Michael Jackson has converted to Islam
LONDON: Pop singer Michael Jackson has converted to Islam and changed his name to Mikaeel
The 50-year-old star, pledged his allegiance to the Koran in a ceremony at a friend's mansion in Los Angeles, the Sun reported.
Jackson sat on the floor wearing a tiny hat after an Imam was summoned to officiate -- days before the singer is due to appear at London's High Court where he is being sued by an Arab Sheik, the paper said.
The star decided to adopt the new religion while he was recording a song at the home of his friend where a Jehovah's witness was brought up to help him through the ceremony.
Apparently the star of hits like 'the Way You Make Me Feel-was convinced by his producer and songwriter friends David Wharnsby and Phillip Bubal.
"They began talking to him about their beliefs, and how they thought they had become better people after they converted. Michael soon began warming to the idea.
"An Imam was summoned from the mosque and Michael went through the shahada, which is the Muslim declaration of belief," the source revealed.
Mikaeel is the name of one of Allah's angels. "Jacko rejected an alternative name, Mustafa meaning "the chosen one", the source added.
The singer, who rarely ventures out without a mask, is due to give evidence on Monday in a 4.7 million pound lawsuit brought by Prince Abdulla Al-Khalif of Bahrain for defaulting on an exclusive recording contract.
Michael Jackson vs 2nd Son of King of Bahrain
Lawyer: Michael Jackson may be too sick to travel
11/18/2008 11:00 AM, AP
Michael Jackson might be too sick to travel to London to testify in a suit claiming he owes an Arab sheik $7 million, the pop star's attorney said Tuesday.
Jackson is seeking to give his testimony by video link from the United States.
"It would be unwise for him to travel, given what's he's got now," lawyer Robert Englehart said, declining to elaborate "for the obvious reasons."
A lawyer for Sheik Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa said the medical evidence presented by Jackson's legal team was unsatisfactory.
"It's not the first time a sick note has been presented by Mr. Jackson," the lawyer, Bankim Thanki said. He gave no precise indication of what the illness might be, but told the court that Jackson's condition could be treated with a bandage "if the diagnosis is positive."
Jackson has often been seen wearing a surgical mask in public. In one infamous court appearance in California, he appeared to have a bandage hanging from his hollowed-out nose.
Despite much speculation about his radically changed appearance over the years, he has denied having had any alterations to his face other than two operations on his nose to help him breathe better to hit higher notes.
The judge in the current case, Nigel Sweeney, said he would decide the question of Jackson's travel on Thursday to allow time for medical experts on both legal teams to talk.
Al Khalifa, the second son of the king of Bahrain, claims that Jackson reneged on a contract for an album, a candid autobiography and a stage play, after accepting millions from the sheik.
Al Khalifa was in court Tuesday for the second day of arguments and testimony.
The case is being tried in London by mutual agreement, Al Khalifa's representatives have said, and it is expected to close by the end of the month.
Jackson, 50, and the Bahraini royal first made contact when Jackson was fending off accusations of child molestation in California. Once Jackson was cleared of the charges, Al Khalifa, an amateur songwriter, invited him to the small, oil-rich Gulf state to escape the media spotlight.
Thanki said that the pair even moved in to the same palace to work on music together.
However, Jackson dropped the project in 2006, leaving Bahrain and pulling out of the contract, a move Al Khalifa considered a slap in the face, Thanki said.
"It's fair to say my client felt a considerable sense of betrayal by someone he thought was a close friend," he said. Thanki said Al Khalifa suffered financially too: Jackson's autobiography, intended to be "a frank and personal account" of the singer's life, was alone expected to rack up $24 million.
In the meanwhile, Al Khalifa had given Jackson millions of dollars to help shore up his finances and subsidize Jackson's lifestyle in the small Gulf state — including more than $300,000 for a "motivational guru."
Thanki said Al Khalifa considered the money an advance on the profits Jackson would reap from their pop music project, but Englehart said the money was a gift.
"Sheik Abdulla, fortunately for himself, had the resources to be so generous," Englehart said.
Englehart argued that Jackson wasn't bound by the deal he struck because the contract was technically signed on behalf of 2 Seas Records, a venture which never got off the ground.
"This (contract) was one brick in a building that was never built," Englehart said.
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Michael Jackson has reached an out-of-court settlement with the son of the King of Bahrain over a £4.7m lawsuit, and will not attend court in London today, his spokeswoman said last night.
Jackson was scheduled to take the witness box at the Royal Courts of Justice in London this afternoon to give evidence in the case against Sheikh Abdulla bin Hamad al-Khalifa, who claimed Jackson owed him the money.
The spokeswoman for the "king of pop" said that a settlement had been agreed in principle. "As Mr Jackson was about to board his plane to London, he was advised by his legal team to postpone his travels, since the parties had concluded a settlement in principle. Therefore, he will not be attending court on Monday," she said.
Jackson's turn at the witness stand had been one of the most eagerly-awaited high court appearances of the year. A limited number of tickets for press and public had been issued. When he spent five months in a US court in 2005, accused of child molestation, hundreds of his followers kept vigil outside, singing his hits and protesting his innocence.
After Jackson was acquitted of the charges in California, the sheikh invited him to come to Bahrain. The sheikh lavished money on him and built a studio which he believed would be used to record albums, using material the sheikh had helped to write. But Jackson pulled out of the deal in May 2006 and has not seen the sheikh since. He was expected to come face to face with the sheikh, who said he believed he had formed "a close personal relationship" with the star.
Sheikh Abdulla claimed that he and Jackson entered into a "combined rights agreement" under which Jackson committed himself to repay $7m spent by the sheikh out of royalties the singer earned from records produced at the Bahrain studios. Jackson insisted there was no valid agreement, and the case was based on "mistake, misrepresentation and undue influence". He said the money paid by the sheikh - on utility bills for his Neverland ranch, accommodation and the legal costs of his criminal trial - was a gift.
Jackson's lawyers had applied for the star to give evidence by video link from Los Angeles because of health fears. But the application was withdrawn after doctors said that Jackson was fit enough to travel.