Kuwaiti singer says she converted to Judaism, with predictable antisemitic responses

Ibtisam Al-Hamid a singer who uses the stage name Basma Al-Kuwaiti, has stunned the Arab world by declaring that she has left Islam and converted to Judaism.

She says, “I am Ibtisam Hamid, who is called the Kuwaiti singer Basma....I proudly announce my conversion to Judaism.”

Hamid is also quoted as saying that Islam does not give women their full rights. Reports say she added, "I also declare my opposition and my non-affiliation with the Al-Sabah [Kuwaiti ruling] family, which rejects normalization, freedom of religion and freedom of opinion."

Newspapers are reporting that she was never a Kuwaiti citizen, even though her mother is Kuwaiti and she was born in Kuwait. She is said to have sought Kuwaiti citizenship and was rejected. Reports also say she no longer lives in Kuwait.

A few years ago Hamid announced that she won a Quran memorization competition in high school. 

Conversion to Judaism is far more involved and time consuming than conversion to Islam, and it is unclear where and when she converted, and which rabbi supervised the conversion. 

The reactions have been furious, with people accusing her of wanting to exhibit her nude body or of never being a proper Muslim to begin with. Some say that this is an attempt to make more money, because, Jews. They are especially stunned because a popular Kuwaiti broadcaster announced his conversion to Christianity last month. He looked notably worse not long afterwards, apparently not prepared for the vicious reactions he received. 

Across the Arab world there have been other reactions. Dr. Amna Naseer, a professor of faith and philosophy at Al-Azhar University in Egypt, said that deviating from Islam is a “psychological disease: and blamed Islamic extremism for misrepresenting Islam. (She has previously blamed Islamic extremism on...Jews.)

Another artist, Ahmed Fluks, after saying that she knows nothing about Islam, added, “The religion of Judaism is that they are scattered on the ground and they are lost in the earth.  The Jews are the ones that crucified Jesus and tortured him. The Jews are the ones who kill in the babies of Palestine - and you claim that Islam is terrorist?"

---

---