Converted to a different Abrahamic religion[edit] Converted to Christianity[edit] Albanian monarch, Skanderbeg was forcibly converted from Christianity to Islam but reverted to Christianity later in life upon his return in Albania[1] Jean-Bédel Bokassa – Central African Republic Emperor (from Christianity to Islam back to Christianity).[2] Ahmed Barzani – Head of Barzani Tribe in Iraqi Kurdistan.[3] Ibrahim Njoya – Bamum people religion; back and forth conversions from Islam to Christianity.[4] Also created his own religion.[5] Eldridge Cleaver – Conversions/Associations to Nation of Islam then Evangelical Christianity then Mormonism.[6][7] Aslan Abashidze – Former leader of the Ajarian Autonomous Republic in western Georgia.[8] Rotimi Adebari, first Black mayor in Ireland[9] Mehmet Ali Agca – Turkish ultra-nationalist assassin, who shot and wounded Pope John Paul II on May 13, 1981. In early 2009, Agca renounced Islam in prison and announced his intention to convert to the Catholic faith upon release.[10][11] Bahaa el-Din Ahmed Hussein el-Akkad – Former Egyptian Muslim sheikh.[12] Magdi Allam – Italys most famous Islamic affairs journalist.[13] Hussain Andaryas – Afghan Christian activist and tele-evangelist.[14] Josephine Bakhita – Roman Catholic saint from Darfur, Sudan.[15] Fathima Rifqa Bary – American teenager of Sri Lankan descent who drew international attention in 2009 when she ran away from home and claimed that her Muslim parents might kill her for having converted to Christianity.[16] Abo of Tiflis – Christian activist and the Patron Saint of the city of Tbilisi, Georgia.[17] Don Juan of Persia – Late 16th and early 17th century figure in Iran and Spain.[18] Utameshgaray of Kazan – Khan of Kazan Khanate.[19] Yadegar Moxammat of Kazan – Last khan of Kazan Khanate.[19] Sayed Borhan khan – Khan of Qasim Khanate from 1627 to 1679.[19] Simeon Bekbulatovich – Khan of Qasim Khanate.[19] The Sibirsky family – The foremost of many Genghisid (Shaybanid) noble families formerly living in Russia.[20] Maria Temryukovna – Circassian princess, and second wife to Ivan IV of Russia who was born in a Muslim upbringing, and baptised into the Russian Orthodox Church on August 21, 1561.[21] The Shihab family – Prominent Lebanese noble family. The family originally belonged to Sunni Islam and converted to Christianity at the end of the 18th century.[22] Jacob Frank – 18th century Jewish religious leader who claimed to be the reincarnation of the self-proclaimed messiah Sabbatai Zevi, and also of King David. Frank publicly converted to Islam in 1757 and later to Christianity at Poland in 1759, but actually presented himself as the Messiah of a syncretic derivation of Shabbatai Zevis Messianism now referred to as Frankism.[23] Walid Shoebat – American author and self-proclaimed former member of the PLO.[24] Hassan Dehqani-Tafti – Anglican Bishop of Iran from 1961 to 1990.[25] Ibrahim Ben Ali – Soldier, physician and one of the earliest American settlers of Turkish origin.[26] Bob Denard – French soldier and mercenary leader. Converted from Catholicism to Judaism, then Islam and eventually back to Catholicism.[27] Nonie Darwish – Egyptian-American writer and public speaker.[28] Mehdi Dibaj – Iranian pastor and Christian activist.[29] Hazem Farraj - Palestinian American minister, writer, evangelist [30] Ghorban Tourani – Former Iranian Sunni Muslim who became a Christian minister. Following multiple murder threats, he was abducted and murdered on November 22, 2005.[31] Italian journalist Magdi Allam converted to Roman Catholicism during the Vaticans 2008 Easter vigil service presided over by Pope Benedict XVI[13] St. George El Mozahem – A coptic saint[32][33][34] Patrick Sookhdeo – British Anglican canon[35] Mark A. Gabriel- Egyptian writer[36] Akbar Gbaja-Biamila – American football player.[37][38] Alexander Kazembek – Russian Orientalist, historian and philologist of Azeri origin .[39] Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila – American football player.[37] Qadry Ismail – Former American football player.[40] Raghib Ismail – Former American football player.[41] Tunch Ilkin – Former American football player.