• Q-Tip - North American hip-hop emcee, actor, and hip hop producer who was the leader of the critically acclaimed group A Tribe Called Quest.

R

• Robert "Kool" Bell - musician.
• Robert D. Crane - former Presidential advisor and ambassador.
• Rodrigo de Triana - sailor and the first European since the Vikings known to have seen America who converted to Islam from Judaism or Christianity.
• Ronald Bell - musician.

S

• Sahib Shihab - American jazz saxophonist and flautist.
• Saida Miller Khalifa - British author who was originally called Sonya Miller.
• Shaheed Akbar - notable rapper who converted to Islam.
• Stephen Schwartz - American journalist, columnist, and author.
• Susanne Osthoff - German archaeologist who had worked in Iraq since 1991 and had been taken captive there for three weeks.
• Shems Friedlander - is a scholar in American University of Cairo, Egypt. He is author of several books and documentaries about sufism.

T

• Thomas J. Abercrombie - famous photographer and writer for National Geographic 
• Tiara Jacquelina - Malaysian actress.
• Titus Burckhardt - Swiss writer and scholar.
• Tony Hussein Hinde - Australian-born Maldivian surfer and surfing pioneer who converted to Islam.
• Umar Islam - one of the suspects arrested in the UK in connection to the 2006 transatlantic aircraft terrorist plot in the United Kingdom.
• Uri Davis - an academic and activist who works on civil rights in Israel, Palestinian National Authority and the Middle East.

V

• Vladimir Khodov - leader of the Beslan school hostage crisis- converted in prison.

W

• Walt Hazzard - former NBA player.

Y

• Yusef Lateef - American Jazz musician.

Z

• Zachary Adam Chesser - American Muslim convert to Sunni Islam. Sentenced to 25 years in a federal prison on February 24, 2011.

See also 

• List of converts to Buddhism
• List of converts to Hinduism
• List of converts to Judaism
• List of converts to Sikhism
• List of former Muslims
• List of people by belief
• List of people who converted to Christianity
• Lists of Muslims
• Religious conversion

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