This is a list of notable people who have converted to Islam after a period where they claimed to be atheistic or non-theistic.

Converts to Islam
Name Notes Refs
Gai Eaton British diplomat and writer. [1][2]
Silma Ihram Née Anne Frances Beaumont; Australian educator, author, and racial tolerance campaigner. After an agnostic upbringing she became "born again Christian" and then Muslim. [3]
Martin Lings Widely acclaimed British scholar. He was raised as a Protestant, became an atheist, and later converted to Islam. [4]
Ingrid Mattson Canadian scholar and former president of the Islamic Society of North America; was raised in Catholicism but left it years before conversion. [5][6]
Nursultan Nazarbayev Former President of Kazakhstan. [7]
Ilich Ramírez Sánchez "Carlos the Jackal" - Marxist who was convicted of terrorism and converted to Islam. [8]
G. (Gwendolyn) Willow Wilson American comics writer, prose author, essayist, and journalist; relaunched the Ms. Marvel title for Marvel Comics starring a 16-year-old Muslim superhero named Kamala Khan. She was an atheist and grew up as such. [9][10]
Dr. Abdullah (Periyar Dasan) Professor, scholar, eminent speaker, psychologist, activist, national award winning film's actor from Tamil Nadu.[11] He propagated atheism and rationalist ideologies for most part of his life, and later converted to Islam.[11] [11][12]

See also

References

  1. ^ The Radical Middle Way – Hasan Le Gai Eaton Archived September 7, 2012, at archive.today
  2. ^ "Charles Le Gai Obituary". The Guardian. April 19, 2010.
  3. ^ FAIR (pdf) Archived August 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Martin Lings, a Sufi Writer on Islamic Ideas, Dies at 96". The New York Times. May 29, 2005. Retrieved May 8, 2010. He was raised a Protestant, and later became an atheist, according to Zaman, a Turkish newspaper.
  5. ^ Edward E. Curtis, ed. (2010). "Mattson, Ingrid". Encyclopedia of Muslim-American History. Infobase Publishing. p. 362.
  6. ^ "A View from the Edge". Commonweal Magazine. February 11, 2013.
  7. ^ "Heard the one about the rabbi, the imam, and the Buddhist monk?". The Independent. July 6, 2009. He [Nicholas Baines, then-Anglican Bishop of Croydon] has watched Mr. Nazarbayev transform himself from an open atheist into pro-religion leader who has even made the Haj pilgrimage.
  8. ^ "'Jackal' book praises Bin Laden". BBC. June 26, 2003.
  9. ^ Wilson, G. Willow (March 25, 2015). "Islam Sci-fi Interview of G. Willow Wilson (Part I)". Islam and Science Fiction (Interview). Interviewed by Rebecca Hankins.
  10. ^ Wilson, G. Willow (June 20, 2010). "Beneath the veil". Boston.com (Interview). Interviewed by Ideas.
  11. ^ a b c "Periyardasan takes final bow after multiple roles". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2021-04-20.
  12. ^ "'Periyar Dasan's conversion not a surprise'". The New Indian Express. 13 April 2010.
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