I wanted to write something about the conversion to Islam by the mentally troubled Irish singer Sinead O’Connor. I did wonder whether I should be cruel and photoshop Ms O’Connor as a new recruit for the ‘Borg’ from Star Trek, as a way of pointing out what an appalling ideology she’d joined. But, rightly I believe, in the end common sense and empathy won out over cruelty and I decided to look for another way to approach this issue rather than heavy handed memeing.
Ms O’Connor is a highly talented musician but is also a mentally damaged individual whose life has encompassed both abuse and spiritual confusion and mental illness. It is on public record that she has suffered from Bipolar disorder and she has a record for suicide attempts. She has also allegedly lost custody of her son and has claimed that it was only her doctor and her psychiatrist who have ‘kept her alive’.
Like many others who are lonely, damaged and less than 100% sane, Ms O’Connor was obviously looking for an erstaz family and she thinks she has found it in Islam. However the version of Islam that she believes she has found may be nothing like the reality of Islam as experienced both by Muslims themselves and those non Muslims who live alongside the followers of the ideology of Islam. I believe that Ms O’Connor has signed up to false vision of what Islam is and has, because of her various illnesses, not looked below the surface lies that Islamic evangelists tell potential converts. Sadly I think that the end Ms O’Connor will not be elevated or soothed by her new association with Islam but will end up further damaged by it.
Whilst looking for some background into this story and also whilst I formulated how I was going to write about this issue, I came across a video piece by an Ex-Muslim called Abudullah Sameer. His comments on Ms O’Connor’s conversion to Islam are in my opinion far better than I could do. Mr Sameer makes the valid point that when people leave Islam there are questions from other Muslims yet when someone like Ms O’Connor converts to Islam there is widespread joy from Muslims. He added that Ms O’Connor’s conversion was not entirely rational and will likely have been led by emotion rather than logic.
He reminded Ms O’Connor that although she can choose to wear Islamic garb there are other women in the Islamic world who do not have such a choice. Mr Sameer said that Sinead O’Connor will not face the pressures that Islam, a religion that he said is not good for women, puts on women in Islamic communities and Islamic countries.
Mr Sameer called on Ms O’Connor to think carefully about her conversion and to look at both the bad side of Islam as well as the fluffy side that she may have been shown by Islamic evangelists. ‘It’s not to late to think again’ he said.
I’d strongly advise people to watch Mr Sameer’s video below for a measured, intelligent and empathetic comment on the conversion to Islam by a very sick woman.
