Video of Sufi ritual falsely viral as mass sneezing in Nizamuddin
mosque to spread coronavirus infection
Pooja ChaudhuriPratik Sinha
1st April 2020
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Pooja Chaudhuri
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Pratik Sinha
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3.2K
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A video is massively viral on social media with the claim that people
mass sneezed in Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin mosque to spread
coronavirus infection. Below is a Facebook post by one Anita
Saxena which has drawn 24,000 views and 1,700 shares.
The same clip has also been shared on Twitter.
nithin
@nithin42349592
#NizamuddinIdiots they are not idiots like Kanika Kapoor they have
hidden agenda What are they practicing here
Embedded video
174
14:33 - 1 Apr 2020
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127 people are talking about this
Unrelated video of a ritual in Sufism
Alt News found that the video was earlier circulating in the
Pakistani social media ecosystem with the coronavirus claim. This
tweet is from January 30. A YouTube channel from Pakistan
uploaded it a day earlier on January 29. It’s likely that the video is
older because Alt News was unable to trace the original. The first
case of coronavirus in India was reported on January 30.
A further reverse-image search of keyframes of the video led us to
a March 4 tweet in Urdu. The English translation of the text
revealed the words “Sufi madness”.
مساعد المدلج
@MuALmedlij
الحمدلله الذي هدانا للإسلام ولمنهج السلف الصالح ،،
جنون الصوفية كيف يفعل بأتباعه !!
هل يذكرون الله كما يزعمون أم يتبادلون مرض الكورونا بعطاسهم الجماعي
؟!!😊#كورنا #الإسلام_السياسي
Embedded video
112
00:06 - 4 Mar 2020
Twitter Ads information and privacy
200 people are talking about this
During our research, we made certain observations about the clip:
1. It is unlikely that people can voluntarily sneeze together so
rapidly in coordination.
2. It looks like they are loudly inhaling and exhaling air.
Based on this and the above tweet, we performed a Google
search with the keywords ‘Sufi breathing’ which led us to several
videos mentioning the word ‘Zikr’.
The website of Sufi organisation Ansari Qadiri Rifai Tariqa defines
‘zikr’ as a practice where devotees remember God in unison. It can
be performed in several ways including “a traditional order in which
Allah’s Names are mentioned in zikr, and each one is repeated
several, often hundreds of times in unison by the group. Certain
movements, such as swaying back and forth or turning from right
to left, are incorporated into the activity during the intonations, and
are likewise performed in unison. In some tariqas a prayerful
rotation of the whole body, arms extended while pivoting on one
foot, is traditional.”
Below is a video where people can be seen bending back and
forth in a similar manner as in the viral video while chanting ‘Allah’.
Similarly, in the video viral on social media, people are repeatedly
taking Allah’s name. Readers are advised to wear earphones and
listen to the audio in loops, especially post the first 40 seconds.
Speaking with Alt News, Dr Hamid Akbar, a professor of Urdu at
KBN University in Karnataka’s Gulbarga said, “In the main four
silsila (orders) of Sufism such zikr is performed but it’s more
sophisticated than this [viral video]. The sound you hear, is saas ka
zikr or zikr e-anfas which basically means taking Allah’s name with
your breath. If you listen closely, you can hear that they are
chanting ‘Allahu’ [in the video].”
Mosque in the viral video is neither Nizamuddin mosque nor the
Nizamuddin Dargah
Dr Akbar added that he has never seen any ritual, as witnessed in
the viral video, practised in Tablighi Jamaat congregations which
focus mainly on the importance of namaz (Islamic prayers) and roja
(fasting). The Tablighi Jamaat meet is organised in Nizamuddin
mosque which is also known as Tablighi Markaz or Bangle Wali
Masjid.
Qawwalis (Sufi devotional music) are sung in the courtyard of
Nizamuddin Dargah which is about half a kilometre away from the
mosque. However, the Dargah had earlier distanced itself from
Tablighi Jamaat when Aaj Tak had falsely claimed that 33 people
sent for quarantine attended a program at the Dargah. “It is
clarified that the News is about Nizamuddin Tablighi Markaz and
not of Dargah,” read the tweet.
