American author Shaun King and his wife convert to Islam

Renowned American author and activist Shaun King and his wife Rai King have embrached Islam, it emrged on Monday.

The video of the couple reciting the shahada, a testament of faith, went viral on social media.

US-based professor Khaled Bedouyn shared the live broadcast on his Instagram account, which shows Shaun King donning the keffiyeh while repeating the shahada led by a prominent religious scholar, Omar Suleiman, who is originally from Palestine.

Prior to converting to Islam, King identified as a devout Christian.

A vocal advocate for the Palestine cause, the American activist faced censorship on social media after his Instagram handle was banned by Meta for sharing videos and pictures from Gaza. 

44-year-old Shaun, known for his online activism on issues like Black Lives Matter, lost his 5 million-strong following on Instagram after criticising Israeli genocide in Gaza.

“Frustrated that Instagram has banned me for fighting for Palestine, and speaking up for the human rights and dignity of Palestinians, but I refuse to betray my values and principles by staying silent about this genocide and the war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

Despite remaining banned from Instagram after Meta denied his appeal, Shaun King continues to advocate for Gaza and raise funds for victims of the Israeli genocide through his Facebook account.