Many people converted to Islam from a different religion or no religion. The list is categorized alphabetically with their former religious affiliation, where known.

According to The New York Times, 25,000 Americans convert to Islam every year. According to The Guardian, about 5,000 British people convert to Islam every year, mostly women. According to The Jerusalem Post, in the United Kingdom and France, up to 100,000 people converted in the last decade in each country. According to Yedioth Ahronoth, Germany has up to 4,000 people convert each year.

Alphabetical order by last name

A

B

C

D

  • Michael D'Andrea – Former Central Intelligence Agency officer and former director of the CIA counterterrorism center.
  • Periyar Dasan – Professor, scholar, eminent speaker, psychologist, activist, national award winning film's actor from Tamil Nadu.
  • Maria Massi Dakake – American scholar of Islamic studies and associate professor of Religious Studies at George Mason University.
  • Aliya Danzeisen – American–New Zealand lawyer, teacher and the national coordinator of the Islamic Women's Council of New Zealand.
  • Merryl Wyn Davies – Welsh Muslim scholar, writer and broadcaster who specialised in Islam.
  • Aine Davis – British convert to Islam who was convicted in a Turkish court of being a member of ISIL.
  • Gervonta Davis – American professional boxer
  • Uri Davis – Middle East academic and activist who works on civil rights in Israel, Palestinian National Authority and the Middle East
  • Bob Denard – French mercenary. Born a Catholic, converted to Judaism, then to Islam, and finally back to Catholicism.
  • Jeffrey Mark Deskovic – served 15-year wrongful imprisonment sentence.
  • Diam's – French rapper, born Mélanie Georgiades, converted in 2010.
  • Nasreddine Dinet (born Alphonse-Étienne Dinet) – French orientalist painter, converted to Islam in 1908.
  • Budi Djiwandono – Indonesian politician currently serving as the Chairman of the Gerindra Party Faction in the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia (DPR RI) since 2024.
  • Deso Dogg (Abu Talha al-Almani, born Denis Cuspert) – former German rapper who became a member of the Islamic State.
  • Arnoud van Doorn – Dutch politician.
  • Vivian Dsena – Indian television actor
  • Nooruddeen Durkee – Muslim scholar, thinker, author, translator, and the Khalifah (successor) for North America of the Shadhdhuli School for Tranquility of Being and the Illumination of Hearts, Green Mountain Branch.
  • Dutchavelli (stage name for Stephan Allen) – British rapper.
  • Yaroslav Dyblenko – Russian professional ice hockey defenceman.
  • John Drysdale (historian) – also known as Abbas Idriss, was a British-born army officer, diplomat, writer, historian, and businessman.

E

Yusuf Estes

F

G

H

  • Javidan Hanim – Hungarian noble, and Khediva consort of Egypt from 1910 to 1913 as the second wife of Khedive Abbas II of Egypt.
  • Carl Eduard Hammerschmidt – Austrian mineralogist, entomologist, and physician.
  • Guillaume Hawing – Guinean teacher, inventor, and politician.
  • Armand Hussein – American professional wrestler.
  • John Darwin Hinds – politician who became Wales' first Black and first Muslim councillor in 1958 and later, in 1975 became Wales's first Black mayor.
  • Balozi Harvey – American activist, community organizer, diplomat, and public official based in New Jersey and New York.
  • Ubayd Haider – Fijian professional boxer who competed between 2019 and 2024.
Murad Wilfried Hofmann
Murad Wilfried Hofmann
  • Terry Holdbrooks – American soldier who worked as a guard at Guantanamo Bay detention camp from 2003 to 2004.
  • Gibril Haddad – Lebanese-born Islamic scholar, hadith expert (muhaddith), author, and translator of classical Islamic texts
  • Joel Hayward – New Zealand-born British scholar of Islam
  • Walt Hazzard (Islamic name Mahdi Abdul-Rahman) – former NBA player and college basketball coach
  • Yusuf Hazziez – American musician, born Joseph Arrington, Jr.; formerly known professionally as Joe Tex
  • Aribert Heim – Austrian SS doctor, also known as Dr. Death
  • Murad Wilfried Hofmann – German diplomat and author who converted from Catholic Christianity.
  • Tony Hussein Hinde – Australian-born Maldivian surfer and surfing pioneer who converted to Islam
  • Baba Ratan Hindi – Indian merchant
  • Lim Yew Hock – Singapore's second Chief Minister from 1956 to 1959
  • Knud Holmboe – Danish journalist, author and explorer
  • Ahmed Huber – Swiss-German journalist and convert to Islam, who was active in both Islamist and far-right politics, including with Neo-Nazism.
  • István Horthy Jr. – Hungarian physicist and architect, converted to Islam in 1965 and took the name Sharif Horthy
  • Bernard Hopkins – American former professional boxer who competed from 1988 to 2016

