Video shows mass celebration of Prophet's birthday in Yemen, not Russia

This article is more than one year old.
Published on October 22, 2022 at 05:49
Updated on October 22, 2022 at 05:57
3 min read
By AFP Indonesia

A video has been viewed more than a million times after it was shared in social media posts that falsely claim it shows a mass gathering of Muslims celebrating the Prophet Mohammed's birthday in Russia. In reality, the video was taken during the celebration of the Prophet's birthday in Yemen's capital Sanaa in 2021.

The two-minute 41-second video was posted on TikTok here on October 1, 2022, where it has racked up more than 862,000 views.

It shows aerial views of thousands of people gathering outdoors, with an audio of an Islamic Arabic chant praising the Prophet Mohammed playing throughout the clip.

"Russia holds celebration of Prophet Mohammed's birthday," reads the Indonesian-language text superimposed in the centre of the video.

Text above and below the clip says: "Breaking news", "Russian Muslims" and "Festive celebration of the Prophet's birthday in Russia !!!"

The post's caption repeats the claim about the Prophet's birthday celebration in Russia.

Screenshot of the false post, taken on October 21, 2022

The video circulated days before Muslims in Indonesia celebrated the Prophet's birthday, which fell on October 8, 2022.

The clip has been viewed more than 513,000 times after it was posted alongside a similar claim on Facebook here and here, on YouTube here and here, and on video-sharing app SnackVideo here.

However, the claim is false.

Celebration in Yemen

A combination of reverse image and keyword searches found the clip corresponds to this video, posted on the YouTube channel of Al Masirah, a news channel belonging to Yemen's Houthi rebels, on October 20, 2021.

Translated from Arabic to English, the video's title reads: "The majestic scenes from the Prophet's birthday at the entrances of Al Sabeen Square in the capital #Sanaa 03-13-1443."

The YouTube post also includes Arabic hashtags "Prophet's birthday" and "Sanaa".

Al Sabeen Square is located in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa.

The date "03-13-1443" refers to the 13th day of the third month of year 1443 of the Islamic Hijri calendar -- which is October 19, 2021 on the Gregorian calendar.

Below are screenshot comparisons of the video in one of the false posts (left) and the genuine video from Al Masirah (right):

Screenshot comparisons of the video in the false post (left) and the genuine video from Al Masirah (right)

Same scenes from the footage also appear in this video report about the Prophet's birthday celebration in Yemen, published by Turkish media TRT World on its YouTube channel on October 19, 2021.

"Thousands of people in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, flocked to the city's main square to celebrate the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad," the female newscaster partly says in the TRT World video. "The event was organised by the Houthi group that currently controls the city."

The video in the false posts, as well as in the Al Masirah and TRT World clips, shows three giant green banners with different Arabic writings.

They read: "The wisdom is Yemenite", "Prophet Mohammed" and "The faith is Yemenite".

Google Maps imagery of Al Sabeen Square in Sanaa corresponds with the scenes in the clips, with Al Saleh Mosque, Yemen's largest mosque, also visible in the background.

Tens of thousands of Yemenis gather in Al Sabeen Square every year to celebrate the Prophet's Birthday, including in 2019, 2020 and 2022.

A 2019 video of the Prophet's birthday celebration in Sanaa previously circulated with a false claim that it shows millions of Indian Muslims protesting a ruling party official's anti-Muslim remark in June 2022 -- which AFP has debunked here.

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