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MANAMA ? World?s top pop singer Michael Jackson, who recently settled down in Manama has donated a huge amount of money, the figure was not disclosed, for building a state-of-the-art mosque near his luxury palace in the Bahraini capital, according to his spokesman. The proposed mosque would be designated for learning the principles and teachings of Islam, as well as teaching of English language, for which high-standard teachers would be brought from United States under his personal supervision, the spokesman said. Jackson did so as a token of appreciation to the Bahraini people, who welcomed him and treated him as if he was one of the citizens of their country. Michael Jackson has moved to reside in Manama after the long-judicial battle, which ended up with being acquitted of the charges of child molestation. The court hearings were followed up by news agencies for many months, and the number of reporters who attended and covered them was estimated at more than 2000 from all countries in the world. It is noteworthy that Germain Jackson, the brother of Michael had embraced Islam at the beginning of 1990s, and he was one of former Jackson Five band and the solo singer Germain had felt his brother Michael has great interest and study of Islamic books, the tolerance of Islam and his dealing with Arab and Muslim personalities since long years. The most prominent among those figures is Prince Al Waleed bin Talal and the Bahraini royal family.

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American pop icon announces intention to convert to Islam, according to sources in Bahrain By Roee Nahmias   American pop star Michael Jackson has officially announced that he has been following the five tenets of Islam and intends to convert to Islam, according to a report on the website of Arab-Israeli newspaper Panorama. The report is based on information elicited from sources in Bahrain. According to the report, Jackson?s announcement noted he is moving to Bahrain and has purchased some real-estate on an artificial island there. The singer said he decided to convert to Islam because he is convinced it is the closest religion to his personal beliefs. Jackson also noted he intends to soon move all his assets and his studio from the U.S. to Bahrain, and expressed his hope to be rid of various legal troubles and enjoy the kind of freedom he says he does not have in America. Notably, if the reports are correct Jackson would not be the first member of his family to make the move to Islam. His brother, Jermaine, who moved to the Gulf nation of Dubai, is also a convert. According to the sources, Jermaine was the one to provide his famous brother with books about Islam and encouraged him to convert. The report says the pop star read the books and even added his comments on some pages. Jackson was the center of recent controversy after it was reported that he referred to Jews as ?leeches? in a phone message to a former business partner.   Referring to Jews, Jackson was heard saying that "they're like leeches?I'm so tired of it?They start out the most popular person in the world, make a lot of money, big house, cars and everything. End up penniless. It is a conspiracy. The Jews do it on purpose."