Recently, a claim has been spreading on social media: ‘Welcome to Bangladesh, Dr Zakir Naik. Our people have been waiting for you.’

See some posts circulated on Facebook here (Archive), here (Archive), here (Archive), here (Archive), here (Archive), and here (Archive).

See the post circulated on Instagram here (Archive).

See the post circulated on YouTube here (Archive).

Fact-Check

An investigation by the Rumor Scanner team found that the circulated video does not show Dr. Zakir Naik arriving in Bangladesh. In fact, Dr. Zakir Naik has never come to Bangladesh. In reality, the video shows Dr. Zakir Naik’s arrival in Pakistan on September 30 of last year, which is being circulated with the false claim.

The investigation found a video published on September 30 of last year on a Pakistani YouTube channel named ‘Naeem Superior’. This video matches the one in question.

The caption of the video claims that it shows Dr. Zakir Naik arriving at Islamabad Airport in Pakistan.

Afterward, a relevant keyword search led to a report published on the website of the Pakistani media outlet Islamabad Post on September 30 of last year, captioned “Renowned scholar Dr. Zakir Naik arrives in Islamabad“. The report states that the Islamic scholar Dr. Zakir Naik arrived on September 30 of last year. At that time, Dr. Zakir Naik was received by Dr. Syed Ataur Rahman, Additional Secretary of Pakistan’s Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony.

Another Pakistani media outlet, News 99, published a report with the same information.

It is noteworthy that Dr. Zakir Naik is scheduled to come to Bangladesh for the first time on the upcoming November 28. This means he has never visited Bangladesh before.

Therefore, a video of Islamic scholar Dr. Zakir Naik’s visit to Pakistan last year is being circulated with the recent claim that he has come to Bangladesh; which is completely false.