List of converts to Islam from Christianity

A

• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lew Alcindor) – retired basketball player & the NBA's all-time leading scorer. He initially converted from Christianity to The Nation of Islam to mainstream Sunni Islam.
• Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (Chris Jackson) – retired basketball player
• Tariq Abdul-Wahad (Olivier Saint-Jean) – originally from France, former basketball player for the Mavericks and Kings
• Thomas J. Abercrombie – photographer
• Éric Abidal (changed his name to Bilal) – French football player, converted to Islam after marriage.
• Ivan Aguéli (Johan Agelii) – Swedish painter.
• Akhenaton – French rapper and producer of French hip hop.
• Muhammed al-Ahari born 6 January 1965 as Ray Allen Rudder is an American essayist, scholar and writer on the topics of American Islam, Black Nationalist groups, heterodox Islamic groups and modern occultism.
• Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar (Sharmon Shah) – former NFL player
• Sana al-Sayegh, dean of the Science and Technology Faculty at Palestine International University, converted to Islam in August 2007. Fatah has accused its political rival Hamas of forcing the professor to convert from Christianity, a charge Hamas denies.
• Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.; 17 January 1942), from Baptist to The Nation of Islam to Sunni Islam. Famous American professional boxer (3 time world heavyweight champion), philanthropist and social activist.
• Rowland Allanson-Winn, 5th Baron Headley – British soldier and peer.
• Ryan G. Anderson – former Lutheran, convicted of charges of espionage for Al Qaeda
• Farqad as-Sabakhi – an Armenian Islamic preacher who was formerly a Christian known for his knowledge of Judeo-Christian scriptures.

B

• Kristiane Backer – a German television presenter, television journalist and author residing in London.
• Yasin Abu Bakr (Lennox Philip) – of Trinidad and Tobago,
• Muhammad Abd-al-Rahman Barker (Philip Barker) – professor of Urdu, former chair of the University of Minnesota's Department of South Asian studies and creator of the Tékumel fantasy world.
• Kevin Barrett – university lecturer and member of Scholars for 9/11 Truth.
• Abdullah Beg of Kartli – Georgian convert to Islam^[22] who was a claimant to the kingship of Kartli.
• David Belfield – American, fled to Iran after assassinating Ali Akbar Tabatabai, an Iranian dissident.
• Ronald Bell or Khalis Bayyan (born 1 November 1951, Youngstown, Ohio) is an American singer, composer and saxophonist
• Józef Bem – Polish and Hungarian general
• Mohammed Knut Bernström – Swedish ambassador to Venezuela (1963–1969), Spain (1973–1976) and Morocco (1976–1983)
• Ibrahim Bey – an Egyptian Mamluk of Georgian Christian origins.
• Art Blakey – American Jazz musician
• Wojciech Bobowski – raised Protestant, he was a Polish musician and translator of the Bible into Ottoman Turkish.
• Omar Bongo – Gabonese, President of Gabon.
• Claude Alexandre de Bonneval or Humbaracı Ahmet Paşa was an 18th-century French nobleman.
• Tawana Brawley (changed her name to Maryam Muhammad) – African American woman noted for claiming to have been raped by several white men, a claim determined to be a fabrication by a grand jury. Later in life she converted to Islam.
• Willie Brigitte – French convert to Islam who associated with al-Qaeda in Pakistan and was possibly involved in a plot to conduct a terrorist operation in Australia.
• Dolores "LaLa" Brooks – American musician.

C

• Torquato Cardilli – Italian ambassador, converted from Catholicism.
• André Carson – former Baptist, second Muslim to serve the United States Congress.
• Count Cassius- Visigothic aristocrat who founded the Banu Qasi dynasty of Muladi rulers.
• Cat Stevens, now known as Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; 21 July 1948), British singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, humanitarian, education philanthropist, and prominent convert to Islam.
• Dave Chappelle – comedian and television star
• Benjamin Chavis – controversial former head of the NAACP; joined the Nation of Islam.
• Chrisye – Indonesian singer. He changed his birth name to Chrismansyah Rahadi from Christian Rahadi
• Hedley Churchward – English painter
• Aukai Collins – fought in Chechnya, paid FBI informant, author of an autobiographical book
• Jerôme Courtailler – one of two French brothers convicted by French authorities in 2004 for abetting terrorists
• Robert D. Crane is the former adviser to President Richard Nixon, and is former Deputy Director (for Planning) of the U.S. National Security Council.

