Fact check: Hajj pilgrims praying for RSS-BJP’s rout, not India’s destruction

A video of Indian Muslims in Hajj is viral with the claim that they are praying for the destruction of India in Tamil. User @HinduHate tweeted the video and wrote ‘…the man is saying “do dua for destruction of our country. Also do due for destruction of RSS and that BJP shouldn’t win”‘. The user also urged the home ministry to ‘cancel citizenship’ for the people seen in the video. Credit for the video was given to @Mohsinrazabjpup. (Archive)

Indian Muslims in Haj praying for destruction of India. In Tamil the man is saying “do dua for destruction of our country. Also do due for destruction of RSS and that BJP shouldn’t win”. @HMO pls cancel citizenship of these people.
Video credit: @Mohsinrazabjpup pic.twitter.com/bv0jYPkJ1y

— Stop Hindu Hate Advocacy Network (SHHAN) (@HinduHate) June 21, 2023

Member of the Uttar Pradesh legislative council Mohsin Raza shared the clip with the same claim. He called for the Government of India to investigate the people seen in the video and the organizations behind them. A case of treason should be registered against them and their citizenship should be terminated, he felt. (Archive)

Several users, including journalist Surabhi Tiwari and other verified accounts, have tweeted the viral clip with the same claim. (Archives- 1, 2, 3, 4)

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Fact Check

The same video was shared on Twitter by the late author and columnist Tarek Fatah on April 30, 2019. He wrote: “Video of Tamil Muslims at the Kaaba 🕋 in Mecca praying for destruction of the #RSS and @BJP4India. To replace PM Modi’s rule with the rule of Allah in India.” (Archive)

We also found a Deccan Chronicle article from May 2019 which said that Tamils were praying for “the total destruction of the RSS and the complete defeat of the BJP”. Thus, it is safe to say that the video is at least four years old.

As far as the content goes, we found that the viral claims are misleading. The pilgrims, in no way, pray for the destruction of the country, as claimed in the viral posts. They are heard offering dua in Arabic for the first 40 seconds of the viral video. This prayer is offered when a pilgrim sees the Kabaa for the first time. The prayer وَتَعْظِيماً وَتَكْرِيماً وَمَهَابَةً، وَزِدْ مَن شَرَّفَهُ وَكَرَّمَهُ مِمَّنْ حَجَّهُ أَو اعتَمَرَهُ تَشرِيفاً وَتَكرِيماً وَتَعظِيماً وَبِرّاً (Allahumma zid hadha-l-Bayta tashrifan wa ta’ziman wa takriman wa mahabah, wa zid man sharrafahu wa karramahu mimman hajjahu awi- ‘tamarahu tashrifan wa takriman wa ta’ziman wa birra) literally translates to:

“Allah, increase this House in honour, esteem, respect and reverence. And grow those who honour and respect it, those who perform Hajj or Umrah, in distinction, care, affection and purity.”

The pilgrims are then heard offering their prayers in Tamil. The exact translation of this part of the prayer is as follows:

“Please offer dua. Please offer dua, especially seeking the betterment of the prevailing situation in our country. RSS party must be destroyed. Especially offer dua to Allah that BJP must not win again”.

Hence, an old video of Tamil Muslims praying against the BJP’s win and the destruction of RSS is falsely viral with the claim that they are praying for the destruction of the country.