Rima Fakih was believed to be the first Muslim American to become Miss USA when she won the title back in 2010. Now, multiple media outlets are reporting that the beauty queen recently converted to Christianity.
Fakih purportedly converted last month — an act she reportedly took as she prepares to marry music producer Wassim Salibi next week; Salibi is a Maronite Christian, according to Christian Today.
While the beauty queen has not spoken out to overtly confirm the conversion claim, she told Religion News Service in a 2010 interview that, despite being a Muslim, her family is more “spiritual” than anything else.
“Religion really doesn’t define me or my family. My family’s been very liberal, and we appreciate all different kinds of religions,” she said. “I consider myself to be blessed. I have a family that is a mix of different religions and different ethnicities.”
Fakih, who reportedly attended Catholic school as a youth and who celebrated both Muslim and Christian holidays, said at the time that her brother-in-law is a Christian and that he and her sister baptized their kids. Likewise, her uncle converted to Christianity and became a priest.
“My family is Muslim. But none of this ever came up in our family,” Fakih continued. “We don’t look at religion as something that defines us, we look at religion as something that we respect, and something that teaches us about ethics.”
Fakih shared a verse on Twitter on March 30 from Philippians, a book in the New Testament. Citing chapter 4, verse 13, she wrote, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
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