D

• Ian Dallas – Abdalqadir as-Sufi — Sufi shaykh of Scottish origins.

• Daniel Streich-is a Swiss military instructor, community council member and a former member of Swiss People's Party.

E

• Isabelle Eberhardt – from Lutheran Christianity, 19th-century explorer and writer
• Abdullah el-Faisal – a Muslim cleric who preached in the United Kingdom until he was convicted of stirring up racial hatred and urging his followers to murder Jews, Hindus, Christians, and Americans.
• Wadih el-Hage, former Al-Qaeda member who was convicted for his part in the 1998 United States embassy bombings.
• Nathan Ellington – English football player
• C. Jack Ellis – Mayor of Macon, Georgia
• Keith Ellison – American, Representative from Minnesota's 5th congressional district, first Muslim to be elected to the United States Congress, converted from Catholicism
• Yahiya Emerick – American Muslim scholar, President of the Islamic Foundation of North America, converted from Protestantism.
• Erekle I of Kakheti – Georgian convert to Islam who ruled the kingdoms of Kakheti and Kartli.
• Yusuf Estes – Former preacher and federal prison chaplain, converted from Protestantism.
• Chris Eubank – British boxer
• Emeka Ezeugo: is a former Nigerian football defender and midfielder

F

• Shah Shahidullah Faridi – Writer of German descent born to a Christian family.
• Danilo Fernando – Brazilian Footballer. He changed his name become Muhammad Danilo Fernando
• Firouz – an Armenian Christian convert to Islam who served as a spy for Bohemund during the Siege of Antioch.
• Radu cel Frumos – was the younger brother of Vlad Ţepeş (Dracula) and prince of the principality of Wallachia, who converted from Catholicism.

G

• Adam Gadahn (born Adam Pearlman) – al-Qaeda English language spokesman. Home-schooled Christian.
• G. Willow Wilson - An American comics writer, prose author, essayist, and journalist.

H

• Sir Archibald Hamilton, 5th Baronet – a distinguished British convert to Islam.
• Omar Hammami – American-born member of the Somali Islamist paramilitary group al-Shabaab. Known by the nom de guerre Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki.
• Ryan Harris- football player for the Denver Broncos
• Joel Hayward, British scholar, author and poet.
• Murad Wilfred Hofmann – NATO official, converted from Catholicism
• Knud Holmboe – Danish journalist and explorer who converted from Catholicism.
• Bernard Hopkins – American boxer

I

• Silma Ihram – formerly a born again Baptist who is an Australian pioneer of Muslim education in the West, founder and former school Principal of the 'Noor Al Houda Islamic College', campaigner for racial tolerance, and Author.
• Ahmed el Inglizi – was an English architect and engineer who worked for the Sultan of Morocco Mohammed ben Abdallah in the 18th century and converted to Islam^.
• Iyasu V – Ethiopian emperor.

J

• Gauhar Jaan-British-Indian Singer.
• Ibn Jazla – an 11th-century physician and Christian convert to Islam who later wrote to refute doctrines of Christianity.
• Jermaine Jackson (Muhammad Abdul Aziz) – Michael Jackson's elder brother & one of the original former members of The Jackson 5.
• Sarah Joseph – commentator on women's issues and founder of emel magazine, converted from Catholicism.

K

• Abdul Kadir, former Guyanese politician, convicted of the 2007 John F. Kennedy International Airport attack plot.
• Nuh Ha Mim Keller – Islamic scholar who converted from Catholicism to agnosticism to Sunni Islam.
• Allahverdi Khan – general and statesman of Georgian origin who was Christian and converted to Islam.
• Mirza Malkam Khan – an Iranian Armenian proponent of Freemasonry who was active during the period leading up to the Iranian Constitutional Revolution.
• Michael Muhammad Knight – American novelist, writer, and journalist.

