British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia
Simon Paul Collis performed Haj this year, confirming earlier reports that he
had accepted Islam, Arab News reported.
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Simon Collis was among the 19,000
British pilgrims performing the ritual this year. Saudi writer and academic
Fawziah Al-Bakr (@fawziah1) posted pictures of him with his wife Huda Mujarkech,
in which he was donning the Ihram.
The ambassador tweeted in reply to
the post thanking Al-Bakr in his Twitter handle (@HMASimonCollis). The
ambassador’s wife (@HudaMCollis) retweeted Al-Bakr’s post.
“I have adapted to Islam after being
in Muslim societies for 30 years, and right before getting married to Huda,”
Arab News quoted him as saying.
The photos went viral on Facebook,
Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram, drawing congratulations from several prominent
figures and CEO of the Council of British Hajis.
Collis, a father of 5 children, has
been British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia since January 2015, when Sir John
Jenkins retired from the diplomatic services. He is fluent in Arabic. He joined
the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1978 and has served mainly
in Arab countries.
He was first posted to Bahrain as
second secretary (1981-1984). He also served as British Ambassador to Iraq
(2012-2014), Syria (2007-2012) and Qatar (2005-2007). He was the British
Consul-General in Dubai (2000-2004) and in Basra (2004-2005). He also served in
New Delhi as first secretary from 1991 to 1994.