Sinead O'Connor: I had been a Muslim all my life and didn't realise it ... I am home

The singer discussed her religious journey and gave an emotional performance of 'Nothing Compares 2 U'

Sinead O'Connor has discussed becoming Muslim on Ireland's 'The Late Late Show'. YouTube / The Late Late Show

After a few years away from the limelight, Sinead O'Connor has returned to the public eye, giving a frank interview about her conversion to Islam and a raw performance of Nothing Compares 2 U on Irish TV show, The Late Late Show. 

"The word 'revert' refers to the idea that if you were to study the Quran, you would realise you were a Muslim all your life, and you didn't realise it," the singer explained to host, Ryan Tubridy, "and that is what happened to me."

"I am 52," she continued, "and grew up in a very different Ireland to the one that exists now. It was a very oppressed country, religiously speaking.

"I started studying scriptures from different religious, trying to find the 'truth' about God ... I never thought I would join a religion, but I left Islam until last because I had so much prejudice about Islam.

"But then when I started reading, and I read just chapter two alone of the Quran, and I realised, 'Oh my God, I am home'.

"I had been a Muslim all my life and didn't realise it."

Tubridy then asked her about her decision to wear the hijab, and she explained that she doesn't wear it "all the time."

"I wear it when I feel like it," she adds.

"There are no rules about it. I would associate myself with the Sufi element of Islam, I am not at my age required to wear the hijab ... I wear it because I like it."

"To me, the hijab is the same as when I used to wear the crucifix, it is just identifying yourself as being Muslim, part of a family."

Watch Sinead O’Connor's powerful performance of 'Nothing Compares 2 U' here: 

O'Connor announced that she had converted to Islam in October 2018, changing her name to Shuhada.

The singer was ordained as a priest in the late 1990s by Irish Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church, an Independent Catholic group not in communion with the Vatican – and said that her conversion to Islam marked a “natural conclusion of any intelligent theologian’s journey".

"All scripture study leads to Islam. Which makes all other scriptures redundant,” she said at the time.

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Sinead O'Connor becomes Shuhada: Singer's conversion to Islam comes after a personal and artistic quest for peace

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