Photos show Ramadan night prayers at huge Moroccan mosque in 2013, not 2023
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on April 16, 2023 at 08:21
- 2 min read
- By AFP Pakistan
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The two photos, made into a collage, were published on Facebook on March 27, 2023. The post has been shared 1,400 times.
The collage's Urdu-language caption translates to English as: "Last night 800,000 people joining their shoulders offered tarawih prayer (for Ramadan) at Hassan II mosque in the Moroccan city of Casablanca.
"This is the largest mosque in Africa, a beautiful mosque. In Islamic worship, rich, poor, old, young, black and white play an equal role so that a wall is made from the bricks provided by the Koran."
The post circulated online in Muslim-majority Pakistan during the holy month of Ramadan, when prayers mark the start and finish of 14 hours of daily fasting.
The caption, however, hugely exaggerates the number of worshippers that can be accommodated at Casablanca's Hassan II mosque, one of the largest in Africa.
Designed by French architect Michel Pinseau, the mosque -- which has a minaret spiralling 210 metres -- can actually only accommodate 105,000 worshippers, AFP has reported.
According to the US-based travel site Lonely Planet, this includes 25,000 people inside the religious building and the rest in the outside courtyards.
The same photos were also published here, here and here on Facebook; and here, here and here on Twitter alongside a similar claim.
But the photos, originally captured by a Reuters photographer, are old. They were published by the US-based news agency here and here in 2013.
They were taken on Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Destiny), a high point during Ramadan which Muslims believe to be when the Koran was revealed to the Prophet Mohammed.
The caption reads: "The faithful pray on the esplanade of the Hassan II Mosque on Laylat al-Qadr during the holy month of Ramadan, in Casablanca early August 5, 2013.
"Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Decree) is the anniversary of the night Muslims believe the Koran was revealed to Prophet Mohammad by the angel Gabriel. REUTERS/Stringer."
Below are screenshot comparisons of the photos in the false posts (left) and the original photos (right):
As of April 15, 2023, AFP has found no official reports of such a large group of worshippers gathering at the mosque to mark Ramadan this year.
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