American writer and activist Jeffery Shaun King and his wife Rai King have converted to Islam on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan after delivering a declaration of faith, which was posted on the Instagram page Muslimi as well as on King’s official Facebook account.
On Monday, the two, guided by US Muslim scholar Omar Suleiman, King’s acquaintance of more than a decade, delivered a live Instagram affirmation of faith known as Shahadah.
As he spoke to the assembly, the 44-year-old donned a keffiyeh, a Palestinian head covering, and attributed his choice to the “last six months of suffering, pain, and trauma that we’ve seen in Gaza.”
“It has touched me in the most profound ways to see people right now in the most dangerous, traumatic place on the planet still be able to sometimes look at nothing but rubble and the remains of their family, and still see meaning and purpose in life.”
“Their faith and their devotion to Islam has not only opened my heart but has opened the hearts of millions of people around the world,” said King.
Also read: Who is Shaun King and why is he supporting the Palestinian cause?
King has made no secret of his support for Palestine in its fight against Israel’s siege of Gaza, which has resulted in at least 31,112 deaths—mostly of women and children—and 72,760 injuries.
King has been posting on social media since October 7th, highlighting the devastation in Gaza and demanding a stop to Israel’s attacks.
King claimed that Instagram deactivated his account, which had over six million followers, in December due to his online support for Palestine. Why Meta deleted and terminated King’s account is still unknown.
