Summary He decided to convert to Islam 'after spending 30 years in Muslim societies'.
MAKKAH (Web Desk) - British ambassador to Saudi Arabia Simon Collis peformed Hajj this year and became the first senior diplomat to convert to Islam and complete the annual pilgrimage, reported The Independent.
According to Collis, he decided to convert to Islam ‘after spending 30 years in Muslim societies’.
Collis, 60, will continue using his English name instead of adopting a Muslim one.
Pictures of him and his Syrian Muslim wife Huda al-Mujarkech, dressed in the traditional white Ihram garments for the pilgrimage, were posted on Twitter by Fawziah Albakr from the King Saud University, who wrote in Arabic: ‘The first British ambassador to the Kingdom leads the pilgrimage after his conversion to Islam: Simon Collis with his wife Mrs. Huda in Makkah. Praise be to Allah.’
Mr Collis thanked her on Twitter.
Mr Collis wrote on Twitter: ‘May Allah bless you. Briefly, I converted to Islam after 30 years of living in Muslim societies and just before I married Huda.’
A few knew of his conversion until the photo appeared. He marrried Huda in 2011 by which it is understood that he converted to Islam in the same year.
