Wayne Parnell converted to Islam in 2011, five years before he got married to Aisha Baker
A collage of images is being shared on social media claiming that South African cricketer Wayne Parnell, after studying Islam for a very long time had recently converted to Islam along with his family. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: South African cricketer Wayne Parnell recently converted to Islam along with his family.
Fact: South Africa left-arm seamer Wayne Parnell converted to Islam in 2011, five years before he get married to Aisha Baker in 2016. Wayne Parnell did change his name to Waleed Wayne Parnell after converting to Islam. Wayne Parnell and his wife Aisha Baker were blessed with a boy in 2018 and a girl in 2021. The photo shared in the post was shared by Wayne Parnell in May 2022. Wayne Parnell converted to Islam five years before his marriage. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When we searched to check whether South Africa cricketer Wayne Parnell had converted to Islam, we found that Wayne Parnell had converted to Islam in July 2011. Several sports and news websites published articles reporting this information in 2011. They can be seen here and here. Confirming his conversion to Islam, Wayne Parnell told the media, “I converted to Islam in January 2011, after a period of personal study and reflection and it is a faith that I have always been interested in”. Wayne Parnell changed his name to Waleed Wayne Parnell after converting to Islam.
Wayne Parnell married Aisha Baker in May 2016. A few pictures from Wayne Parnell and Aisha Baker’s wedding ceremony can be seen here and here. Waleed Wayne Parnell and Aisha Baker were blessed with a baby boy in May 2018 and named him Khalid. The couple was blessed with a second child in July 2021.
Wayne Parnell shared this family picture shown in the post on 03 May 2022. From all these pieces of evidence, it can be concluded that Wayne Parnell converted to Islam in 2011, before having a family.
To sum it up, South Africa left-arm seamer Wayne Parnell converted to Islam in 2011, five years before he got married to Aisha Baker.