Celebrities who converted to Islam

Yuvan Shankar Raja: Ilaiyaraaja's son, Yuvan Shankar Raja is India's youngest music composer. Despite the fact that he was born into a Hindu household, Yuvan eventually decided to convert to Islam. Speaking to TOI, he had said that his father was so superstitious that even when a glass broke, he would call a pundit. He reasoned that he had found solace in the Quran. Yuvan first discovered his spirituality when his mother had passed away and he was feeling low. At that time, he chanced upon a meeting with a friend who had recently visited the Mecca. The friend gifted him a prayer mat and Yuvan started reading the Quran and praying on the mat on a regular basis. Speaking about the same, he says, “I started reading the Quran and its translations and connected with it quickly. I started practising Islam, learnt how to pray and by January, 2014, felt sure about converting." However, he admits that the major obstacle for him was facing his dad and telling him about his decision. Yuvan feels that his decision to convert to Islam was influenced by his mother. Speaking to TOI, he said, "It's odd but in some ways I used to get the spiritual feeling that it was my mom, who held my hand, and said, 'Yuvan, you are alone. I want you to stand here under the tree called Islam.'"

Hans Raj Hans: The Pakistan media is abuzz with reports that popular Indian singer Hans Raj Hans has converted to Islam. The singer, who is Sikh by birth, has belted out some popular chartbusters like 'Aaja nachle,' 'Dil tote tote' and 'Duma dum mast...'. It has been reported that the singer is proud to have converted to Islam and has also expressed a desire to visit Medina. He was allegedly studying Islamic literature for the past few days and has developed faith in the values of Islam as a religion. His fascination for Islam is pretty evident from the fact that he decided to stick to only the Sufi genre of singing, which has its origin in Islam. However, his son Navraj has denied these reports.

Dharmendra: Dharmendra (born as Dharam Singh Deol) is one of the most charismatic actors that Indian cinema has ever had. The dashing actor had reportedly converted to Islam in 1979. The actor was married to Prakash Kaur when he fell in love with actress Hema Malini. He didn't want to divorce his wife but could not marry again as per the Hindu Marriage Act. So he converted to Islam and married Hema. Since then he has maintained two separate families. It is said that since there were many protests during his second marriage, the actor had no other option than to change his religion to legitimise his union with Hema Malini.

Sharmila Tagore: The gorgeous actress Sharmila Tagore, who has been awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in 2013, has also converted to Islam. She fell in love with the late cricketer, Mansoor Ali Pataudi, and converted to Islam before marrying him. She was born a Hindu, but converted her name to Ayesha Begum after her marriage. The couple was blessed with three children – actor Saif Ali Khan, jewellery designer Saba Ali Khan and actress Soha Ali Khan.

A.R. Rahman (Allah-Rakha Rahman): Music composer, singer-songwriter and music producer, AR Rahman was born a Hindu and named AS Dileep Kumar. However, he converted to Islam later. The musician was introduced to Qadiri Islam when his younger sister was severely ill. He was enchanted by the ideals and values of the religion. His mother, who belonged to an Islamic family before her marriage, was influenced by Sufism.

Amrita Singh: Actress Amrita Singh was born in a Sikh-Muslim family. She made her Bollywood debut in 1983 with Betaab and delivered several hits like Sunny, Mard and Saaheb. Amrita, who followed the Sikh religion since birth, converted to Islam just before her marriage to actor Saif Ali Khan, who was Muslim by birth. After thirteen years of marriage, they divorced in 2004. However, Saif’s current wife, actress Kareena Kapoor Khan, has not converted to Islam.

Michael Jackson: Late pop-singer Michael Jackson, had also reportedly converted to Islam and changed his name to Mikaeel. He had reportedly pledged his allegiance to the Quran in a ceremony at his friend’s house in Los Angeles. The singer was apparently convinced by his producer and songwriter friends David Wharnsby and Phillip Bubal to convert to Islam as they thought that the conversion will make him a better man. He was also told about the fundamental beliefs of the religion. It is reported that an Imam was called from the mosque to administer as the singer went through the shahada, which is the Muslim declaration of belief.