Jermaine Jackson was a popular musician, and a brother of the world famous singer, Michael Jackson, so he needs not much of an introduction. They did not only have the world fame, but they were, and still are one of the richest families in the business. They lived in a posh area in the outskirts of Los Angeles, which was considered as one of the most expensive zones in the US. It was there that Jermaine Jackson worked with his sister to compose music.
Jermaine Jackson was brought up in a Christian family, and was himself a Christian, but his family was a broad minded one. Though they were Christians, they never showed enmity or dislike to other religions. They were neutral. Jermaine Jackson described his conversion to Islam saying that once he visited Bahrain which is a Muslim country, he met few children and talked to them, and suddenly got attracted to Islam. One thing that attracted him was the fact that Islam removes all barriers of color, caste, creed and race and joins all under one banner. He said that when he visited Bahrain where he met those children, they asked him about his religion, and he replied that he was a Christian. In return, when he asked them about their religion, they all replied together, in a single tone, that they were Muslims. He got impressed by this situation. Apart from that, the children told him a few things about Islam, which brought him closer to this religion.
With the help of some Muslims, he learnt more about Islam, and meanwhile he learnt about Cat Stevens, who also embraced Islam, and became known as Yusuf Islam. Jermaine Jackson, felt close to Islam, but he did not realize what made him closer to this religion, until the final enlightenment that he had indeed converted to Islam. He decided to go to Saudi Arabia, and he performed Umrah. It was there that he declared Islam.
When he returned to the USA, the news of his converstion to Islam was already wide spread. He met a lot of resistance from Hollywood and the American public; however, he met no resistance from his family, according to his story. As mentioned above, his family was broad minded, and they didn’t object him being a Muslim. He was given his own choice to choose his religion, whichever he wanted, and thus, he followed Islam. He tried to inform his brother Michael Jackson about Islam, but there are doubts about whether Michael Jackson embraced Islam or not.
Anyhow, as far as Jermaine’s family is concerned, his children are all Islam oriented. They are like him, however, his wife is on the verge of being a Muslim as he expects. Thus was the story of Jermaine Jackson, the son of the famous Jackson family, and the brother of Michael Jackson, who embraced Islam a few years back. It is the unity in Islam and its teachings that brought him closer to Islam and impressed him about this religion that he finally embraced it.
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