As musicians, politicians and fans remember Sinead O’Connor, some Muslims are disappointed that the Irish singer and lifelong activist’s religious identity is not being highlighted in tributes.
UK police on Wednesday said the 56-year-old was found unresponsive in her London residence on Wednesday and that there her death was not being treated as suspicious.
Since the news of her death, Muslim fans of the 90s superstar have said her conversion to Islam, a cornerstone of her identity, was inspiring, but that some media reports have failed to note her religious beliefs in obituaries.
O’Connor, whose chart-topping hit “Nothing Compares 2 U” helped her reach global stardom, converted to Islam in 2018.
“This is to announce that I am proud to have become a Muslim. This is the natural conclusion of any intelligent theologian‘s journey. All scripture study leads to Islam. Which makes all other scriptures redundant,” the songstress tweeted on October 19, 2018.
At that time, O’Connor tweeted selfies donning the Muslim headscarf, the hijab, and uploaded a video of her reciting the Islamic call to prayer, the azan.
She took on the Muslim name Shuhada’ Davitt – later changing it to Shuhada Sadaqat – but continued to use the name Sinead O’Connor professionally.
One social media user said imagery of the singer without the hijab points to the glaring lack of Muslim reporters in newsrooms.
Meanwhile, some said that O’Connor was an inspiration for queer Muslims globally.
In 2000, she came out as a lesbian during an interview. But the singer, who was married to multiple men throughout her life, later said that her sexuality was fluid and that she did not believe in labels.
Some found joy in O’Connor’s conversion growing up, seeing themselves represented, while others, just learning about her Muslim identity at the news of her death, also took inspiration.
O’Connor was no stranger to controversy.
A lifelong nonconformist, she was outspoken about religion, feminism, and war, as well as her own addiction and mental health issues.
In 2014, she refused to play in Israel.
“Let’s just say that, on a human level, nobody with any sanity, including myself, would have anything but sympathy for the Palestinian plight. There’s not a sane person on earth who in any way sanctions what the f*** the Israeli authorities are doing,” she told Hot Press, an Irish music magazine.
Her iconic shaved head and shapeless wardrobe defied early 90s popular culture’s notions of femininity and sexuality.
In 1992, she ripped up a photo of Pope John Paul II during a television appearance on Saturday Night Live, vocal against the Catholic Church’s history of child abuse.
The late former star was also a firm supporter of a united Ireland, under which the United Kingdom would relinquish control of Northern Ireland.
I’m a white. A queer. An atheist. And a fan.
White people have a very long & deep history of saying some really nasty shit about non-white people, especially of the muslim faith.
Yeah that’s not just exclusive to white people
of course not, but Sinead… is white. As a white converted Muslim, she was probably hyper aware of the Islamophobia within her own communities, fan base, and just in general.
Her post, while the language was divisive, it was obviously written out of frustration and what she meant is pretty clear & obvious to anyone paying attention to Islamophobia, especially post 9/11 and then again especially during Trump’s administration.
I hate this “You need to understand and tolerate where their bigiotry is coming from” bullshit. How about no?
In the past she was Islamophobic. Now that she’s Muslim she’s projecting hate onto white people? Seems like she’s just a bigot.
What she said has no consequences at all comparable to what the Iraqis in 2001 had, Muslim immigrants in Europe face, or even the mass shooting in New Zealand.
How about just don’t be a fucking bigot?
Yes. My objection is to calling it ‘racism’, but apparently I misread your comment.
It is racist lol.
She didn’t even convert to Islam until 2018, I doubt Trumps election has anything to do with it considering she’s not even American.
Yeah, Brits barely even noticed or cared about the results of the 2016 election.
silly to ignore the ripple effects across the globe from the trump administration… We have seen a hard right turn in many countries, many people emboldened by what he said and did. Anti-immigrant, anti-muslim, anti-all kinds of crap. His hate spread far and wide, my friend.
As a global artist (and a divisive one to boot) who traveled the world many times over and had to deal with fans and haters from every culture, Sinead, more than most people, was acutely attuned to many white attitudes.
While influencing each other and using the same playbook the far right between the US and Europe is as separate as the left is. It didn’t really increase that much after Trump as it had increased exponentially and became more and more tolerated by centrists with the refugee “crisis”. That happened in the summer of 2015 with election wins and gains in multiple European countries for far-right during the second half of 2015. It was a more parallel instead of a directly causative process.