Famous Converts to Islam Part II

Fareed Kamal – formerly Jonathan Davis. He is more popularly known as Q-tip, th former member of A Tribe Called Quest. He converted to Islam around 1996.

Erik Schrody – lead singer of Everlast, who is of Irish decent, converted from Catholicism to Islam in 1997. The rapper turned rocker’s hit single “What It’s Like,” off his "Whitey Ford Sings the Blues," garnered triple-platinum sales of his album. The lyrics of his album's closing track, "Graves to Dig,” reflect his religion: "One for the prophet/Two for Islam/Three for the khutba from the imam."

Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall – formerly William Pickthall. He reverted to Islam in 1917 and published The Meaning of the Glorious Koran; an English language translation of the Qur’an in 1930.

Mohammad Asad (1900-1992) – formerly Leopold Weiss, born in Lwow, Galicia now in Poland, to a Jewish father in 1900. Asad was an Austrian statesman, journalist, and leading Muslim scholar, who reverted to Islam in 1926. Asad was a former foreign correspondent for the Frankfuerter Zeitung, and is best known for his books, “Islam at the Crossroads,” and “Road to Mecca,” and for his English translation of the Qur'an.

Margaret Marcus – a Jewish American essayist, poet, journalist and author of several books. She reverted from Judaism to Islam in 1962 and changed her name to Maryam Jameelah.

Michael Wolfe -- writer and author best known for his documentary on ABC’s Nightline, called An American in Mecca. The documentary, which aired in April 1997, took viewers along with Wolfe on his pilgrimage to Hajj. Wolfe was born of a Christian mother and Jewish father. Since converting to Islam he has written several books on the Islamic faith.

Murad Hofman – formerly Wilfried Hoffman. He was born into a Catholic family in Germany in 1931. The Harvard Law graduate, former German diplomat, and former director of information for NATO, embraced Islam in 1980 and changed his name. He has lectured and written extensively on Islam.

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