BBC Trending : Imam in Storm Harvey fake news never visited Texas
A man has reacted with surprise to seeing his photograph used in a fake story spread on social media that an Imam kept a mosque's doors closed to Storm Harvey victims.
Ibrahim Hindy, a Canadian Imam from Toronto, identified himself in the photograph used in a story which claimed Imam "Aswat Turads" of "Ramashan mosque" near Houston refused to help flood victims and said "we are forbidden from helping infidels."Storm Harvey brought devastating floods and displaced thousands of people while many centres or volunteers offered shelter and assistance to victims.However, Mr Hindy claims he has never been to Texas and during the flooding he was in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, performing the Hajj pilgrimage.
Ibrahim Hindy pointed out on Twitter his photo was being used in the fake story
The story was published on 31 August on the website America's Last Line of Defense, which calls itself satirical. "[This] is a satirical publication that may sometimes appear to be telling the truth. We assure you that's not the case," it explains.It stated Ramashan mosque could have sheltered over 500 people but would not accept any non-Muslim people on the order of the Imam. Another story claimed flood refugees later stormed the mosque to find shelter.
A picture of Ibrahim Hindy was used underneath the headline "Texas Mosque Refuses To Help Refugees: 'Allah Forbids Helping Infidels'".It appears to have been taken seriously by thousands of people and the site's story was shared more than 126,000 times.On Monday morning, the site changed Mr Hindy's image to a picture of Lebanese Imam Ahmad al-AssirThe story was also published on Daily Post Feed, which also claims to be satirical.The site's stories usually take aim at Democrats and liberals, but, again, a similarly-worded disclaimer explains "all images should be considered altered and do not in any way depict reality".A photograph of Californian Imam Ammar Shain was used in their version of the story of Ramashan mosque.
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A man has reacted with surprise to seeing his photograph used in a fake story spread on social media that an Imam kept a mosque's doors closed to Storm Harvey victims.
Ibrahim Hindy, a Canadian Imam from Toronto, identified himself in the photograph used in a story which claimed Imam "Aswat Turads" of "Ramashan mosque" near Houston refused to help flood victims and said "we are forbidden from helping infidels."Storm Harvey brought devastating floods and displaced thousands of people while many centres or volunteers offered shelter and assistance to victims.However, Mr Hindy claims he has never been to Texas and during the flooding he was in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, performing the Hajj pilgrimage.
Ibrahim Hindy pointed out on Twitter his photo was being used in the fake story
The story was published on 31 August on the website America's Last Line of Defense, which calls itself satirical. "[This] is a satirical publication that may sometimes appear to be telling the truth. We assure you that's not the case," it explains.It stated Ramashan mosque could have sheltered over 500 people but would not accept any non-Muslim people on the order of the Imam. Another story claimed flood refugees later stormed the mosque to find shelter.
A picture of Ibrahim Hindy was used underneath the headline "Texas Mosque Refuses To Help Refugees: 'Allah Forbids Helping Infidels'".It appears to have been taken seriously by thousands of people and the site's story was shared more than 126,000 times.On Monday morning, the site changed Mr Hindy's image to a picture of Lebanese Imam Ahmad al-AssirThe story was also published on Daily Post Feed, which also claims to be satirical.The site's stories usually take aim at Democrats and liberals, but, again, a similarly-worded disclaimer explains "all images should be considered altered and do not in any way depict reality".A photograph of Californian Imam Ammar Shain was used in their version of the story of Ramashan mosque.
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