Imam's pictures used falsely to claim Muslims refused shelter to Harvey flood victims
Ibrahim Hindys pictures were used by a satirical website which was believed to be real. Photo: Facebook
(Web Desk) – A Canadian Imam was taken by surprise when he saw his photos used in a fake story circulated on social media.
According to BBC, Ibrahim Hindy an Imam from Toronto, Canada identified himself in a picture which was used in a story claiming him as an Imam “Aswat Turads” of “Ramashan mosque” near Houston, Texas who refused to help flood victims. The picture also falsely claimed that the imam said, “we are forbidden to helping infidels.”
The recent storm in Texas brought devastating floods and displaced thousands of people from their homes. Many centers offered assistance including Muslim communities of Houston, Texas who opened their mosques and centers as shelters for Hurricane Harvey’s victims.
The Toronto’s Imam Hindy claimed that he has never been to Texas and during the flooding he was offering his Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
The story of the Imam was published in a website on August 31. The site America’s Last Line of Defense which calls itself satirical published the news."[This] is a satirical publication that may sometimes appear to be telling the truth. We assure you that s not the case," it explains.
The story highlighted that Ramasham mosque refused to shelter non-Muslim people, despite having the space of easily sheltering more than 500 people, because of the orders given by Imam.
Another similar story claimed that the flood victims later stormed the mosque to find shelter.
The story used the picture of Imam Hindy with a headline "Texas Mosque Refuses To Help Refugees: Allah Forbids Helping Infidels "
The story was taken seriously by thousands of people and the story was shared more than 126,000 times.
The site later changed the picture of Hindy and replaced it with a picture of Lebanese Imam Ahmad al-Assir.
Daily Post Feed, which also claims to be a satirical website, also published the story. The website which usually targets Democrats and liberals, also posted a disclaimer explaining that, "all images should be considered altered and do not in any way depict reality".
A picture of another Imam was used in their own version of Ramashan mosque, this time, the site used the picture of a californian Imam, Imam Ammar Shain.
A prominent Twitter account tweeted the story with hastags #DrainTheSwamp and #MAGA ( Make America Great Again ) - campaign slogans of US President Donald Trump - as well as #TrumpTrain, also used by right-wing accounts.
@JimRobinson3rd s tweet was retweeted 1,800 times and liked nearly a thousand times. Some users responded with Islamaphobic comments while others pointed out the story was fake.
Since the story was debunked the same day it was published, it was until Hindy who tweeted and explained that they have falsely used his picture.
Hindy’s tweet was retweeted and shared more than 200,000 times and liked more than 350,000 times.
"I woke up and checked my phone [... a] website made up a story about a Texas mosque refusing to help non-Muslim Hurricane Harvey victims and used my picture for their made-up story," he commented on Facebook.
Some have pointed out the names for the mosque and the make-belief Imam are clearly false as they do not resemble actual Muslim names. Nor can the Ramashan mosque be found on search engines or maps.
However, people continue to post the story. Yesterday it was retweeted more than 4,000 times, and liked almost 3,000 times, from a Twitter account with the handle @AMike4761.
Hindy posted from Mecca:
"My friends and I have been praying for the #HurricaneHarvey victims our entire time here. I met one man from Houston in our hotel who told me that he lost his entire house while away for Hajj. The hardship they have endured has been devastating."
Muslims living in the Houston area pointed out local mosques had sheltered people made homeless by Harvey. More than 3 mosques in Texas have turned into shelters providing food and water to the flood affected victims.
