If true and that is a big IF, perhaps he did it to gain access to Mecca and other Islamic circles. No one but a Muslim can enter Mecca/Medina. In Saudi Arabia, they issue special identification, an igama, that identifies one’s religion. It is checked at all entry points to Mecca/Medina.
I wish I knew how to post pictures here. Took a snap from an embassy Scottsdale of the “toll plaza” at the entrance to Mecca (or Makkah as they spell it). There is a big green sign in English and Arabic, saying “Moslems Only Beyond This Point.” The “toll booth” is manned by members of the Saudi Arabian National Guard. There is an off-ramp just before the toll booth that we called “The Christian Bypass.”