Fact check: Viral video does not show Saudi imam arrested for criticising Saudi government and US
Several users, the majority of whom appear to be Saudi Arabia-based accounts based on their profiles and previous posts, have been sharing a video on X since September 13, 2026, allegedly showing the arrest of a mosque imam in Saudi Arabia for criticising the Saudi government over the United States’ policy in the region. However, the video is old and was originally published on March 3, 2018.
The ongoing US-Iran war in the Middle East began on February 28, 2026, when the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran. The conflict has since expanded across the region, with Iran launching attacks against US and Israeli interests and several US allies in the Middle East.
In early September, the conflict also intensified between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthi movement. The Houthis have launched missile and drone attacks targeting Saudi military and energy infrastructure, while Saudi Arabia has carried out retaliatory strikes in Yemen. The escalation has further widened the regional conflict and disrupted vital energy and shipping routes.
How it started
On September 13, a Saudi Arabia-based user shared a video on X, claiming that it showed the arrest of a mosque imam in Saudi Arabia. The Arabic caption accompanying the video translates to: “Arrest of the mosque imam in Saudi Arabia for his condemnation and criticism regarding America’s policy in the region. They didn’t even wait for him to finish the sermon.”
The post gained 1 million views.
Another Saudi Arabia-based user shared the same video on September 14, with the same caption.
The post also gained 1 million views.
On September 15, another user shared the same clip with the same caption. The post gained 126,800 views.
Several other users also shared the video in a similar context, as seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, collectively gaining 23,240 views.
Methodology
A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality.
A reverse image search of the video yielded a Facebook post published on March 3, 2018, containing the same footage.
The Arabic caption accompanying the video claimed that during a Friday sermon at a mosque in Saudi Arabia, the preacher criticised the Al Saud family and its attempts to normalise relations with Israel before security personnel forcibly removed him from the pulpit.
The post also included a response attributed to Saudi authorities, which stated that an elderly man had climbed the pulpit before the official preacher and insisted on delivering the sermon.
According to the statement, security officials intervened and removed him from the pulpit, while a spokesperson for the Ministry of Islamic Affairs said the man was mentally ill.
Another Facebook post from the same date made a similar claim in its Arabic caption, which reads: “The preacher of the Friday sermon spoke about Jewish people and corruption, due to which he was arrested.”
The video resurfaced on Facebook on December 25, 2021, with a post claiming that the imam had “called the current government a religious failure and the current ruler an agent of the US and Israel,” after which security forces allegedly removed him from the pulpit and hanged him.
The post further claimed that the incident took place in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah and portrayed the alleged execution as punishment for “speaking the truth.”
In a similar context, the claim was also shared in October 2024, on X by two India-based users with a history of sharing multiple false claims in their past posts.
A keyword search was conducted to determine whether international or prominent Middle Eastern media outlets had reported on the incident. No relevant reports were found from international outlets.
However, Saudi Arabia-based Arabic media outlets, including Shehab News, Okaz, Al-Riyadh and Khabarni and a Turkish news agency, Anadolu Agency reported on this particular incident in 2018.
Shehab News published an article on March 2, 2018, titled: “Video: Sheikh forcibly removed from the pulpit during Friday sermon in Saudi Arabia”.
The report stated that an elderly man was forcibly removed from the pulpit at Al-Jabriya Mosque in Yanbu after refusing to leave.
It cited a source from Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Islamic Affairs, which described the man as “mentally ill,” while noting that social media users had shared different accounts about the reason for his removal.
On March 3, 2018. Okaz published an article titled “Medina Police: Yanbu preacher is mentally ill and was handed over to his family” on March 3, 2018.
The report said the video had been circulating on X and showed an elderly man being removed from the pulpit by a security officer and worshippers at a mosque in Yanbu.
The article had an official comment from the Medina Police spokesperson; it said the man was in his seventies, had a medical record for psychological disorders, and was handed over to his family for continued treatment and care.
Al-Riyadh also posted the official statement of the Medina police on the incident on March 3, 2018.
In the statement, the police spokesperson Major Hussein Al-Qahtani said that the person seen ascending the pulpit and “uttering incoherent phrases” in the video is a citizen in his seventies who “suffers from psychological disorders and has a medical record in a specialized hospital”.
None of the reports reviewed identified the man as the mosque’s imam. Instead, they described him as an elderly man and ‘mentally ill’ who attempted to deliver the Friday sermon before the official preacher.
Fact-check status: false
The claim that the viral video shows an imam being arrested for criticising the Saudi government and the US is misleading.
The video is from 2018 and unrelated to the claim.