In July 2024, a video showing men in oriental attire circulated on social networks. It is alleged that this is the new head of the British city accepting congratulations on his appointment. We found out what is actually shown in the video.
The viral video lasts 34 seconds. A bearded man dressed in a brown outfit, who got out of the car, is greeted by about a dozen people in white. They take turns kissing his hand while chants sound in the background. After this, the group enters the building. At the end of the video, viewers are shown a photograph of a man standing next to a sign that reads mayor.
The video was distributed by large Telegram channels, including “Dmitry Nicotin"(347,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), Lomovka (50,000), "Tucker Carlson for Russia"(49,000), "In///d" (46,000) and "Buyan - what in the world is there?"(43,000). “I’m glad for the British, the more migrants there are in power, the less schizophrenic this country’s policies will be,” commented video blogger Dmitry Vasilets (152,000). The post was also shared by users Facebook, X and other social networks.
Using a reverse screenshot search on Google, “Verified” found a link in the results to a very similar video on the Aslamiya Foundation YouTube channel. In the channel description there is a link to the TikTok account of the same name. It was there that on June 11, 2024 it was published video clip, which subsequently went viral with comments congratulating the new mayor of Brighton. However, as the caption suggests, it was actually filmed in Bedford. “Students greet teacher at Muslim community event,” the post said.
On the Aslamiya Foundation YouTube channel published some video with the same person, his name is given in the title of the videos - Muhammad Asghar Aslami. There are several posted on his Facebook page. portraits.
Aslami is presented in the captions of several videos as a Sufi sheikh. Sufism - the general name of numerous trends in Islam, whose supporters combine Muslim teachings with a variety of spiritual and mystical practices. There are hundreds of Sufi brotherhoods in the world. Apparently, Aslamiya Foundation is the channel of one of them.
In mid-May 2024, Brighton City Council elected Mayor Mohammed Asaduzzaman. He moved came to the UK from Bangladesh about 30 years ago, and has been involved in social projects and charity work for many years. Before being elected mayor, Asaduzzaman sat on the city council for a year, where he ended up having won in elections in your constituency.
The politician became the first Muslim mayor in Brighton's history. On the city website saidthat Asaduzzaman’s new position, which he will hold for a year, is largely ceremonial in nature: in addition to chairing council meetings, he has almost no powers, and his responsibilities include opening holidays, visiting schools, hospitals and enterprises, communicating with delegations from other cities and countries.
So while a Muslim mayor of Brighton did become mayor two months ago, the viral video shows a different person and was filmed in another British city.
Cover photo: screenshot
- Arzamas. What is Sufism?
- Reuters Fact Check. Viral post about number of Muslim mayors in UK is misleading
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