American author and activist Jeffrey Shaun King, alongside along with his spouse Rai King, introduced their conversion to Islam on the primary day of the holy month of Ramadan on Monday.
The couple publicly affirmed their dedication by means of the Shahadah, a testomony of religion, throughout an Instagram dwell session guided by their pal of over a decade, U.S. Muslim scholar Omar Suleiman.
Wearing a standard Palestinian keffiyeh, the 44-year-old Shaun King attributed his determination to the profound affect of the previous six months of struggling, ache, and trauma witnessed in Gaza.
Addressing the viewers, he expressed admiration for the resilience of the folks in Gaza, who, amid the destruction and loss, nonetheless discover which means and goal in life.
“Their faith and devotion to Islam have not only opened my heart but have opened the hearts of millions of people around the world,” mentioned King.
Known for his vocal help of Palestine towards Israel’s actions in besieged Gaza, King has been actively sharing the devastation on social media since Oct. 7. He has referred to as for an finish to Israel’s assaults, even claiming to have communicated Hamas for the discharge of American hostages, a declare the household of the hostages denies.
Instagram banned King’s account, which had over 6 million followers, in December, with out clear causes supplied by Meta.
King has been an advocate towards racism and hate crimes and recounted situations of racism he confronted throughout his upbringing in Kentucky.
These experiences led King to think about a profession in faith after a go to from his highschool greatest pal’s father, a pastor.
King was impressed by this man and briefly taught highschool civics and labored in Atlanta’s juvenile justice system earlier than changing into a pastor at a Christian heart in Georgia.
King later based Courageous Church in Atlanta however resigned in 2012 as a consequence of private stress and disillusionment.
Civil rights advocacy
Despite the challenges, Shaun King devoted his life to selling social justice causes, significantly by means of his writing on civil and human rights, race relations, police brutality, mass incarceration, and regulation enforcement misconduct. He contributed to media retailers such because the Daily Kos, the New York Daily News and The Young Turks.
His activism prolonged to main profitable social media campaigns, founding a non-profit group, Grassroots Law Project, and establishing numerous web campaigns, web sites, and organizations.
However, King’s actions have confronted accusations of fiscal mismanagement and complaints from colleagues over time.
Shaun King and his spouse reside in New York with their 5 kids, two of whom have been adopted.
Source: www.dailysabah.com