I

  • Abdullah Ibrahim (born Adolph Brand) – South African jazz musician
  • Rebeka Ibrahima (born Rebeka Koha) – Latvian-born Qatari weightlifter, two-time Junior World Champion and two-time European Champion.
  • Silma Ihram – Australian educator, author, and racial tolerance campaigner.
  • Yusuf Islam – English singer-songwriter, instrumentalist and activist; born Steven Demetre Georgiou; known professionally as Cat StevensCat Stevens
  • Abu Izzadeen (born Trevor Brooks) – English-born extremist and hate-preacher, spokesman for Al Ghurabaa
  • Muhammad Hussain Inoki (born Kanji Inoki) – Japanese retired professional wrestler, martial artist, politician, and promoter of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts.
  • Kyrie Irving – American professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA.
  • Antoni Aleksander Iliński – Polish-Ottoman military officer and general, Polish independence activist and insurgent
  • Monty Ioane – Australian-born Italian professional rugby union player
  • Robert Irwin (writer) — was a British scholar and novelist.

J

K

L

Lil Jon
  • Lil Jon – American rapper, DJ, and record producer
  • Colleen LaRose – American citizen, known for having adopted radicalised ideologies and conspiring a plot against Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks
  • Yusef Lateef – American jazz musician
  • Johann von Leers – advisor to Mohamed Naguib and head of the Institute for the Study of Zionism
  • Gary Legenhausen – American philosopher and writer
  • Lil Durk (stage name for Durk Banks) – American drill rapper
  • Lin Nu – Chinese scholar of the Ming dynasty who converted to Islam after visiting Persia. He went on to marry a Persian or Arab woman and brought her back to Quanzhou, Fujian
  • Lie Kiat Teng – Indonesian doctor and politician, former Minister of Health (1953–1955)
  • Martin Lings – British intellectual and author
  • Omar Ong Yoke Lin (1917–2010) – Malaysian politician, former government minister and founder of the Malaysian Chinese Association
  • Aisha Lemu – British-born author and religious educator who converted to Islam in 1961.
  • Alexander Litvinenko – British-naturalised Russian defector and former officer of the Russian Federal Security Service, allegedly converted to Islam in Britain and was rumoured to have told his father he had converted to Islam on his death bed.

M

Anthony Mundine

N

O

P

Marmaduke
Marmaduke Pickthall
  • Neil Prakash – Australian Islamic State group recruiter
  • Parameswara (king) – last king of Singapura and the founder of Malacca
  • Omar Pasha – Ottoman field marshal and governor. Born in Austrian territory to Serbian Orthodox Christian parent
  • Abd al Wahid Pallavicini – leading figure of Sufism in Europe, his spiritual quest led him to convert to Islam in 1951 thanks to the teachings of Titus Burckhardt
  • Gladys Milton Palmer – British film producer and heiress, member of the ruling dynasty of Sarawak
  • St John Philby – British Arabist, advisor, explorer, writer, and a colonial intelligence officer who served as an advisor to King Abdulaziz ibn Saud.
  • Vyacheslav Polosin – Russian Muslim academic and former priest of the Russian Orthodox Church
  • José Peleteiro – commonly known as Jota and Jota Peleteiro, Spanish former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder
  • Poppy Liu – American actress of Chinese descent

Q

  • Abdullah Quilliam (born William Henry Quilliam) – British convert from Christianity to Islam, noted for founding England's first mosque and Islamic centre.

