Old photo from corpse management program shared with false claims.
Claim
This brother died while protecting Masjid Al-Aqsa mosque from blast and attacks, Muslims honoured him as a martyr look the smile at his face
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Explanation
A photo of a boy with a smiling face wrapped in a white cloth is shared to claim that he died while protecting Masjid Al-Aqsa mosque from the blasts and attacks and then Muslims honoured him as a martyr. This photo is viral since 2020 with the same claim and has resurfaced now and then. Earlier this month, Israel forced fire at worshipers at Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. The viral image has resurfaced again with the same claim now. Some of the posts with the image can be seen here and here.
What is the truth?
When reverse searching the image in Yandex we found a blogpost related to the viral image leading us to find that the image is not related to the blast in Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem but a photo captured during the demonstration of the corpse management program in a college in Malaysia.
The blog titled ‘Activities in KPTM’ dated 3, November 2014 is found carrying the viral image among a set of images. The blog is about a funeral management program titled ‘Rehlah Al-Khulud Programs’ and it is mentioned that the program was organized by the Facilitator Club at KPTM, Kuala Lumpur on 23, October 2014. The images are from the program where the participants are demonstrated managing the funeral after a person’s death. The images show the step-by-step process of the demonstration.
With further search, we found another blog by another participant in the similar program. This blog is dated 1, November 2014 and mentioned the program date as 11, October 2014 under ‘Activities in KPTM’. A similar set of images of handling the funeral process is seen with a different set of people in the blog. It is mentioned that the program is about ‘Pengurusan Jenazah’, which means ‘corpse handling’ in ‘Malay’.
When searching for KPTM, we found that it is Kolej Poly-Tech MARA Ibu Pejabat College in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. And when searching for ‘Pengurusan Jenazah’ on the college website, we found the details of the program organized in March 2019 with an image similar to the viral image from the event. It is mentioned that “the program at Poly-Tech Mara (KPTM) College of the Musang Cave village accompanied the funeral management course as a basis for providing exposure to the management of the body and it included ways to manage bodies in theory and practically.”
Conclusion
It is found that the viral image is not of a boy who died while protecting Masjid Al-Aqsa mosque from blasts and attacks as claimed. The image is from a ‘corpse management’ program in a college in Malaysia.
