The National Basketball Association’s all-time leading scorer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won six championships and was named its most valuable player six times. He played for 20 seasons in the league.

Abdul-Jabbar spoke to Al Jazeera and told why he became a Muslim:

“The transition from Lew Alcindor to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was not merely a change in celebrity brand name, like Sean Combs to Puff Daddy, but a transformation of heart, mind and soul. I became a Muslim more than 40 years ago, I’m still defending that choice.”

Kareem Abdul Jabbar says he was raised into a Catholic family, and he attended a Catholic school with priests and nuns as a kid. He was first introduced to Islam while he was a freshman at UCLA, that was when he began to study the Quran. In 1971, when he was 24, he chose Islam and took the name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (meaning “the noble one, servant of the Almighty”).

Kareem Abdul Jabbar says he has always been fulfilled with his decision to convert to Islam. He speaks: “Part of my conversion to Islam is accepting the responsibility to teach others about my religion, not to convert them but to co-exist with them through mutual respect, support and peace.”

The Americ

The American  footballer Dominique Easley announced about his decision becoming a Muslim on his social network accounts. His fans express support with their messages.

Easley wrote about his decision to become a Muslim, "Many things happened in my life, and I've been lost for 22 yrs. Today I've found my guidance to paradise. #AllahuAkbar."

Born in April 1992, Dominique Easley plays for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). 

Cuba Communist Party has allowed a religious sanctuary to be constructed in the western province of Pinar del Rio for the first time after the 1959 revolution.  The Catholic Church will be the first sanctuary and a mosque and synagogue will be built as well. The new church represents a mending of relations between the Catholic Church and Cuban government.

The bishop of Pinar del Rio has said that the church will be named "Parroquia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesus" and will cover 200 square meters. Around 36,000 people live in the town, and many are practicing Catholics.

Cuban media published that other religious sanctuaries will also be built after the church. There have been demands made by Turkey, Russia and Israel and Cuba is expected to prioritize the wishes of these countries.

During his Latin America tour, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan talked to Prime Minister Raul Castro about the desire to build a mosque in Cuba and Castro expressed he was in favor of a mosque to be built.

National radio station of Germany, Radio Deutschland started a program with the title “The Quran tells” on 6^th March 2015, at which Quran is read and a Muslim scholar explains the meaning in further detail.

Four million Muslims live in Germany, including 220,000 in Berlin alone.

“It is a Book We have sent down to you, full of blessing, so let people of intelligence ponder its Signs  and take heed.” (Surah Sad, 29)

The public broadcaster Yle of Finland announced that the Qur’an will be read at their channel into half our segments cover to cover.

Yle intends to increase people’s knowledge of the Qur’an and Muslim culture in Finland, as published in its website. Professor Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila, who translated Qur’an into Finnish, says he will be very happy to hear his translation read aloud available to whole nation.

Finland has population of 5.4 millioon people, and 60,000 of the population is Muslims.

 In his interview granted to La Dernière Heure newspaper, Prince Laurent of Belgium said, “Arabic is a fascinating language. I read the Qur’an and I encourage my kids to learn this language.”

Prince Laurent says, "Arabic is a very rich language. I learned to read Arabic at some point, without understanding it. What is interesting with this language, compared to another, and I am passionate about this, is that when you learn Arabic, you know the mentality of people. The construction and the creation of this language is extraordinarily rich and it fascinates me."

Prince Laurent explains the reason behind his attraction for the Arabic language, "I immensely enjoyed the friendship of a Muslim lady, she was fabulous, I had great conversations with her and the language she speaks drew me to learn the Arabic language and to the Qur’an.” Prince Laurent wishes to pass his passion for Arabic to his children as well, he expresses that his children will be learning Arabic with home tutoring. "My children also learned calligraphy. They have many friends from the Arabic-speaking countries. Princess Claire did not learn Arabic but she is also very happy that they are learning Arabic.”  

The research conducted by RTL Radio of France indicates that following the Charlie Hebdo attack which occurred in January, there have been more conversions to Islam at the mosques in Paris, Lyon and Strasbourg.

