We don’t see visible Muslims in the mainstream entertainment industry for obvious reasons as well as institutional ones. When was the last time you had a hijab-wearing pop culture icon go on platforms like The Late Late Show, Good Morning Britain, ABC News, and BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, to openly and assertively explain her reasons for becoming Muslim as simply being the return to something she was born as, but never knew? [1] [2] [3] [4]
During these appearances, hosts were left disconcerted, unsure, intrigued, and trying desperately to not show ignorance or disrespect to someone many regard as the voice of the 1990s.
But Sinéad O’Connor delivered her message, as well as her new chosen name — Shuhada’ Sadaqat— on talk shows and breakfast programmes that were the unlikeliest places for a deep dive into Islamic theology.
Soul-searching
And now, the news of Sinéad O’Connor’s death is a time for reflection — to ponder on the huge trials and tests that this world will offer everyone, regardless of whether you have rock-solid belief or none at all.
She is a story of someone who suffered from a myriad of tests stemming from the earliest chapters of her life.
Child abuse, a gaping mother wound, trauma, addiction, sexual abuse, and most vicious: the death of a grown child to suicide. [5]
Each one of those things alone is enough to shadow a person’s life path, and in the pain of all of those things, Sinéad O’Connor found relief for her soul within Islam. Embracing Islam by no means halted or “made right” the trauma of her life experience, but it gave purpose to the pain and situated earthly struggles within a divine metaphysical order.
Coping with loss; accepting Allah’s Decree
Sinéad O’Connor taught us that what we do to ourselves, what others do to us, and what the dunya unleashes on the human soul, can be savagely brutal. No-one is exempt from this, and our tradition focuses specifically on the human stories of how the most beloved to Allah were pushed to the edge of human endurance, as a forewarning that this, too, can and will come to us.
The loss of a child is a pain that the mother of Mūsa (ʿalayhi al-Salām) felt when she lowered her infant son into a flowing stream — her heart in turmoil.
The loss of a child is what rendered the blessed eyes of Prophet Ya’qūb (ʿalayhi al-Salām) blind from the tears shed for his beloved Yusuf (ʿalayhi al-Salām).
The same tears of anguish and pain escaped the eyes of RasūlAllah (ﷺ) as he held his infant son Ibrahim’s still warm body and showed us that accepting the Decree of Allah doesn’t necessarily mean escaping heartbreak.
Abu Hurayrah (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhu) reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) said,
“Whenever Allah wills good for a person, He subjects them to adversity.” [6]
This heartbreak is a hallmark of the dunya; it visits us regularly as it visited Sinéad in many decades of her life. Alienated from the hedonism and shallowness of the industry she was in, she led with an “anti fame” approach — going on live television to tear up a picture of the Pope in protest of child sex abuse, speaking openly about war, corruption, and the harm that befalls children when the crimes of the powerful are hushed. [7]
Rather than jump on the socially acceptable and trendy causes of the age, she chose to sacrifice career comforts to speak out against institutional child abuse and emphasised the need to continue the struggle:
“Until the ignoble and unhappy regime which holds all of us through child abuse has been toppled, utterly destroyed.
“Until that day there is no continent that will know peace. Children, children. Fight.
“We find it necessary. We know we will win. We have confidence in the victory of good over evil.” [7]
Courage & conversion: her journey to Islam
In a time before “cancel culture” was even a thing, efforts were underway that attempted to erase Sinéad and her career, as backlash for her actions.
She stood firm, however.
Quite literally, in fact, when she was booed live on stage for over eight minutes at the 30th anniversary of a Bob Dylan concert, while waiting to sing War. She wasn’t deterred, as the courage of her conviction was stronger.
In fact, when Kris Kristofferson — who had just introduced her as…
“…an artist whose name has become synonymous with courage and integrity,”
…walked over to O’Connor and told her in no uncertain terms to not “let the b******s get you down”, she replied, “I’m not down”. [8]
When, as a non-Muslim, she was told by record producers she was not attractive or alluring enough to sell music, she shaved her head in what became her signature style in defiance of the sexualisation of female artists and restrictive beauty standards.
There are barely any public benefits to being a committed Muslim when on the public stage, and privately you are not promised an easy life either. So this attitude of personal courage, genuine authenticity, and not caring for worldly consequences likely contributed to her openness in exploring Islam as a belief system to begin with.
It was reported that Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqās (raḍiy Allāhu ʿanhu) asked the Prophet (ﷺ),
“O Messenger of Allah, which people are most severely tested?” [9]
The Prophet (ﷺ) answered,
“They are the prophets, then the next best, then the next best.
“A man is put to trial according to his religion. If he is firm in his religion, his trials will be more severe. If he is weak in his religion, he is put to trial according to his strength in religion.
“The servant will continue to be put to trial until he is left walking upon the Earth without any sin.” [9]
A path of struggle, growth, and perseverance
Islam isn’t for the perfect, polished, and pristine — because humans rarely exist in that consistent form.
It is for those who want to experience the reality of their Creator and accept this life for what it is: an often brutal testing ground where growth occurs through struggle. And comfort is often an affliction.
It is for those who accept life will not and should not be stagnant, that the path ahead requires movement and perseverance.
It is for those who wish to commit to a path that drags their soul — kicking and screaming — to higher goals. So even if you are walking, limping, or crawling, you still remain on the path of your Creator’s pleasure.
“Do people think that they will be let go merely by saying: ‘We believe,’ and that they will not be tested?
“We certainly tested those before them, and Allah will certainly know those who are true from those who are false.” [10]
As with every believing soul that leaves this world, we pray for the forgiveness, mercy, and acceptance of our sister, to ease her transition into the Ākhirah and to return back to the relief of the Creator, Whom she spent her whole life searching for a connection.
For her inner demons, battles with mental health issues, and shortcomings, the rahma (mercy) of Allah is greater than them all.
May Allah accept her into His everlasting mercy, where there will never again be pain. Nothing compares to the healing of the One who created the fragile human souls in the first place; to Allah we belong, and to Him is our return.
“Indeed, We shall put you to test with some fear, and hunger, and with some loss of wealth, lives, and offspring.
“And convey good tidings to those who are patient, who say, when inflicted by hardship, ‘Indeed, to Allah we belong, and indeed, to Him shall we return,’ upon them are the blessings of Allah and His mercy.” [11]
Source: Islam21c
Notes
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je8Mh7Bc2hI
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkjoMjKU_yM
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuGNOfO5fSY
[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me6uiEJlIHs
[6] Sahīh al-Bukhārī, 5,645
[8] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-27/controversies-of-sinead-o-connors-career/102654286
[9] https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2012/09/29/prophets-righteous-severely-tested/
[10] al-Qur’ān, 29:2-3
[11] al-Qur’ān, 2:155-156
Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un (إِنَّا ِلِلَّٰهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ) Shuhada’ Sadaqat,
It’s a pity that you didn’t chose to refer to her by the name she chose to be known by after her conversion!
Well written article
Masha’Allah Tabarak’Allah
Tremendous article.
Eloquently written with deep spiritual lessons for us all!
May Allah bless you
May Allah forgive her and grant her the highest of Jannah. Ameen Thanks Zimarina. This is a great tribute.