[42] Lina Joy – Malaysian convert to Christianity. The desire to have her conversion recognized was the subject of a court case in Malaysia.[43] Carlos Menem – Former President of Argentina. Raised a Muslim but converted to Roman Catholicism, the official religion of Argentina, due to his political aspirations.[44] Marina Nemat – Canadian author of Iranian descent and former political prisoner of the Iranian government. Born into a Christian family, she converted to Islam in order to avoid execution but later reverted to Christianity.[45] George Weah – Liberian soccer player (from Christianity to Islam back to Christianity).[46] Momolu Dukuly – Liberian foreign minister.[47] Nazli Sabri – Queen consort of Egypt.[48] James Scurry – British soldier and statesman.[49] On St Georges Day, 2005 Serbian film director Emir Kusturica left Islam and was baptised into the Serb Orthodox Church[50] Begum Samru – Powerful lady of north India, ruling a large area from Sardhana, Uttar Pradesh.[51] Abdul Rahman – Afghan convert to Christianity who escaped the death penalty because of foreign pressure.[52] Youcef Nadarkhani – Iranian Christian pastor who has been sentenced to death for apostasy.[53] Mathieu Kérékou- President of Benin (from Christianity to Islam back to Christianity).[54] Sheikh Deen Muhammad – British Indian traveller, surgeon and entrepreneur who introduced shampooing and the Indian take-away curry house restaurant in Britain, and was the first Indian to have written a book in the English language.[55][56] Kitty Kirkpatrick – Daughter of James Achilles Kirkpatrick, British Resident in Hyderabad and Khair-un-Nissa, a Hyderabadi noblewoman.[57] Emily Ruete – (born Sayyida Salme) Princess of Zanzibar and Oman.[58][59][60] Emir Kusturica – a Bosnian, Serbian and Yugoslavian filmmaker and actor.[50][61] Daniel Ali- Iraqi Kurdish Christian author and speaker; evangelizes in Catholic, Protestant and Messianic Jewish circles.[62][63] Fernão Lopez – Portuguese nobleman, soldier and the first known permanent inhabitant of the remote Island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean.[64] Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky – Russian officer of Circassian origin who led the first Russian military expedition into Central Asia.[65] Umar ibn Hafsun – Leader of anti-Ummayad dynasty forces in southern Iberia. Hafsun converted to Christianity with his sons and ruled over several mountain valleys for nearly forty years, having the castle Bobastro as his residence.[66] Casilda of Toledo – Saint of the Roman Catholic Church.[67] Saint Alodia and Saint Nunilo – Christian martyrs and confessors who were put to death during the reign of Abd ar-Rahman II, Caliph of Córdoba for apostasy.[68] Aurelius and Natalia – Christian martyrs who were put to death during the reign of Abd ar-Rahman II, Caliph of Córdoba for apostasy.[69] Johannes Avetaranian – (born Muhammad Shukri Efendi), Christian missionary and Turkish descendent of Prophet Muhammad.[70] Paul Mulla – Turkish scholar and professor of Islamic Studies at the Pontifical Oriental Institute.[71] Hamid Pourmand – Former Iranian army colonel and lay leader of the Jamaat-e Rabbani, the Iranian branch of the Assemblies of God church in Iran.[72] Donald Fareed – Iranian Christian tele-evangelist and minister.[73] Daveed Gartenstein-Ross- Counter-terrorism expert and attorney (from Judaism to Islam to Christianity).[74][75] Zachariah Anani – Former Sunni Muslim Lebanese militia fighter[76] Malika Oufkir – Author, activist and former prisoner of the Moroccan Royal Family.[77] Argentine president, Carlos Menem converted to Roman Catholicism due to his political aspirations[44] Ruffa Gutierrez – Filipina actress, model and former beauty queen (from Christianity to Islam back to Christianity)[78] Fadhma Aït Mansour – Mother of French writers Jean Amrouche and Taos Amrouche.[79] Imad ud-din Lahiz – Prolific Islamic writer, preacher and Quranic translator.[80] Dr. Nur Luke – Uyghur Bible translator.[81] Hakan Tastan and Turan Topal – Two Turkish Christian converts who went on trial in 2006, on charges of allegedly insulting Turkishness and inciting religious hatred against Islam.