L

• Colleen LaRose – American citizen charged with terrorism-related crimes
• Leo of Tripoli – a Byzantine Greek renegade who freed 4000 Muslim prisoners while attacking the Byzantine city of Thessalonica.
• Samantha Lewthwaite also known as Sherafiyah Lewthwaite or the White Widow, is one of the United Kingdom's most wanted terrorism suspects.
• Tage Lindbom (1909–2001), Swedish historian, PhD in Political science. He was a disciple of the Swiss metaphysician Frithjof Schuon.
• Germaine Lindsay – one of the suicide terrorists in the 7 July 2005 London bombings in which 52 people were murdered.
• John Walker Lindh – an American insurgent, known as the "American Taliban", who converted from Catholicism
• Alexander Litvinenko – former FSB officer converted to Islam on his deathbed.
• Loon – American hip hop and rap artist
• Badr al-Din Lu'lu', an Armenian convert to Islam and successor to the Zangid rulers of Mosul.
• Vincenzo Luvineri – American rapper and the lyricist behind the Philadelphia underground hip-hop group Jedi Mind Tricks, converted from Catholicism.

M

• Daniel Maldonado – American Islamist convicted in the United States on charges of training with al-Qaida in East Africa. Raised Catholic.^[94]
• Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood – British author, converted from Protestantism.
• Ingrid Mattson – Canadian scholar and current president of the Islamic Society of North America (2006) who converted from Catholicism.
• Jacques-Francois Menou – French general under Napoleon I of France.
• Bruno Metsu – French coach of the Senegal team at the 2002 FIFA World Cup
• Köse Mihal – a Byzantine renegade, he accompanied Osman al-Ghazi in his ascent to power and converted to Islam.
• Mleh, Prince of Armenia – an Armenian convert to Islam from Catholicism, he was the eighth lord of Armenian Cilicia.
• Preacher Moss – American comedian who converted from Baptist Christianity American comedian and comedy writer.
• Matthew Saad Muhammad (formerly Matthew Franklin) – former boxer, converted from Catholicism.
• Peter Murphy – vocalist of the goth/rock group Bauhaus who converted from Catholicism.
• Sheila Musaji – founder of The American Muslim magazine.
• Ibrahim Muteferrika (original name not known) – From Unitarian Christianity, an early example of a Muslim publisher and printer.

N

• John Nelson – Englishman sailor who converted to Islam in Morocco before 1583.
• Adam Neuser – a German Lutheran pastor who criticized the doctrine of the trinity and was consequently imprisoned.
• Tech N9ne – an American rapper born to a Christian mother who converted to Islam during adulthood.

P

• Robin Padilla – Filipino actor.
• Wayne Parnell – South African cricketer converted to Islam in January 2011.
• Hersekzade Ahmed Pasha – born to a Christian Croatian
• Koca Yusuf Pasha – a Georgian Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire who also served as the governor of Peloponnese.
• Moralı Enişte Hasan Pasha – Greek Ottoman Grand Vizier.
• Judar Pasha – conqueror of the Songhai Empire.
• Omar Pasha – Ottoman general who converted from Serbian Orthodoxy.
• Raghib Pasha – was a Greek Ottoman politician who served as Prime Minister of Egypt and who converted to Islam from Christianity.
• Suleiman Pasha – French-born Egyptian commander.
• Zağanos Pasha – one of the prominent military commanders of Mehmet II (Mehmet the Conqueror) and a lala, at once an advisor, mentor, tutor, councillor, protector, for the sultan.
• St. John Philby – Arabist, explorer, writer, and British colonial office intelligence operative; converted from Anglicanism.
• Bilal Philips – Islamic scholar and author
• Marmaduke Pickthall – famous translator of the Quran.
• Poncke Princen – Dutch soldier and human rights activist who converted from Catholicism.

Q

• William Abdullah Quilliam – 19th-century British poet, ambassador and journalist.

R

• Ilie II Rareş – prince of Moldavia.
• Ahmad Rashād – Emmy award-winning sportscaster (mostly with NBC Sports) and former American football wide receiver.
• Richard Colvin Reid – shoe bomber (convicted terrorist)
• Franck Ribéry – a French football player. His name after he converted to Islam is Bilal.
• Yvonne Ridley – British journalist, from Anglicanism. She converted after being kidnapped and released by the Taliban.
• Robert of St. Albans – an English templar knight who converted to Islam from Christianity in 1185 and led an army for Saladin against the Crusaders in Jerusalem.

