Former United Kingdom prime minister Tony Blair’s sister-in-law has converted to Islam after having what she describes as a “holy experience” during a visit to Iran.
Journalist and broadcaster Lauren Booth (43) — Cherie Blair’s sister — now wears a hijab whenever she leaves her home, prays five times a day and visits her local mosque often.
She decided to become a Muslim after visiting the shrine of Fatima al-Masumeh in the city of Qom.
“It was a Tuesday evening and I sat down and felt this shot of spiritual morphine, just absolute bliss and joy,” she said in an interview.
When she returned to Britain, she decided to convert immediately.
Booth, who works for Press TV, the English-language Iranian news channel, has stopped eating pork and drinking alcohol.
She reads the Qur’an every day.
Before her spiritual awakening in Iran, she had been “sympathetic” to Islam and had spent considerable time working in Palestine, she said.
She hopes her conversion will help Blair change his presumptions about Islam. —