Jermaine Jackson In Al-Arabiya Interveiw: I Tried To Convert Michael To Islam

Well, as most of you know, this isn't exactly my kind of post - you don't find Michael Jackson or Brittany Spears or Tiger Woods stories here, but this one...well I couldn't resist because first of all, I didn't even know that Jermaine Jackson had converted to Islam and quite frankly, the thought of Michael Jackson having had a concert tour entitled "Moonwalk For The Moongod" just is a bit much to wrap my mind around.

Anyway, here's the transcript of Jermaine Jackson's interview at Al-Arabiya TV on his attempts to convert Michael Jackson to islam from MEMRI:

Jermaine Jackson in Al-Arabiya TV Interview : I Tried to Convert Michael to Islam; The U.S. 'Has a Bit of Dictatorship'


Jermaine Jackson: "[Michael Jackson] was so powerful in success. I just wish he would have embraced Islam. I tried very, very hard [to convert him], because I think that would have been his protection."

[...]

Interviewer: "So was Michael a Muslim at the time he died?"

Jermaine Jackson: "He was studying a lot. His whole protection, his security, were all Muslims. He was ready to make that journey.

[...]

"These major news media outlets are controlled by what is being said. So we look at this country as a democracy, but at the same time it has a bit of dictatorship. They are being told what to say, and 99% of the people believe this stuff.

[...]

"When we were brought as a people from Africa to the States – we were originally Muslims. It was this white slave message that put Christianity on us."

[...]

Interviewer: "After Michael read the books about Islam, what did he tell you?"

Jermaine Jackson: "Well, Michael... I really feel that Michael was looking for that divine feeling. I brought him a lot of books from Saudi Arabia, I brought him books from Bahrain. I brought him books from a lot of mosques in Bahrain. He read them all. I just wish that he would have made that announcement. Maybe he made it in his soul, but at the same time, we want to hear it – because that was my protection, and I felt that would have been his protection as well – Islam."

Interviewer: "He told you that one day you are going to hear it, or one day he will embrace [Islam], or convert? Did he tell you that?"

Jermaine Jackson: "Well, he showed us, by loving that region, and spending a lot of time in that part of the world, and having a lot of friends in that part of the world...

[...]

"I think if the Western world really looked at Islam for what it really is, and stopped trying to put this terrorist word with Muslims and Islam, the world could be a much better place – because this is the most pure religion ever."