No, a Saudi Imam was not arrested for urging Arab leaders to support Gaza.

Claim

Rating

Explanation

In the viral 20-second video, we see a group of Imams in their white robes along with headscarves. There seems to be some squabble among them since we also notice a Policeman pulling back one Imam from the rest of the group. This post was shared claiming that the Saudi Imam was detained because he asked the other Arab leaders to stand in support of Gaza. Similar posts can be viewed here. Also, these kinds of claims are shared by Israel-based X accounts without any videos can be seen here. Some X handles share the same claims with some other images can be viewed here, and here.

As stated, the arrest of the Imam of the Saudi congregation from the top of the pulpit by the Saudi police for calling the Arab rulers to support the people of Gaza. pic.twitter.com/VBzXXL3Fdb

— Muslim Matters (@MuslimsMatterss) November 8, 2023

What’s the truth?

An analysis of keyframes in the viral video led us to the same video which was uploaded on 3 March 2018 on Facebook. This means the video is five years old at least and in no way related to the ongoing conflicts between Israel and Gaza.

Also, the caption of the video states that the Imam was arrested because he criticised Saudi Arabia’s then recent relaxation of rules across various sectors including Entertainment industry and allowing of music concerts. Several news reports confirm that Sheikh Saleh al-Talib, a prominent imam and preacher at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, was arrested for criticising Saudi Government’s policy changes. In 2022, he was offered a 10-year sentence. See here and here.

Upon further search, we found the same video uploaded to Facebook on 4 March 2018 with a similar caption can be viewed here.