Sunita Williams did not accept Islam

My Muslim brother will be very happy after watching above news. But this is not true. This is a hoax. It has been claimed on various websites, blogs, forums, and in chain e-mails/mass SMS texts, that Sunita Williams had converted from Hinduism to Islam on her return from the moon.

Here are a few examples of the claims being made:

1/ "Sunita Williams (First Indian woman who went on a space journey few months back) accepted “ISLAM” Masha Allah, bcoz when they were on the moon, they saw towards EARTH, the entire EARTH looked dark, but 2 places on the EARTH GLITERED & looked like SPARKS (Roshni). They were shocked to see that and saw them with the help of telescope and came to know that those two places were “MAKKAH” and “MADINAH” Masha Allah!. Then they decided that after reaching to earth they’ll accept “ISLAM”. So be proud u’r a muslim. Allah Hafiz…!"

2/ "Sunita Williams, the 1st indian lady who went to the moon on 02/07/2007 said that from the moon, the whole earth looked very black and dark, except the two places which were bright and shining when she saw through the telescope. These places were MAKKAH & MADINA (Saudi Arabia). Also, at the moon all the frequencies failed but still she could listen to the AZAAN..s'allah"

3/ "Encouragin news for Muslims....Sunita Williams the woman who went in space has converted to Islam because when they were in space the entire Earth appeared dark but only two places on Earth appeared like sparks. With telescopic view they identified the two places as MAKKAH and MADINAH and resolved to accept Islam upon reaching the Earth. Alhamdulillah the almighty brought them back safely, so subhanallah, be proud to be a Muslim."

Sunita Williams went to the International Space Station, not to the moon. The last moon landing (Apollo 17) was on December 7, 1972 and Eugene Cernan is, to date, the last person to have walked on the Moon.

She is also not the "first Indian woman who went on a space journey". The Indian-American astronaut, Kalpana Chawla, was the first woman of Indian ethnicity to fly in space.

The claims state that they decided, upon returning to earth, they would accept Islam. However, when setting off toward the International Space Station, Williams had taken with her a copy of the Bhagavad Gita and a small statue of Lord Ganesha, and following her return to earth on June 22, 2007, she showed no signs of having converted to Islam. In fact, she claimed Lord Ganesha, not Allah, was looking after her. Williams fondly recalled taking a copy of Bhagvad Gita and an idol of Lord Ganesha along with her to the space station and took tense moments in her stride. "I knew Ganesha was looking after me," she said.

More than three months later in an October 2007 interview with India Today, nothing had changed, and she reiterated her desire to go to the moon. Up in space, the Gita and Ganesha were what kept me grounded. They put life in perspective," says Sunita Williams in her India Today interview.

So it is very clear that it is a hoax. Finally, I will request all the Muslim brothers and Sisters to stop sending this kind of wrong information to others. Please check the information before sending it to others.As a Muslim, we should beware from this kind of information.