I'm so glad Sinead O'Connor found peace in Islam – but I don't want to be told to 'just do it' and wear a hijab

As a refugee from an Islamic republic that would have killed us if we had stayed, I’d say be mindful of looking like you are ordering people to follow your path and adhere to your chosen dress code

The singer formally known as Sinead O’Connor has converted to Islam and shared her joy with the world in her own, inimitable style: by releasing a video of herself singing the Azan, wearing a camouflage top and waving her arms in the air as she really gets into it.

She has changed her name to Shahuda’ Davitt and promised on Twitter that she will get better at the Azan when she sings it onstage. She was worried, she said, that her pronunciation wasn’t great. I am no expert, but I’m not sure it’s a prayer sung by a woman at pop concerts very often. Nevertheless, there are about 1.8 billion Muslims in the world and all folk worship differently, I guess.

As a child, my experience of religion was Christian. We ploughed the field and scattered the good seed in assembly and had harvest festivals. Occasionally a vicar would pop in and smile at us all and talk about being nice to blind people.

At home, the only religion in my life came in the form of my rotund grandmother, who recited Muslim prayers five times a day in the room she shared with me for much of my childhood. As a result, I know some by heart and can reassure Shahuda’ that her pronunciation was OK. My gran would have been impressed if she was alive but would also have added: “She is such a pretty woman, she should grow her hair.”

Her announcement has led to some inevitable Islamophobic bile on the internet, including jibes at the star’s mental health history. She has, in the past, publicly shared a bipolar diagnosis and the fact that she tried to kill herself on her 33rd birthday.

The most thoughtful, intelligent people I know have mental health problems. You have to have a complicated mind to be able to express all that she expresses in that extraordinary voice. Proselytising is her right and it’s ghastly to use her mental health as a stick to beat her with.

I feel protective of Sinead O’Connor. I have lived her music for years and her exquisite voice has brought me much joy. I also feel protective of her because she has asked people to look out for her and others who are blighted by depression.

Cynics and Islamophobes have declared her conversion a publicity stunt – but I don’t think anyone with that depth of expression in their voice can be faking a desperate search for personal peace. If that is what Islam gives her, good luck to her.

I’m an atheist myself but I am not immune to the beauty of the human voice in prayer. At my grandmother’s funeral, young Muslim pallbearers carried her coffin up the hill to her plot at the cemetery. My gran was the funniest woman I knew. I loved her dearly and it was wretched to lose her. The pallbearers suddenly sang out “ALLAH O’AKHBAR!” repeatedly at the top of their voices, strong and loud and clear, and my gloom for that moment was lifted far away into the bright sky. I marched up that hill feeling unity with all the other mourners and feeling strong enough to keep it together for this ritual of saying goodbye.

If they had sung “NANTS INGONYAMA!” like at the beginning of The Lion King’s “Circle of Life”, I possibly would have felt the same. It’s about the release of energy when we all sing together.

But when it comes to religion, I can’t help but be wary of the political side of it. O’Connor changed her Twitter after announcing her conversion, editing it to have her new name of Shuhada’ and accompanying it with the image of the famous Nike swoosh and the words: “Wear a hijab. Just do it.”

When Miley Cyrus released a music video where she rode naked on a wrecking ball while licking a hammer, Shuhada’ Davitt – then, of course, still Sinead O’Connor – took it upon herself to write Miley an open letter sharing her concerns.

In that spirit, here is my open “note” (who has time for letters?) to Shuhada’:

Dear Shuhada’,

I am dead pleased you’re happy and have found peace in Islam. I’m an atheist myself and find peace in all the lovely things and kind people I see today. I’m a huge fan of yours – have been for years.

I can’t help but be a bit concerned about the Nike/hijab thing on your Twitter profile, though. However gently you meant it, I’m triggered by the words “Just do it” next to the words “Wear a hijab”.

As a refugee from an Islamic Republic that would have killed us if we had stayed, I’d say be mindful of looking like you are ordering people to follow your path and adhere to your chosen dress code. My sisters in Iran risk beatings, imprisonment or even death because they post pictures of themselves in public without the hijab as a protest against the theocratic regime which forces them to wear it.

In your life, you have had the freedom to express yourself. You tore up a picture of the Pope on live TV and were not executed for it or anything. Phew!

Please stick up for women who are denied the right to freely express themselves. Wear a hijab yourself by all means, and good luck practising the Azan. Arabic in an Irish accent sounds lush.

My favourite album of yours is How About I Be Me (and You Be You).

Love and peace from your godless fan who has loved you and admired your bravery for years.

Shappi x