Old Video of Muslims Offering Namaz on Streets of France Revived

The video from Clichy-la-Garenne Town Hall, in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, could be traced back to 2017.

Fact Check of Muslims Offering Namaz in France: An old video from France’s Clichy showing Muslims offering prayers on the roadside has been revived to falsely claim that it’s a recent one.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

An old video which claims to show disruptions while Muslims offer prayers in France on the roadside is being shared on social media. However, we traced the video back to 2017 and establish that the video is from Clichy-la-Garenne Town Hall, in the northwestern suburbs of Paris.

CLAIM

The claim along with the video reads: “फ्रांस मे मुस्लिमो को नमाज पढ़ते हुए कैसे परेशान किया जा रहा है. धर्म कोई भी मगर ये गलत है”

(Translated: In France, how Muslims are facing troubles while offering namaz. Irrespective of religion, this is wrong.)

The video uploaded by ‘Only Famous Things here’ had garnered nearly two lakh views and 3,000 shares at the time of publishing the article.

You can view the archived version here.(Source: Facebook/ Screenshot)

Several social media users on Twitter and Facebook followed suit and shared the video with the same claim.

You can view the archived version here.(Source: Twitter/ Screenshot)

You can view the archived version here.(Source: Facebook/ Screenshot)

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

We divided the video into multiple keyframes using InVid and reverse searched them on Yandex. This led us to a YouTube video that was uploaded in 2018 mentioning that Muslims were offering namaz on the streets.

With relevant keyword searches, we found another YouTube video uploaded in 2018 that mentioned that the viral video is from France.

LOCATION OF THE VIDEO

We found a video uploaded by Ruptly in March 2017 and matched its frames with that of the viral video to ascertain the location. The Ruptly video identifies the location as Clichy-la-Garenne Town Hall, in the northwestern suburbs of Paris.

It mentions that Muslims had gathered in the location to offer Friday prayers in public, to protest the closure of a local mosque.

Left: Viral video. Right: 2017 Ruptly video.(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A set of comparisons established that the video was taken in front of Credit Mutuel bank.

Left: Viral video. Right: 2017 Ruptly video.(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Further, we found images uploaded in 2017 on Getty Images of the city hall of Clichy and could see the same buildings in the background as the viral video.

Left: Viral video. Right: Photo uploaded by Getty Images.(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

We also traced the location on Google Earth and found that the video is indeed from the city hall of Clichy.

Left: Viral video. Right: Google street view.(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

We noticed the same building in the viral video and the Google street view.

Left: Viral video. Right: Google street view.(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

WHEN IS THE VIDEO FROM?

With relevant keywords searches, we found a tweet shared by writer and YouTuber Majid Oukacha in October 2017 which mentioned that several Muslims had gathered in the said city hall.

(Source: Twitter/ Screenshot)

We compared the visuals of the viral video and the images tweeted in 2017 and found the same blue chair, blue mat and positioning of the people offering prayers.

Left: Viral video. Right: Tweet uploaded in 2017.(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

While the visuals could be traced back to 2017, The Quint has not independently verified the exact month of the same. However, it can be established that the video is not a recent one.

Evidently an old video from France’s Clichy showing Muslims offering prayers on the roadside has been revived to falsely claim that it’s a recent one.

(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at [e-mail] and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)