[This article was written for the purpose of important wider discourse, and should not be considered a promotion of music by MuslimMatters]

Popular American rapper and DJ, “Lil Jon” Jonathan Smith, has converted to Islam. Active since the 1990s and regarded as a pioneering influence in the field, Smith took his shahadah in the presence of Imam Ahson Syed at the King Fahad Mosque in Los Angeles in the first week of Ramadan 1445.

Jon Smith is renowned for having pioneered and popularized a genre within rap music called “crunk”. Born in Atlanta, his father an engineer and his mother a medic with the military, Smith began his career as a teenager in the early 1990s. Between 1995 and 2005 he was the frontman of a band and was famed for a particularly energetic brand of song. Smith has also dabbled in television: he worked with the comedian Dave Chapelle, another Muslim. Outside of the entertainment industry, he has also involved himself in charity work, opening two schools for underprivileged children in Ghana with the charity Pencils of Promise.

In his conversion, Smith joins the likes of “Mos Def” Yasiin Bey and “Philadelphia Freeway” Leslie Pridgen, who were introduced to and accepted Islam in their respective teens. Pridgen has publicly acknowledged the friction between the music industry and his religion, though he remains involved in both. It is yet to be seen how, if at all, Smith’s conversion impacts his public life.

Given his fame, the news of Smith’s conversion was widely celebrated by Muslims. Tarik Wardell, an Islamic proselytizer who runs the Arrows of Guidance outlet, noted the extent of Allah’s guidance: “It’s absolutely amazing to see Allah’s promise coming to fruition. No amount of our sins can prevent us from God’s mercy.”

Wardell’s namesake Tareq Tamr, director of the Thabaat organization in Michigan, linked the frequency of conversions in part to the resilience of Palestinians facing genocide at Israel’s hands in Gaza, whose perseverance and humanity provoked admiration and showed a genuine face of Islam. “Lil Jon casually walked into a mosque and became Muslim today. Everyone who frequents mosques has witnessed shahadahs in the past few weeks,” he observed, adding, “Islam’s marketing campaign was Gazans responding to a genocide forced upon them. Islam speaks to people at the core of who they are: their fitra, their natural disposition.”

Filmmaker Abdisalam Aato added a lighter note: “Welcome to Islam Lil Yahya.”

On his social media, the singer responded to Muslim reception to the news with a graphic reading, “Thank you so much brothers and sisters for the outpouring of love and positivity”, with the caption “Alhamdulillah”.

Related:

– Prominent Social Justice Activist Shaun King Embraces Islam

– Exclusive: Stephen Jackson Discusses His Journey to Islam