Shortly after cameras shot pictures of the famous French singer Diam's wearing the hijab, she announced that she has embraced Islam. The 32-year-old rap artist whose real name is Melanie Georgiades is known for her charismatic personality and strong, moving voice and has been one of France's best selling rapper. In 2006, she catapulted to fame with her album “In My Bubble” which criticized discrimination, poverty and other social ills in France. It was the country's biggest hit of the year, with more than a million copies sold, and Diam's won an MTV Europe Music Award for best French act. Diam's appeared in an exclusive interview on the French television station TF1 and said that her conversion to Islam was the result of a personal conviction, after much reflection, understanding the religion, and reading the Qur'an. “In the height of success I suffered from a major depression and visited different psychologists, but none of them could help me. Modern medicine was not able to heal my soul, so I turned to religion,” she says in her book. At the young age of 15 years, Diam's attempted to commit suicide when her Catholic parents were going through a traumatic divorce. Her conversion to Islam served as a respite and escape from the stressful and hectic world of fame and entertainment. Along with her success as a singer came much inner turmoil as she searched desperately for inner peace, serenity, spirituality, and knowledge. She suffered periods of silence, depression, and social withdrawal until she finally found the answers to her questions and a solution to her emotional problems in Islam. What other people and the luxuries of this world could not offer, Islam offered her. “I did not find happiness and contentment in my fame, popularity, and wealth but I found it in Islam,” said Diam's. Diam's said that Islam was first introduced to her by coincidence when she saw a Muslim friend praying. Diam's continues to sing but her career will now take a different angle. Her soon to be released album entitled “Children of the Desert” is her first album since her conversion to Islam. It aims to shed light on the hunger and poverty of children in Africa, and it speaks out against war, racism, and injustice. It is so true that Islam is for peoples of all ages, races, ethnicities, backgrounds, social classes, and financial ranks. Statistics reveal that the number of Muslims in France is steadily growing with 3,500 people each year embracing Islam. Islamic organizations reported that there are currently 70,000 French individuals who have converted to Islam in France.
