After visiting Dubai for New Year’s Eve, spending time in Turkey visiting refugee camps and immersing herself in Middle Eastern culture, Lindsay Lohan has returned to the US – but says she was anxious about it because of her new beliefs.
Speaking to the Daily Mail for a Facebook Live interview, the 30-year-old said she has been studying the Quran and finds great peace in the Islamic faith, however she has not yet converted.
“It’s a process to convert to anything,” she told the British newspaper. “I respect all religions... it’s a beautiful religion and I am a very spiritual person... it’s something I’ve been studying,” she added. “You can’t just convert overnight to a religion.”
She said one of the most comforting things about the faith was how people come together for prayer and give thanks for the small blessings of every day life.
“I really admired that, and found solace in it,” she said.
However she admitted: “I was scared to come here with everything going on because of my personal beliefs.”
Although only last month, Lohan previously vowed to take a social media hiatus and focus on her new spirituality – even deleting all photos from her Instagram and instead posting the message ‘alaikum salam’, the traditional Islamic greeting of peace, it seems that the actress took full advantage of the Facebook platform to discuss several matters, including politics.
She said America should unite behind their leader Donald Trump and that she wanted to try and convince the President to change his stance on refugees, following Turkey’s lead.
“I think always in the public eye you’re going to be scrutinised,” she explained during the live interview. “He is the president - we have to join him,” she said. ‘If you can’t beat him, join him.’
She urged President Trump to visit the country and follow their lead on Syrian refugees. “I think it would be a positive thing for America to show their care and support, and for him to experience what it’s like for these people... experience how giving Turkey has been to the refugees and how many they have welcomed in.
“[Prime Minister Tayyip] Erdogan has a very big heart, and his country stands by him,’ she said, without touching on the very recent military coup there. ‘I think we all need to unite like that.”
aseaman@thenational.ae