Dargah Hazrat Nizamuddin
@SufiCulturalOrg
A wrong new is being circulated on AajTak that 33 corona suspects
sent for quarantine who attended a programme at Dargah Hazrat
Nizamuddin. It is clarified that the News is about Nizamuddin
Tablighi Markaz and not of Dargah. Complaint has been made at
‘Aajtak’ in this regard.
2,284
13:26 - 30 Mar 2020
Twitter Ads information and privacy
973 people are talking about this
Below is a picture of the dargah where qawwali singers can be
spotted sitting in the courtyard.
Therefore, a video of people practising a ritual in Sufism was
falsely shared as intentional sneezing inside Delhi’s Nizamuddin
mosque to spread the coronavirus infection. Earlier, a video of
Bohra Muslims practising the ritual of licking utensils to not waste
leftover food was also shared with the same claim.
Nizamuddin has been identified as a coronavirus hotspot after
several preachers of Tablighi Jamaat tested positive in three
different locations across the country. The organisation led a
congregation at its headquarters (Markaz) Banglewali Masjid in
Delhi’s Nizamuddin area in mid-March, for which the Delhi
government has now filed an FIR against a mosque preacher.
Tablighi Jamaat maintains that its gathering was not illegal
because it was held before Prime Minister Modi announced the first
lockdown (Janata curfew) on March 22. However, the Delhi
government claims that its order banning large gatherings, issued
on March 13, was violated. Ironically, this was the same day when
the Union Health Ministry declared that COVID-19 was not a health
emergency. The March 13 order, however, did not extend to
religious gatherings and only a subsequent order passed on March
16 did. If reports are to be believed, the congregation was held
between March 8 to 15.
Note: The number of positive cases of the novel coronavirus in
India is over 1,700 and more than 50 deaths have so far been
reported. The government has imposed a complete restriction on
movement apart from essential services to tackle the pandemic.
Globally, more than 8 lakh confirmed cases and over to 44,000
deaths have been reported. There is a growing sense of panic
among citizens, causing them to fall for a variety of online
misinformation – misleading images and videos rousing fear or
medical misinformation promoting pseudoscience and invalid
treatments. While your intentions may be pure, misinformation,
spread especially during a pandemic, can take lives. We request
our readers to practice caution and not forward unverified
messages on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.
Donate to Alt News!
mosque to spread coronavirus infection
Pooja ChaudhuriPratik Sinha
1st April 2020
Avatar
Pooja Chaudhuri
Pooja_Chaudhuri
Avatar
Pratik Sinha
free_thinker
3.2K
SHARES
FacebookTwitter
A video is massively viral on social media with the claim that people
mass sneezed in Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin mosque to spread
coronavirus infection. Below is a Facebook post by one Anita
Saxena which has drawn 24,000 views and 1,700 shares.
The same clip has also been shared on Twitter.
nithin
@nithin42349592
#NizamuddinIdiots they are not idiots like Kanika Kapoor they have
hidden agenda What are they practicing here
Embedded video
174
14:33 - 1 Apr 2020
Twitter Ads information and privacy
127 people are talking about this
Unrelated video of a ritual in Sufism
Alt News found that the video was earlier circulating in the
Pakistani social media ecosystem with the coronavirus claim. This
tweet is from January 30. A YouTube channel from Pakistan
uploaded it a day earlier on January 29. It’s likely that the video is
older because Alt News was unable to trace the original. The first
case of coronavirus in India was reported on January 30.
A further reverse-image search of keyframes of the video led us to
a March 4 tweet in Urdu. The English translation of the text
revealed the words “Sufi madness”.
مساعد المدلج
@MuALmedlij
الحمدلله الذي هدانا للإسلام ولمنهج السلف الصالح ،،
جنون الصوفية كيف يفعل بأتباعه !!
هل يذكرون الله كما يزعمون أم يتبادلون مرض الكورونا بعطاسهم الجماعي
؟!!😊#كورنا #الإسلام_السياسي
Embedded video
112
00:06 - 4 Mar 2020
Twitter Ads information and privacy
200 people are talking about this
During our research, we made certain observations about the clip:
1. It is unlikely that people can voluntarily sneeze together so
rapidly in coordination.
2. It looks like they are loudly inhaling and exhaling air.
Based on this and the above tweet, we performed a Google
search with the keywords ‘Sufi breathing’ which led us to several
videos mentioning the word ‘Zikr’.
