Claim: A Pakistani cleric went paragliding in Europe while singing the azaan with a woman who was not his mahram.
Fact: The individual in question, cleric Abdul Wali Khan, went paragliding with a male instructor, not a woman. He later shared additional footage showing himself alongside the male instructor who facilitated his paragliding experience.
On 5 October 2024, an X user shared a viral video with the following caption:
ایک نامحرم عورت جس نے نیکر پہنی ہوئی ہےاسکی گود میں بیٹھ کر یورپ کی فضاؤں میں آذان دینے کا خوبصورت منظر صرف اور صرف پاکستانی مولوی ہی دکھا سکتے ہیں
[Translation: Only Pakistani clerics can show the beautiful scene of a non-mahram woman wearing a knicker sitting on his lap and giving the call to prayer in the skies of Europe]
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse image searched key-frames from the video and found a video clip of the same cleric, wearing a white shalwar kameez and a blue jacket, talking to the paraglider on the ground.
In the video he can be seen saying, “Iskay sath aesa jump lagaya tha, yeh tou hans raha tha jo mujhe pe guzri hai woh mein baad mein apko bataunga. Like and share zarur kijiye ga” [Translation: I made the jump with this guy. He was laughing the entire time. But what I went through, I will tell you about it later, do like and share the video]
The paraglider standing next to him in the same red jacket and glasses as the video in the claim is a man and not a woman.
Through reverse image-search on PimEyes, we also found that the cleric in the video is Abdul Wali Khan. He first uploaded the video of himself singing the azaan while paragliding on Facebook on 8 October 2024.
On the same profile he also uploaded the second video on 17 October 2024, showing him standing next to the paraglider who is clearly a man. The post was captioned as follows:
وہ نامحرم عورت مل گئی جس کے گود میں بیٹھ کر میں نے یورپ کی فضاؤں میں آذان دی تھی. اللّہ ہدایت دے ان لوگو جس نے اس کو ٹرینڈ بنایا بغیر تحقیق کے..
[Translation: Look at that non-mahram woman in whose lap I was sitting as I sang the azaan in the winds of Europe. May Allah give guidance to those who turned this into a trend without any investigation.]
Virality
The claim was widely shared on Facebook. We found posts repeating the claim here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
On X, the claim was viewed more than 277,000 times.
Conclusion: The viral video claiming that a cleric singing the azaan was paragliding with a non-mahram woman is being used out of context.
—
Background image in cover photo: Outchair
To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com