On social media, a video from Masjid has gone viral. While sharing the video users claim that “In the sermon delivered by Maulana on Fridays after Namaaz in Madina Mosque of Saudi Arabia, Maulana was criticizing the policies of Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman that he is allowing women to enter stadiums and is giving relaxation on hijab, this is wrong. Then see how the policemen dragged him away.” (Translated in English)
Moreover, several users shared this video and made similar claims. The link can be seen here, here and here
Fact Check
During the investigation, DFRAC found that the claim was false. We found multiple media reports regarding this news. According to ‘Akhbaar24’ carrying the same image published on March, 2018 “This video is from the Jabriya Mosque, Yanbu in Saudi Arabia. It also carried a quote of the official spokesperson of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Call and Guidance in the Medina region, Majid Al-Muhammadi, who stated that this video shows a “mentally unstable” person being escorted out by the security personnel.”
Furthermore, we also found a media report from ‘AlRiyadh’ published on 02 March, 2018 stating “Madinah Police issued a statement about the sick person who delivered the Friday sermon in Yanbu Governorate before he was forcibly removed from the pulpit, confirming that he was handed over to his family for treatment and care.”
Conclusion
It is evident from the DFRAC’s fact check that the viral video is from 2018 and does not depict an Imam being arrested for criticizing the policies of Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Therefore, the claim of social media users is misleading.
