A video showing people record moments of azan, the Islamic call to prayer, heard from a nearby mosque in Germany's Berlin, is circulating on social media with a claim that it shows a miraculous moment when prayer calls were heard from the sky.
BOOM found that the video shows a regular azan ritual performed by a mosque located at the chief urban center of Berlin.
The viral video shows visuals of onlookers stopping to record as azan can be heard in the background. The same eventually slows down the traffic and devotees can be heard chanting 'Allah o Akbar'.
The caption with the video in Hindi translates to, "Azan from the clouds. Sounds were heard from the sky in the city of Berlin, Germany. You can see the miracle of God, the Muslims and English people recording the voice of this Gabi Azan and the video of the scene there. Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Mashallah, Mashallah."
(Original Caption With The Video: Aasman se azan huyi जर्मनी के बर्लिन शहर मे आसमान से आवाज़ सुनाई देने लगीं। खुदा की कुदरत वहां के मुस्लिम और अग्रेज लोग इस गेबी अजान की आवाज और वहां के नजारे का विडीयों रेकोर्ड करते हुये आप देख सकतें हे । अल्लाहु अकबर,अल्लाहु अकबर, माशाअल्लाह,माशाअल्लाह)
The video is viral on Facebook with the same caption. BOOM also received the video on its helpline number for verification,
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Fact Check
We broke the video into its keyframes and ran a reverse image search on one of the keyframes. We found the same video on a YouTube channel uploaded on April 4, 2020. The caption stated that the video is a scene from a mosque premises located in Berlin. People joined the call to prayer to raise morale amid the COVID lockdown.
Taking a cue from this, we ran a keyword search on Facebook and found the same video uploaded on the platform on April 5, 2020 with a caption, "First time in Germany Azan on speaker".
We also found another video from the same place posted on Twitter on April 6, 2020. The video shows the mosque from where the calls to prayer were chanted. The caption said, "Germany allowed azan on the loud speaker for the first time in their history...."
Click here to view an archive version of the tweet.
The image of the same mosque is available on the international stock photo website named Alamy. The mosque can also be seen on the Google Street View.
Below is a comparison of the locations seen in the viral video and the mosque located on Google Street View.
BOOM also found a news report on the incident by Ruptly, a Russian video news agency, published on YouTube on April 5, 2020. The video showed the same visuals.
An excerpt from the description section of the video reads as, "An estimated 300 people gathered outside the Dar Assalam Mosque in Berlin on Friday where they listened to a call to prayer that was held in conjunction with bell-ringing at a nearby church, in a sign of solidarity during the COVID-19 crisis."
According to an Anadolu Agency report published on April 4, 2020, "Nearly 100 mosques in Germany and the Netherlands on Friday rang out with the sound of the call to prayer, as a gesture of support for Muslims amid the coronavirus pandemic. The call to prayer (adhan) was chanted from mosques belonging to the Turkish-Muslim umbrella group DITIB, and the Islamic Community National View (IGMG), one of Germany's largest Muslim-Turkish associations. Fahrettin Alptekin, a DITIB representative in Essen, Germany, told Anadolu Agency that the adhan could be heard from over 50 local mosques. Alptekin said that adhan being broadcast by loudspeaker is generally not allowed in Germany, except for special occasions."
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