This is a list of some converts to Islam from Hinduism.
Name | Province/State | Country | Notes | Refs. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Dr. Abdullah (Periyar Dasan) | Tamil Nadu | India | Professor, scholar, eminent speaker, psychologist, activist, national award winning film's actor from Tamil Nadu.[1] He propagated atheism and rationalist ideologies for most part of his life, and later converted to Islam.[1] | [1][2] |
Abdulla Gandhi (Harilal Gandhi) | Delhi | India | Indian independence movement freedom fighter, who was the eldest son of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Kasturba Gandhi | [3] |
Abdul Haliq (Yuvan Shankar Raja) | Tamil Nadu | India | Film score and soundtrack composer and singer-songwriter from Tamil Nadu, India | [4] |
Ali Mech | Assam | India | 13th century tribal chief of present-day Assam belonging to Boro-Kachari sub tribe called Mech. The first Muslim convert in Assam and the founding father of the Indigenous Desi Muslims of Assam. Hundreds of Mech inhabitants converted to Islam due to growing oppression in the hands of landlord with caste, customs and traditions. | [5][6][7][8] |
Allahrakha Rahman (A.S. Dileep Kumar) | Tamil Nadu | India | Internationally acclaimed and popular award winning film composer, record producer, singer, and songwriter who embraced Islam along with his family. | [9] |
Baba Shadi Shaheed (Maharaja Dharam Chand Chib) | Kashmir | India Pakistan |
Sufi saint, was Governor of Kashmir with the title of Shadab Khan and also has served as governor of Kandahar during Akbar's reign. | [10] |
Baba Ratan Hindi | Punjab | India | From Bathinda in Punjab, India, his full name was Ratan Nath. He was a trader who used to take goods from India to Arabia. | [11][12][13] |
Malik Jahan Khan (Dhoondia Wao) | Karnataka | India | Opponent of the British East India company; took up the name Malik Jahan Khan after his conversion | [14] |
Dhiya Ur-Rahman Azmi or Ziaur Rahman Azmi (Banke Lal) | Uttar Pradesh | India | Muslim author, scholar, and professor and who served as Dean of Department of Hadith at Islamic University of Madinah. Was born into a Brahmin family as Banke Lal. At age 16, he is converted to Islam. For his honorary contribution, he was awarded with Saudi Arabian citizenship which is rare. | [15][16] |
Dogra Muslims | Jammu and Kashmir | India Pakistan |
They are Muslim converts from the larger Hindu Dogra community. | [17] |
Hadiya (Akhila Ashokan) | Kerala | India | Homeopathy student whose conversion to Islam became national topic for years with High Court of Kerala, Supreme Court of India and NIA to investigate on her conversion and marriage. She stated it was her own will and embraced Islam, with no external force. Her husband Shafin Jahan wanted her to be released from un-official detaining of Hadiya by her parents. On March 2018, Hadiya's annulled marriage was restored by the Supreme Court to reunite with Shafin Jahan. | [18][19][20] |
Kabir Suman (Suman Chattopadhyay) | Odisha | India | Formerly known as Suman Chattopadhyay; a Hindu Brahmin who converted | [21] |
Kamal C Najmal (Kamal C Chavara) | Kerala | India | Popular Malayalam writer embraced Islam in solidarity with Najmal Babu (TN Joy) who converted as a revolutionary act struggling against casteism | [22][23][24] |
Kamal Dasgupta | Narail | Bangladesh | Bengali singer, converted and married another maestro, Firoza Begum. Changed name to Kamal Ali after conversion. | [25][26][27][28] |
Jai Sampath | Tamil Nadu | India | Film actor from Tamil Nadu, India | [29] |
Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah (Jadu) | Dinajpur | Bangladesh | 15th-century Sultan of Bengal. Son of Raja Ganesha. Introduced Islam to many Hindus after his conversion. | [30][31] |
Jinnah family (Lohanas) | Gujarat | India | Muhammad Ali Jinnah's family were Lohana businessmen from Gujarat. Choosing fish trade, caused them to be ex-communicated from orthodox groups and then had to convert to Islam. | [32][33] |
Kalapahad (Rajiblochon Ray) | West Bengal | India | Military commander for the Bengal Sultanate. Converted to Islam and married Gulnaz, the daughter of Sultan Sulaiman Khan Karrani. | [34][35][36] |
Kamala Surayya (Kamala Das) | Kerala | India | Poet, Novelist, Short Story Writer | [37] |
Kayam Khan (Karam Chand) | Rajasthan | India | Karam Chand was son of Mote Rao Chauhan, a Hindu ruler of Daderva state in Churu district. He met Firuz Shah Tughlaq and got Islamic training from Sayyed Nasir after embracing Islam, changing his name to Kayam Khan. The descendants of Kayam Khan are known as Kayam Khani. By time, the descendants of his brothers, who embraced Islam (Jainand Khan and Jahardi Khan) were also included in the fold of Kayam Khani community. | [38][39] |
Kuralarasan | Tamil Nadu | India | Actor and film composer who works in Tamil-language films. He stated that out of his own will being attracted to the principles of Islam had embraced it. He requested to keep his father T. Rajender and brother Silambarasan away from social-media religious hate trolling on his religious conversion. | [40][41] |
Lutfunnisa Begum (Raj Kunwari) | West Bengal | India | Former Hindu slave and dancer who married the final independent Nawab of Bengal Siraj ud-Daulah.[42] | |
M. G. Raheema (Rekha Maruthiraj aka Monica) | Tamil Nadu | India | Monica a popular actress in Tamil films announced exit from film industry and embraced Islam with her new name M. G. Raheema where M is Maruthi Raj (father) and G is Gracy (mother). She is later engaged with Islamic lectures in Tamil language. | [43][44] |
Malik Kafur | Gujarat | India | Commander of Alauddin Khalji, born as Hindu eunuch slave | [45] |
Malik Maqbul Tilangani (Nagaya Ganna) | Telangana | India | Commander in the Kakatiya Empire, who became the Wazir of the Delhi Sultanate | [46][47] |
Mazumdar family | Sylhet | Bangladesh | The founder of the family, Sarbananda of Barsala, converted to Islam and became a minister for the Sultan of Bengal. He changed his name to Sarwar, and was later granted the title of Khan. | [48] |
Moulai Abdullah (Baalam Nath) | Gujarat | India | Baalam Nath, one of the two travelers who met Al-Mustansir Billah of Cairo were so impressed that embraced Islam and came back to India to preach Islam by 1073.C.E. | [49][50] |
Muhammad Iqbal's family | Kashmir | India Pakistan |
Muhammad Iqbal's family was Kashmiri Brahmin Pandit (of the Sapru clan) that converted to Islam | [51][52] |
Muhammad Zamri Vinoth Kalimuthu | Negeri Sembilan | Malaysia | Well known Malaysian preacher of Islam who can speak in English, Malay and Tamil language. Was in news for controversies related to comparative religious talks after his conversion to Islam. | [53][54] |
Murshid Quli Khan aka Mohammad Hadi (Surya Narayan Mishra) | West Bengal | India | Surya Narayan Mishra, born in Deccan c. 1670 who later came to know as Mohammad Hadi (Murshid Quli Khan) was the first Nawab of Bengal | [55][56] |
Muslim Dabgar | Uttar Pradesh | India | They are also known as Dalgar and are converts to Islam from the Hindu Dabgar caste. | [57] |
