Photos of Quran recital viral as Muslim parents marry their children

Two juxtaposed photographs are viral on social media with the following claim – “Father married his own daughter so mother got furious and married her own son.” The pictures show persons hailing from the Muslim community posing for the camera with garlands around their necks.

The image was shared on a Facebook group called ‘We Support Nupur Sharma’ and drew over 2,000 likes.

It was also shared on a Facebook page named ‘The Right Action‘. Most pages and individuals on Facebook have shared a screenshot of a tweet by @curlykrazy07 carrying the images. The tweet stands deleted but an archived link can be accessed here.

It is also circulating on Twitter.

Father married his own daughter.

Mother married her own son. #ReligionOfShame#MajhabOfShame pic.twitter.com/MXH1nQS5OK

— Shailendra Pratap Sinh Jadaun (@shailen_pratap) July 2, 2022

The same images were earlier shared in April with a Hindi caption making an identical claim. Twitter handle @Singhjyoti_ was among those who shared the pictures back then.

Image 1

This is a photo of a man wearing a skullcap and a girl in a burqa. The duo is wearing garlands around their necks. Last year, it was claimed that the man got married to his nine-year-old daughter. A verified Twitter handle ‘@rakesh_bstpyp’ shared this picture with this claim. This user describes himself as an ‘editor of a newspaper’. The tweet amassed over 1,300 retweets before it was deleted. (Archive link)

One Lalita Thakur also tweeted the photo and accompanying claim. Her Twitter bio states that she is a Modi supporter. The viral caption makes a comparison between Muslims and Hindus. It implies that Muslim men marry minor girls whereas Hindus regard minor girls as deities. (Archive link)

The image was widespread on Facebook and Twitter last year.

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Alt News discovered that the same image was circulating back in 2017. It was claimed that a maulvi in Pakistan married his own daughter.

Fact-check

We performed a reverse image search and found the original photo on a Facebook post dated September 23, 2018. The post says that a father and daughter who finished reciting the Quran together from memory were photographed together.

A keyword search revealed that the image was shared by several users in 2016. It was posted on a Facebook page called ‘Tajweed ul Quran’ on February 3, 2016. This is the earliest instance that we could find.

An online forum Islamic Board had shared the photo on October 2, 2016. The accompanying caption stated that this father and daughter became Hafiz-e-Quran (memorizer of the entire holy text) together.

Multiple posts are available on social media congratulating Muslim children upon memorising the entire Quran. These kids are also wearing garlands. In Karnataka’s Bidar district, eight-year-old Tooba Zainab memorised the Quran in 20 months.

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Image 2

The second picture was also viral last year along with the first image.

बाप ने बेटी के साथ शादी कर ली तो गुस्से में आकर मां ने भी अपने बेटे से शादी कर ली इतना पाक मजहब है इस्लाम 😆😆
वाह रे हवस के दीवाने..॥#Boycott pic.twitter.com/1eR8sBiLCe

— आदियोगी गौतम स्वामी (@aadiyogiswamiji) October 29, 2021

The same image was shared in 2020 with the claim that a Saudi woman married her son after her husband passed away.

सऊदी की इस मुस्लिम_महिला ने पति के #इन्तेकाल के बाद अपने ही सगे बेटे से किया #निकाह आखिर यही तो है #इस्लाम pic.twitter.com/Gy7uYKuwgG

— ❀🥀तमन्ना🥀❁🚩 (@UpKiLadki) February 5, 2020

Fact-check

This image was also taken after a Quran recital. The earliest instance of the photo that we found on Facebook dates back to February 2018, where the caption reads, “آج میرے بیٹے کا ختم القرآن تھا ھمیں مبارک باد دے کر کون کون شئیر کریگا.” This translates to “Today was my son’s Khatam Al-Quran.”

Photos taken after Quran recitals were shared with the false claim that Muslim parents married their children. These images keep reappearing with the same claim on social media despite being fact-checked.