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Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Lifestyle
Al Jazeera and news agencies

Sinead O'Connor converts to Islam, now called Shuhada' Davitt

The singer has had a tumultuous relationship with organised religion [Ints Kalnins/Reuters]

Irish singer Sinead O'Connor has announced she has converted to Islam and said she has changed her name to Shuhada' Davitt.

The 51-year-old has been posting selfies of herself wearing hijabs on Twitter in recent days, as well as a video in which she sang the Azan, or call to prayer.

She tweeted on October 19: "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."

O'Connor, who now goes by Davitt, achieved widespread success in 1990 with her cover of 'Nothing Compares 2 U', a song written by the late Prince.

Controversy has followed her career. The singer ripped up a picture of Pope John Paul II during a Saturday Night Live appearance in 1992 as a protest against the Catholic Church.

In the late 1990s, she was ordained a priest by the Irish Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church, which is an independent Catholic group not in communion with the mainstream Catholic church.

She came out as a lesbian during an interview in 2000, which she later retracted.

Originally from Ireland, the singer has been a firm supporter of a united Ireland, under which the United Kingdom would relinquish control of Northern Ireland.

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