S

• Salman the Persian A convert from Christianity who was previously Zoroastrian.
• Ahmed Santos – Filipino, fugitive, founder of the Rajah Solaiman Movement converted from Catholicism
• Ratna Sarumpaet, Indonesian stagewright, director, and actress
• Brad Terrence Jordan ("Scarface") – American rapper^{[citation needed]}
• Mario Scialoja – Italian ambassador and President of the World Muslim League.
• Betty Shabazz – wife of Malcolm X; former Methodist.
• Zaid Shakir – American Muslim convert former Baptist to Sunni Islam, speaker, intellectual, author, Islamic scholar, and co-founder of Zaytuna College in the United States.
• Omar Sharif – Egyptian actor who converted from Catholicism.
• Ahmad Faris Shidyaq – a Lebanese scholar, writer and journalist who was a Maronite convert to Islam.
• Anthony Small – professional boxer
• Sean Stone – Son of Oliver Stone and documentary producer.
• Daniel Streich – A Swiss military instructor, community council member and a former member of Swiss People's Party who led the campaign for the national ban on the construction of new minarets.

T

• Abu Tammam – 9th-century Arab poet born to Christian parents.
• Tekuder – Mongol leader of the Ilkhan empire who was formerly a Nestorian Christian.
• Joe Tex – soul singer and recording artist.
• Ahmad Thomson – British barrister and writer and also a member of the Murabitun movement.
• Danny Thompson – English double bass player converted from Catholicism.
• Joseph Thomas – Australian convert, acquitted of terrorism charges, placed under a control order under the Australian Anti-Terrorism Act 2005, currently pending retrial.
• Richard Thompson – British musician, best known for his guitar playing and songwriting.
• Gabriele Torsello – Italian freelance photojournalist based in London who was abducted in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
• Mihnea Turcitul – was a Prince (Voivode) of Walachia. Converted from Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
• Anselm Turmeda – a Majorcan writer and a Franciscan friar who converted to Islam
• Mike Tyson – American boxer and Sunni Muslim

U

• Ismael Urbain – French journalist and interpreter.
• Abu Usamah – American-born Imam of Green Lane Masjid in Birmingham, UK.Accused of preaching messages of hate towards non-Muslims in a UK Television documentary.

V

• Bryant Neal Vinas – participated in and supported al-Qaeda plots in Afghanistan and the U.S., and helped al-Qaeda plan a bomb attack on the LIRR
• Rudolf Carl von Slatin – Anglo-Austrian soldier and administrator in the Sudan. Later reverted to Catholicism.

W

• Siraj Wahaj – Former Baptist. African-American Imam, noted for his efforts to eliminate Brooklyn's drug problems.
• Alexander Russell Webb – Former Presbyterian. American journalist, newspaper owner, and former Consul-General of the U.S.A. in the Philippines.
• Suhaib Webb – American Islamic activist and speaker.
• Dawud Wharnsby-Ali (David Wharnsby) – Canadian singer/poet.
• John Whitehead – an American singer, songwriter, and record producer.
• Danny Williams – British boxer
• Sonny Bill Williams – New Zealand Rugby Union Rep player(All Blacks)& NZ Rep League Player(Kiwis)
• Timothy Winter – prominent British Islamic thinker and scholar, and a lecturer in Islamic studies in the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge.

X

• Malcolm X – was a leading African-American Muslim minister, public speaker, and human rights activist. He converted from Christianity to The Nation of Islam and later to mainstream Sunni Islam.
• Abel Xavier – former Portuguese professional footballer converted to Islam with his new name Faisal.

Y

• Khalid Yasin – Executive Director of the Islamic Teaching Institute, and a Shaykh currently residing in Australia.
• James Yee – previously Lutheran and former U.S. Army Muslim chaplain.
• Mohammad Yousuf – Pakistani cricketer. Known for holding the world record for the most Test runs in a single calendar year, converted from Catholicism.
• Hamza Yusuf – American convert from Greek Orthodox to Sunni Islam; co-founder of the Zaytuna College.

Z

Mohammed Zakariya – an American master of Arabic calligraphy, best known for his work on the popular Eid U.S. postage stamp.