There is a brilliant and sensitive video that has been put out by the You Tuber Apostate Prophet, an ex Muslim, examining the appearance of the singer Sinead O’Connor on a Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTE) TV programme in the Republic of Ireland. The video was brilliant as Apostate Prophet clearly expounded and explained how Ms O’Connor, who has converted to Islam, gets a lot of things wrong about Islam.

Apostate Prophet points out that Ms O’Connor’s interpretation of Islam in some areas, such as the hijab being no different in meaning from a Christian’s Crucifix or a Jew’s Magen Dovid necklace, is not commonly accepted in Islamic cultures. He said that there is no choice for women in Islam over the hijab, it’s a case of either woman wears it or is seen by the general public as either a whore or a slave woman.

Hijab as Apostate Prophet said, is compulsory and the idea that any mainstream branch of Islam would not abide by this hijab compulsion is wrong. He added that there was no difference between Sufis and any other branch of Islam with regards to matters such as the hijab. Apostate Prophet also pointed out that Ms O’Connor is mistaken if she thinks that Islam in its conservative form allows women to sing and that under strict Islamic rules Ms O’Connor would not have been allowed to sing on the RTE programme.

This video was also very sensitively done as Apostate Prophet recognised that Ms O’Connor has a long history of having had bouts of serious mental illness. He didn’t overtly mock Ms O’Connor for that reason and I understand why AP took this approach. When I viewed the short clip of the video that AP showed of the interview with Ms O’Connor, I got the distinct impression that here is someone who is really not well. I also came away with the impression that here is a person who is drowning in an ocean of mental illness and has reached out for whatever she perceives to be a spiritual lifebelt. It is plain to see, at least from where I’m sitting, that Ms O’Connor knows much less about Islam than many others do and certainly less about how Islam is actually practised in the real world.

Sinead O’Connor was once a brilliant but troubled musician who over time has become more known for her increasing internal troubles rather than her music. She has a long history of flipping in and out of various flavours of Christianity whilst also being critical of the Roman Catholic church in Ireland. She has in the past made head turning statements such as declaring that if she was not a singer she’d be a Roman Catholic priest and has attacked organised religion per se. This conversion to Islam by Ms O’Connor may well be another of her scattergun spiritual episodes.

Will she stay in Islam or will the scales fall from her eyes and have her fleeing to another spiritual lifebelt? Time will tell on that one but if she does leave Islam then she may find that those Muslims who have been praising her for converting, may be after her blood, either figuratively or literally, for leaving Islam.

Sinead O’Connor is a very sick woman and a very vulnerable woman despite her fame and renown. She is also yet another misguided and easily led person with mental health issues who has grabbed hold of the poisonous rope of Islam out of desperation. Sinead O’Connor is another case that shows that you don’t have to be catastrophically mentally ill to chose Islam, but it really does help if you are that way.