The website of Sufi organisation Ansari Qadiri Rifai Tariqa defines
‘zikr’ as a practice where devotees remember God in unison. It can
be performed in several ways including “a traditional order in which
Allah’s Names are mentioned in zikr, and each one is repeated
several, often hundreds of times in unison by the group. Certain
movements, such as swaying back and forth or turning from right
to left, are incorporated into the activity during the intonations, and
are likewise performed in unison. In some tariqas a prayerful
rotation of the whole body, arms extended while pivoting on one
foot, is traditional.”
Below is a video where people can be seen bending back and
forth in a similar manner as in the viral video while chanting ‘Allah’.
Similarly, in the video viral on social media, people are repeatedly
taking Allah’s name. Readers are advised to wear earphones and
listen to the audio in loops, especially post the first 40 seconds.
Speaking with Alt News, Dr Hamid Akbar, a professor of Urdu at
KBN University in Karnataka’s Gulbarga said, “In the main four
silsila (orders) of Sufism such zikr is performed but it’s more
sophisticated than this [viral video]. The sound you hear, is saas ka
zikr or zikr e-anfas which basically means taking Allah’s name with
your breath. If you listen closely, you can hear that they are
chanting ‘Allahu’ [in the video].”
Mosque in the viral video is neither Nizamuddin mosque nor the
Nizamuddin Dargah
Dr Akbar added that he has never seen any ritual, as witnessed in
the viral video, practised in Tablighi Jamaat congregations which
focus mainly on the importance of namaz (Islamic prayers) and roja
(fasting). The Tablighi Jamaat meet is organised in Nizamuddin
mosque which is also known as Tablighi Markaz or Bangle Wali
Masjid.
Qawwalis (Sufi devotional music) are sung in the courtyard of
Nizamuddin Dargah which is about half a kilometre away from the
mosque. However, the Dargah had earlier distanced itself from
Tablighi Jamaat when Aaj Tak had falsely claimed that 33 people
sent for quarantine attended a program at the Dargah. “It is
clarified that the News is about Nizamuddin Tablighi Markaz and
not of Dargah,” read the tweet.
Dargah Hazrat Nizamuddin
@SufiCulturalOrg
A wrong new is being circulated on AajTak that 33 corona suspects
sent for quarantine who attended a programme at Dargah Hazrat
Nizamuddin. It is clarified that the News is about Nizamuddin
Tablighi Markaz and not of Dargah. Complaint has been made at
‘Aajtak’ in this regard.
2,284
13:26 - 30 Mar 2020
Twitter Ads information and privacy
973 people are talking about this
Below is a picture of the dargah where qawwali singers can be
spotted sitting in the courtyard.
Therefore, a video of people practising a ritual in Sufism was
falsely shared as intentional sneezing inside Delhi’s Nizamuddin
mosque to spread the coronavirus infection. Earlier, a video of
Bohra Muslims practising the ritual of licking utensils to not waste
leftover food was also shared with the same claim.
Nizamuddin has been identified as a coronavirus hotspot after
several preachers of Tablighi Jamaat tested positive in three
different locations across the country. The organisation led a
congregation at its headquarters (Markaz) Banglewali Masjid in
Delhi’s Nizamuddin area in mid-March, for which the Delhi
government has now filed an FIR against a mosque preacher.
Tablighi Jamaat maintains that its gathering was not illegal
because it was held before Prime Minister Modi announced the first
lockdown (Janata curfew) on March 22. However, the Delhi
government claims that its order banning large gatherings, issued
on March 13, was violated. Ironically, this was the same day when
the Union Health Ministry declared that COVID-19 was not a health
emergency. The March 13 order, however, did not extend to
religious gatherings and only a subsequent order passed on March
16 did. If reports are to be believed, the congregation was held
between March 8 to 15.
Note: The number of positive cases of the novel coronavirus in
India is over 1,700 and more than 50 deaths have so far been
reported. The government has imposed a complete restriction on
movement apart from essential services to tackle the pandemic.
Globally, more than 8 lakh confirmed cases and over to 44,000
deaths have been reported. There is a growing sense of panic
among citizens, causing them to fall for a variety of online
misinformation – misleading images and videos rousing fear or
medical misinformation promoting pseudoscience and invalid
treatments. While your intentions may be pure, misinformation,
spread especially during a pandemic, can take lives. We request
our readers to practice caution and not forward unverified
messages on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.
Donate to Alt News!
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