Says new name is Mikaeel
*Michael Jackson converts to Islam: report*
Friday, 21 November 2008
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2008/11/21/60545.html
*Yousef Islam witnessed Jackson [a revert, previously known famous
singer as Cat Stevens] take shahada, the paper said*
DUBAI (AlArabiya.net)
Troubled U.S. star Michael Jackson has converted to Islam and changed his
name to Mikaeel, press reports said Friday.
A conversion ceremony was held at a Los Angeles mansion where Jackson was
seen wearing 'Islamic garb', British tabloid The Sun reported quoting an
unnamed source.
Jackson reportedly took the shahada—the Islamic declaration of belief—and
became a Muslim, just days before he was due in a London court where he is
being sued by a Bahraini prince.
The paper reported that British singer Yousef Islam—previously known as Cat
Stevens before he famously became a Muslim—was also at the ceremony held at
the Hollywood Hills home of Toto keyboard player Steve Porcaro, 51, who
composed music on Jackson's Thriller album.
Jackson's new name is reportedly Mikaeel after he rejected the name Mustafa,
the paper said, adding the decision to convert came about as Jackson was
recording a new album.
The former 'King of Pop'—who has been accused and acquitted of child
molestation several times—is back in court after Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad
al-Khalifa, the second son of the king of Bahrain, filed a claim against
Jackson for breaching an agreement to record a new album and says the star
owes him $7 million.
*Michael Jackson has converted to Islam: Report*
21 Nov 2008,
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Michael_Jackson_has_converted_to_Islam_Report/articleshow/3740517.cms
LONDON: Pop
singer<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Michael_Jackson_has_converted_to_Islam_Report/articleshow/3740517.cms#>Michael
Jackson has converted to Islam and changed his name to Mikaeel. (
*Watch*
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Jackson]<javascript:openslideshownew('/slideshow/3742004.cms?imw=460','541')>
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*Michael Jackson waves as he arrives at the Santa Barbara County courthouse
in Santa Maria, California in May 2005. (AFP File)*
The 50-year-old star, pledged his allegiance to the Koran in a ceremony at a
friend's mansion in Los Angeles, the Sun reported.
Jackson sat on the floor wearing a tiny hat after an Imam was summoned to
officiate -- days before the singer is due to appear at London's High Court
where he is being sued by an Arab Sheik, the paper said.
The star decided to adopt the new religion while he was recording a
song<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Michael_Jackson_has_converted_to_Islam_Report/articleshow/3740517.cms#>at
the home of his friend where a Jehovah's witness was brought up to
help
him through the ceremony.
Apparently the star of hits like 'the Way You Make Me Feel-was convinced by
his producer and songwriter friends David Wharnsby and Phillip Bubal.
"They began talking to him about their beliefs, and how they thought they
had become better people after they converted. Michael soon began warming to
the idea.
"An Imam was summoned from the mosque and Michael went through the shahada,
which is the Muslim declaration of belief," the source revealed.
Mikaeel is the name of one of
Allah's<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Michael_Jackson_has_converted_to_Islam_Report/articleshow/3740517.cms#>angels.
"Jacko rejected an alternative name, Mustafa meaning "the chosen
one", the source added.
The singer, who rarely ventures out without a mask, is due to give evidence
on Monday in a 4.7 million pound lawsuit brought by Prince Abdulla Al-Khalif
of Bahrain for defaulting on an exclusive recording contract.