[82] Mohammed Hegazy – First Egyptian Muslim convert to Christianity to seek official recognition of his conversion from the Egyptian Government.[83] Francis Bok – Sudanese-American activist, convert to Islam from Christianity; but later returned to his Christian faith.[84] Josef Mässrur – (born Ghäsim Khan) missionary to Chinese Turkestan with the Mission Union of Sweden.[85] Gulshan Esther – Pakistani convert from Islam to Christianity.[86] Ubayd-Allah ibn Jahsh – Brother of Zaynab bint Jahsh, the wife of Prophet Muhammad and one of the male Sahaba (companions of the Prophet).[87] Jabalah ibn al-Aiham – last ruler of the Ghassanid state in Syria and Jordan in the seventh century AD. After the Islamic conquest of Levant he converted to Islam in AD 638. He reverted to Christianity later on and lived in Anatolia until he died in AD 645.[88] Constantine the African – Baghdad-educated Muslim who died in 1087 as a Christian monk at Monte Cassino.[89][90] Estevanico – Berber originally from Morocco and one of the early explorers of the Southwestern United States.[91] Abraham of Bulgaria – Martyr and saint of the Russian Orthodox Church.[92] Al Qaeda terrorist Ramzi Yousef claims to have embraced Christianity while in ADX Florence Supermax prison. However, the prison staff does not believe Yousefs conversion is sincere.[93][94] St. Adolphus – Christian martyr who was put to death along with his brother, John, by Abd ar-Rahman II, Caliph of Córdoba for apostasy.[95] Nasir Siddiki – Canadian evangelist, author, and business consultant.[96] Matthew Ashimolowo – Nigerian-born British pastor and evangelist.[97] Michał Czajkowski – Polish-Cossack writer and political emigre who worked both for the resurrection of Poland and the reestablishment of a Cossack Ukraine.[98] Stefan Razvan – Gypsy prince who ruled Moldavia for six months in 1595.[99] Skanderbeg – Albanian monarch and military leader. Skanderbeg converted to Islam from Christianity but reverted to Christianity later in life.[1] Born into a Muslim Batak family, Indonesian Prime Minister Amir Sjarifuddin converted to Christianity in 1931, upon which his fervently Islamic mother committed suicide.[100] Amir Sjarifuddin – Indonesian socialist leader who later became the second prime minister of Indonesia during its National Revolution.[100] Dr.Thomas Yayi Boni – President of Benin.[101] Al-Mueiyyad – Abbasid prince and third son of Abbasid caliph, Al-Mutawakkil. He was converted to Christianity along with his three confidants by St. Theodore of Edessa, accepting the name John upon baptism.[102][103] Aben Humeya – (born Fernando de Valor) Morisco Chief who was crowned the Emir of Andalusia by his followers and led the Morisco Revolt against Philip II of Spain.[104] Rudolf Carl von Slatin – Anglo-Austrian soldier and administrator in the Sudan.[105] Shams Pahlavi – Iranian princess and the elder sister of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Shah of Iran.[106] Saye Zerbo – President of the republic of Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso).[107] Zaida of Seville – Refugee Andalusian Muslim princess who was a mistress and then perhaps queen of Alfonso VI of Castile.[108] Djibril Cissé – footballer for club and country.[109][110] Sedar Dedeoglu – a Turk who claims to be a descendant of Islams prophet Muhammad has converted to Christianity while living in Germany.[111] Majeed Rashid Mohammed – a Kurdish Christian convert from Islam. He established a network with former Kurdish Muslims with about 2,000 members today.[112] Muhsin Muhammad – Football player for Carolina Panthers[113] Josephine Bakhita – [15] Taysir Abu Saada – a former member of the PLO and the founder of the christian ministry Hope For Ishmael after he converted to christianity. He was Yasir Arafats personal driver.[114][115] Mosab Hassan Yousef – Son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a Hamas founder and one of its leader. Dr Nabeel Qureshi – Former Ahmadi Muslim and now co-director of Acts 17 A
Posted on: Sat, 22 Feb 2014 13:49:53 +0000
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