In January 2015, the Grand Mosque of Paris issued 40 certificates for new French Muslims. Over the same period last year, this number reduced by half. This also applies to the news coming from the mosques in Strasbourg, Aubervilliers, and Lyon as well.

RTL Radio interviews Eloise, who is a new Muslim in Paris. This 18 year old girl decided to become a Muslim one month after the terrorist attack in France. She says, "It makes me want to go to Islam and show the whole world that Islam is not how they want to present it.

" The Imams of mosques in France are astonished by the increase in the number of new followers as well as by the diversity of their profiles. In Paris, a doctor, a school principal or a police officer, entered the Grand Mosque to become Muslims.

The map of the United States which indicates Muslim community. 

Christianity is by far the largest religion in the United States; and Islam comes right after Christianity.

In 20 states, mostly in the Midwest and South, Islam is the largest non-Christian faith tradition. This data comes from the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, which conducts a U.S. Religion Census every 10 years.

Russia’s state radio channel RaidoMayak published Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech following his meeting with French President Hollande and German Prime Minister Merkel:

“Our brothers and sisters in Russia who believe in the same God but follow different sects say: ‘If we turn to God, all the problems will disappear.’ God helps those who help Him. We pray to God and strive for it. We can achieve anything if we work all together for our country.” 

Lord Harries of Pentregarth, a senior Church of England bishop, says, “Prince Charles’ coronation service should be opened with a reading from the Qur’an.

Speaking in the House of Lords, Lord Harries says that this would be a gesture which will make Muslims feel embraced by the nation. Lord Harries is the former Bishop of Oxford and a leading liberal thinker.

He said that at a civic service in Bristol Cathedral last year authorities had agreed to a reading of the opening passage of the Koran before the beginning of the Christian ritual. He said: ‘It was a brilliant creative act of accommodation that made the Muslims feel warmly embraced.”  

He continues, “These have been the properties that I lacked before. I was short-tempered, erratic and did not know where I belong. Eventually, I sat at home and wondered if all this is true, what I am doing, living in the luxury. Every weekend had no meaning for me. No responsibility, nothing. And what actually comes after retirement?

Blum tells how he decided to become a Muslim, saying that he talked with his friends about religion, thought through, and this was how he chose Islam.

"I have visited a mosque and I immediately felt in my heart. I felt this is something for me and wanted to know more. I did some search on the Internet, read books, and chose a path,” Blum says.

The Russian Orthodox Church was suppressed under communism but has staged an astonishing revival in post-Soviet Russia to become the country’s one of the most powerful institutions.

The symbols of Christianity, Judaism and Islam were available altogether during the event. A speaker explained the history of the adhan (or call to prayer) and people passed around an English translation of the words. 

The news of her announcement becoming a Muslim was also published at the Moroccan newspapers as well.

The first Muslim prayer service ever hosted at Washington's National Cathedral, a landmark Christian church in the US capital on November 14th, 2014. National Cathedral's Rev Canon Gina Campbell organised the service with the support of various Muslim organizations (All Dulles Area Muslim Society, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Islamic Society of North America, Muslim Public Affairs Council and The Nation's Mosque). Rev Campbell welcomed the religious gathering, saying the Washington National Cathedral has been "a place of prayer for all people”. She said, "Let us stretch our hearts and let us seek to deepen mercy for we worship the same God". The South African ambassador to the United States, Ebrahim Rasool, also gave a sermon that preached peace in Islam and religious freedom. The prominent Episcopal cathedral often hosts national events, such as presidential funerals, and has hosted Muslims at various interfaith services in the past, while this has been the first time the cathedral has invited Muslims to lead their own prayers, which is considered as significant for the Muslim-Christian relations.”

The Muslims of Japan gather at Tokyo Mosque built by Turkey and also other mosques. While there were only 2 mosques in Japan in 1970, today, there are more than 200.

The beautiful Tokyo Mosque’s design is based on Ottoman period architecture and it is a center for exhibitions, conferences, karate, calligraphy and other cultural activities as well as being a center where Muslims meet for worshipping. The Muslim community in Japan is about 10 percent of the overall population of Japan.