A video showing cleaning work being done near the Masjid An Nabawi in Medina, Saudi Arabia, is viral online with the false claim that the area was cleaned after Union Minister Smriti Irani's visit.
BOOM found that the claims are false and the cleaning is a routine operation that takes place inside the mosque and in its vicinity.
The Masjid Al Nabawi, also known as the Prophet's Mosque, is the second holiest site in Islam, located in Medina.
Minority Affairs Minister Smriti Irani visited Medina on January 8. 2024, as part of her two-day state visit to Saudi Arabia. The Bilateral Haj Agreement between India and Saudi Arabia was signed during this visit, which included a quota of 1,75,025 pilgrims from India to Haj this year.
The 50-second video shows the area outside the Sofitel hotel in Medina which is close to the mosque. The person recording the video is heard speaking in Hindi about how the cleaning work near the mosque is ongoing for Irani's visit. A caption on X reads, "Saudi Arabia: Madinah Municipality is now washing & sanitizing the streets of Madinah near Holy Masjid Al-Nabawi, where some #Islamophobic anti Muslim non-muslim BJP officials including Smriti Irani India visited a few days ago."
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FACT CHECK
BOOM found that the Al Nabawi mosque and its premises are cleaned routinely, the work was not done specially due to Irani's visit as per the viral claims.
We looked for any news reports about the mosque premises being cleaned for Irani's visit, and did not find any result.
We then ran a search for cleaning near the mosque, and found several videos on YouTube that showed the cleaning process at the mosque, indicating it is a regular practice.
See more such videos here and here.
We also found the verified account of the general authority of the Prophet's Mosque on X, where posts were made showing routine cleaning of the mosques, both before and after Irani's visit. See here, here, and here.
Facebook posts made by the verified account of Medina Region Municipality also indicate that the cleaning is a routine procedure done at the mosque. See here.
The Saudi Binladin Group, which is in charge of the mosque's expansion and other operational activities mentions on its website that a staff of 2,700 employees carry out cleaning functions near the mosque, including the yard, toilets, and car park area.
Click here to view.
BOOM also spoke to Dina Ibrahim from Akhbar Meter, an Egyptian fact-checking news outlet, who clarified that the viral claims were false. She added, "The city of Medina does, in fact, carry out regular cleaning operations inside and around the Prophet's Mosque. The Medina Municipality also publishes weekly statistics on the number of field cleaning rounds in the city in general, as well as the number of sites that have been disinfected and sanitized."
Ibrahim also provided us with links to some social media posts from the official account of the Medina Region Municipality that showed the routine cleaning near the mosque premises. See here.