Video showing sea of hajj pilgrims at Mount Arafat is AI-generated
- Published on June 1, 2026 at 08:55
- 2 min read
- By AFP Malaysia
Huge numbers of Muslims defied searing desert temperatures to pray on Mount Arafat at the climax of the hajj pilgrimage, but video purportedly showing a sea of worshippers at the site is AI-generated. The video is inconsistent with footage filmed by news organisations including AFP, and Mount Arafat's landscape, and was also flagged as synthetic by AI detection software.
The video appearing to show drone footage of a sea of people in white garments in the desert was shared on Facebook on May 26, 2026.
"The most beautiful sight in the world. An ocean of people fills the plains of Arafah," says part of its Malay-language caption, referring to prayers performed in Saudi Arabia's Arafat plain on the second day of hajj.
The same clip was also shared in similar Malay Facebook and TikTok posts, and also circulated in Indonesia as the annual hajj pilgrimage reached its climax with huge numbers of Muslims praying on Mount Arafat in Saudi Arabia (archived link).
From daybreak, thousands of white-robed worshippers recited Quranic verses on the 70-metre (230 feet) rocky hill near Mecca, where the Prophet Mohammed is believed to have delivered his last sermon.
The faithful then converged on Muzdalifah to spend the night praying under the open sky, before collecting pebbles and setting off for Mina to carry out the symbolic stoning of the devil.
But the circulating video does not show the pilgrims at Mount Arafat.
The footage is inconsistent with photo and video of the ritual taken by AFP and other news agencies.
The crowd appears uniform and none of the worshippers are holding umbrellas, as many are shown doing in an AFP photo.
Footage filmed by AFP and other news agencies, such as the Associated Press and Reuters, also do not resemble the falsely shared clip (archived here, here and here).
Moreover, the landscape in the circulating clip does not match the hilly terrain of Mount Arafat, and the surrounding temporary tents set up for worshippers, along with government offices and hospitals visible on Google Maps are also not present (archived link).
An analysis of the clip using Google's SynthID detector found that "all or part" of it was created using the tech company's AI tools (archived link).
AFP has previously debunked other misinformation surrounding the hajj pilgrimage.
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