Twitter posts suggest a multitude are converting to Islam in China for fear of COVID-19 outbreak.
Both videos concerning the purported mass conversion occurred at least a month before the COVID-19 outbreak. Chinese officials confirmed the latter to be on 31 December 2019. Thus, the viral video cannot be related to Coronavirus.
Full Text
Following the World Health Organisation’s declaration of COVID-19, as an international health emergency, and prior, the release of relevant and inconsequential information regarding the issue has stayed constant. Some may say, the proliferation of misinformation even outweighs credible intel.
More so, social media is likely one of the biggest propagators of false narratives related to Coronavirus; among which comes fabrications connecting the disease with religion.
Last week, a video surfaced on Twitter allegedly showing hundreds of Chinese citizens converting to Islam. The claim further said that Chinese people are switching to Islam in fear of Coronavirus as none of the followers of Islam was affected by the virus.
The post reads “Chinese converting to Islam after realizing that no Muslim was affected by #Coronavirus #COVD19 in the country.”
Verification
Firstly, Fact Crescendo, verification platform traced the video to a 2019, 30 June upload. The platform used verification tool- Yandex Reverse image search. The resulting YouTube video headlined in Arabic, translated in English as, “People enter the religion of Islam, Glory be to God.”
Further, findings led to yet another YouTube video uploaded on 7 November 2019 with the headline “MashaaAllah hundreds converted to Islam in Philippines.”
Conflicting Dates
From the above, it is clear to see that both incidences are unconnected. Both videos concerning the purported mass conversion occurred at least a month before the COVID-19 outbreak. Chinese officials confirmed the latter to be on 31 December 2019. Thus, the viral video cannot be related to Coronavirus.
Besides, there is no official research or record present that would suggest that the disease is related to any religion or community for that matter.
This Fact-check is an edited version of the original by Fact Crescendo, verification platform.