R

  • Mario Rossi (architect) – Italian architect and notable contributor to 20th-century Islamic architecture.
  • Sulayman Reis – 17th-century Dutch corsair.
  • Raekwon – American rapper, born as Corey Woods
  • Rae Lil Black (Kae Asakura) – former Japanese adult film star, transitioned away from the adult industry after embracing Islam
  • Rakhi Sawant (born Neeru Bheda) – Indian dancer, model, actress.
  • A. R. Rahman – Indian composer, musician, singer-songwriter, producer and philanthropist; he converted to Islam along with other members of his family in 1989 at age 23, changing his name from A. S. Dileep Kumar Mudhaliar to Allah Rakha RahmanA. R. Rahman
  • Yuvan Shankar Raja – Indian musician; music director from Tamil Nadu
  • Ahmad Rashad (born Robert Earl Moore), U.S. pro football player and sportscaster for The NFL on NBC
  • Richard Reid – British citizen, who adopted militant ideologies. Popularly known as the "Shoe Bomber" after unsuccessfully attempting to blow up an American Airlines flight
  • Brittany Renner – American reality-television personality
  • MC Ren (born Lorenzo Patterson) – American rapper and hip-hop producer
  • Franck RibéryFrance national football team player
  • Hamza Robertson (born Tom Robertson) – English singer
  • Jack Roche – British-born migrant in Sydney. Former member of the Jemaah Islamiyah sect, involved in its militant schemes, Roche later chose to divulge his information (of plots such as the September 11 attacks, the 2002 Bali bombings, etc.) to ASIO officers, but his calls were dismissed. Later convicted for 4-years, Roche has left the lifestyle behind but remains critical of the ASIO's failure to prevent the attacks
  • Rodtang Jitmuangnon – a Muay Thai fighter who converted to Islam shortly after marrying his Muslim wife, Aida Looksaikongdin.
  • Christian Rontini – Filipino footballer, he decided to convert to Islam from Catholicism
  • Leda Rafanelli – Italian publisher, anarchist, and prolific author, her experience living briefly in Alexandria, Egypt, cemented her interest in Eastern ideas and led to her studying the Arabic language and converting to Islam
  • Mahalini Raharja – Indonesian singer and actress
  • Na'ima B. Robert – author of multicultural literature and founding editor of the UK-based Muslim women's publication, SISTERS Magazine.
  • Abu-l-Hasan Ali ibn Ruburtayr – was the younger son of Reverter I viscount of Barcelona, and a Muslim Catalan mercenary commander.

S

T

Andrew Tate
Mike Tyson

U

  • James Ujaama (born James Earnest Thompson) – social activist/entrepreneur from Seattle, known for helping black youth; established the Bly training camp; accused of militant intentions, but allegations were negated; later convicted for violating IEEPA, by installing software for a friend, to use on a computer owned by the Taliban
  • Abu Usamah – Imam at Green Lane Masjid in Birmingham, England.
  • Daniil Utkin – Russian football player who plays as a central midfielder for Baltika Kaliningrad on loan from Rostov, and the Russia national team

V

  • Joram van Klaveren – former Dutch politician who attempted to ban mosques and all Islamic practices from Netherlands; after working on a book to conclusively 'disprove' Islam, Joram's research (and discussions with Timothy Winter) drastically changed his views, he later converted to IslamJoram van Klaveren
  • Jorvan VieiraLuso-Brazilian football coach
  • Bryant Neal Vinas – Hispanic American, once joined al Qaeda training camps, later turning on them to help the US, in attempt to turn his life around; his prosecutors called him the "single most valuable cooperating witness" about Qaeda activities; his judge was angered when, after a 3-month sentence, the FBI refused to provide him witness-protection
  • Michel ValsanRomanian diplomat and author
  • Pierre Vogel – German former boxer, now an Islamic preacher
Pierre Vogel

W

X

Malcolm X

Y

Hussein Ye
  • Mitsutarō Yamaoka – Japanese Islamic and Judaic scholar known for being the first Japanese pilgrim to Mecca.
  • Felixia Yeap – Malaysian supermodel, former Playboy Bunny
  • James Yee – American former United States Army chaplain with the rank of captain.
  • Jackie Ying – American scientist and researcher based in Singapore
  • Mohammad Yousuf (born Joseph Youhana) – former Pakistani cricketer
  • Hamza Yusuf (born Mark Hanson) – American Islamic preacher
  • Tani Yutaka – vigilante, local hero, and saboteur who was active in Malaya.

Z

By former religion

See also