Nahar Khan aka Bahadur Nahar Khanzada (Kunwar Sonpar Lal aka Nahar Singh) | Rajasthan | India | Kunwar Sonpar Lal (aka Nahar Singh) was son of Yaduvanshi Rajput Raja Lakhan Pal of Kotla Fort. He was the ruler of Mewat and the progenitor of Khanzada Rajput tribe. He converted to Islam during the era of Firuz Shah Tughlaq in 1355, changing his name to Nahar Khan. His brother Kunwar Samar Pal also embraced Islam and changed his name to Chaju Khan. | [58][59][60] |
Najmal Babu (TN Joy) | Kerala | India | Former Naxalite leader and social activist of Kerala, who embraced Islam claiming it as a struggle against casteism.[61] | [62][63] |
Sultan Muhammad Shah (Seri Maharaja) | Malacca | Malaysia | Popularly known as Raja Tengah or Radin Tengah. At first he took the title Seri Maharaja, but then he converted to Islam. | [64] |
Malikussaleh (Merah Silu) | Aceh | Indonesia | An Acehnese who established the first Muslim state of Samudera Pasai in the year 1267. King Mara Silu converted to Islam, gave himself an Ayyubid name of al-Malik al-Ṣālih.[65] | [66] |
Sadeq Ali (Shree Gour Kishore Sen) | Moulvibazar | Bangladesh | A prominent Dobhashi writer, poet and district judge from 19th century Bengal | [67] |
Sandrina Malakiano | Bali | Indonesia | Raised in Bali embraced Islam when moved to Jakarta. Former news presenter of Metro TV named as Best News Presenter in 2001 and 2003, and Best Current Affairs Presenter in the 2005 Asian Television Awards respectively. | [68][69] |
Abdul Shakur (Steven Vikash Chand) | Ontario | Canada | Arrested in the 2006 Toronto terrorism arrests. | [70] |
Sulaiman Khan (Kalidas Gazdani) | West Bengal | India | Kalidas Gazdani was from Rajput community of the Bais clan. He embraced Islam and took new name Sulaiman Khan. Claims, say he did so after an argument with a learned Muslim head. His son is the Isa Khan, a Muslim Rajput chieftain who led the Baro Bhuiyans (twelve landlords) and a Zamindar of the Bhati region in 16th-century Bengal. | [71][72] |
Sultan Megat Iskandar Shah (Parameswara) | Singapore | Malaysia | The Sultan of Malacca from 1414–1424 who was born as Parameshwara | [73][74] |
Sultan Mudzaffar Shah I (Sri Paduka Maharaja Durbar Raja) | Kedah | Malaysia | Legendary king, said to be the first Sultan of Kedah, according to Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa. He was the last Hindu king of Kedah, styled Sri Paduka Maharaja Durbar Raja before his accession. After his conversion to Islam, he later became the founder of the Kedah Sultanate.[75] | [76] |
Syedi Nuruddin (Roop Nath) | Gujarat | India | Roop Nath, one of the two travelers who met Al-Mustansir Billah of Cairo were so impressed that embraced Islam and came back to India to preach Islam by 1073.C.E. | [49][50] |
Tan Sen (Ramtanu Pandey) | Madhya Pradesh | India | Prominent figure of Hindustani classical music, who embraced Islam, settled down in Fatehpur Sikri and had married daughter of Akbar. | [77][78] |
T. M. Umar Farooq (T. M. Mani) | Tamil Nadu | India | Popular Dalit leader in Tamil Nadu, T. M. Mani, accepted Islam after 52 years of Dalit activism.[79] He was known for his activism against casteism and caste atrocities. He was the founder of Blue Panthers Party (Neela Puligal Iyakkam).[80] | [81][82][80][83][84] |
Yakoob (Iraamathevar) | Tamil Nadu | India | Iramathevar, a Shaivite Siddhar embraced Islam and changed his name as Yakoob. His contribution in Tamil Muslim literature is called by 'Yakoob Siddhar Paadal'. | [85][86] |
Yusuf Khan (Maruthanayagam Pillai) | Tamil Nadu | India | Military commander, proclaimed independent ruler of Madurai and Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India | [87] |