Singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor recently announced she has converted to Islam and changed her name to Shuhada Davitt.
Davitt expounded upon her decision on Twitter, writing: “This is the natural conclusion of any intelligent theologian’s journey. All scripture study leads to Islam. Which makes all other scriptures redundant. I will be given (another) new name. It will be Shuhada.”
Shuhada is the plural form of the Arabic word, “shaheed,” commonly translated to “martyr” in English.
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Irish Imam Shaykh Dr Umar al-Qadri also shared a video of the 51-year-old singer giving the declaration of faith:
This isn’t the first time Davitt has spoken aloud about religion − or even changed her name. Last year, Metro reported she converted to Catholicism and changed her name to Magda Davitt.
Davitt has also been outspoken about her personal struggles with mental illness. In August 2017, she posted an emotional video hinting at suicidal intentions and talked of how her family in Ireland had abandoned her. She was found safe days later in New Jersey, "surrounded by love and receiving the best of care."
Best known for her 1990 hit version of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U,” Davitt first invited public controversy when she tore up a photo of the pope during a “Saturday Night Life” appearance in 1992.
She grew up in Dublin, Ireland and had a traumatic childhood, with parents divorced at age eight and an allegedly abusive mother. When she was a teen, Davitt was expelled from Catholic School and sent to a reformatory.
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After she was discovered by drummer Paul Byrne, the singer eventually left boarding school to focus on music and signed a contract with Ensign Records in 1985. Davitt went on to become one of the most influential female performers in the last decade of the 20th century.
"Brash and outspoken − her shaved head, angry visage, and shapeless wardrobe a direct challenge to popular culture's long-prevailing notions of femininity and sexuality − O'Connor irrevocably altered the image of women in rock; railing against long-standing stereotypes simply by asserting herself not as a sex object, but as a serious artist, she kick-started a revolt which led the way for performers ranging from Liz Phair to Courtney Love to Alanis Morissette," All Music's Jason Ankeny wrote in her biography.
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