By Anmol Alphonso
An old video of four people announcing that they are converting to Islam during a lecture by controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik from May 2016 in Qatar, is being shared with the false claim that it is a recent incident during the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2022.
Naik faces charges of money laundering and hate speech in India and isreportedly set to give religious lectures during the tournament in Qatar. The ongoing FIFA World Cup began on November 20, 2022, and the final is set to be played on December 18, 2022.
The video is being shared with the caption, "4 people taking Shahada after a lecture by Dr Zakir Naik in FIFA World Cup 2022 "
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The same video is also being shared on Twitter with the false claim.
The caption of the tweet reads, "04 people taking Shahada at the hands of Dr. Zakir Naik in FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. And Allah's Deen is the dominant and shall remain so! #FIFAWorldCup"
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Also Read:Video Of Woman Flashing Spectators Is Not From FIFA World Cup 2022 In Qatar
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral video of four people ascending to the stage announcing their conversion to Islam during a lecture titled 'Does God Exist?' by controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik is from May 2016 in Doha, Qatar.
Taking a cue from the tweet replies to the posts with the false claim, we found that the video is six years old and not recent from the ongoing 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Arabic channel Al Jazeera Mubasher live broadcasted Naik's lecture on its Facebook page on May 27, 2016. The caption when translated to English reads, "Four people declare their conversion to Islam in front of the Islamic preacher "Dr. Zakir Naik" after his lecture "Does God Exist?" Watch the live broadcast of the lecture on the website"
We can see the same visuals and sequence of events as in the viral video.
We also found a news report on the same 2016 lecture by Naik reported by Qatar Tribune on May 29, 2016, titled, "Over 13,000 people attend Dr Naik's lecture at Katara". The article states that Naik delivered a lecture titled 'Does God Exist?' at Katara in Doha, Qatar, and claimed that over 13,000 people attended it.
The article also mentions the incident seen in the viral video stating, "After Dr. Zakir concluded his lecture, four people ascended to the stage announcing their conversion to Islam." This matches with the sequence of events we can see in the video that is being falsely shared as a recent incident.
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