Circular by Bangladeshi religious body edited to make false religious conversion claim

What is the claim? 

A notice attributed to a Bangladeshi religious organization named Bangladesh Jamiyat Ahl-Al-Hadith is circulating on social media claiming that the religious body is offering money for converting Hindu women to Islam. The purported notice, written in Bengali and Urdu, dated February 6, 2022, states different monetary rewards for converting different Hindu women to Islam.

Several users shared the post on X (formerly Twitter) with the term "love jihad," a conspiracy theory popularized by the Hindu right-wing which claims that Muslim men entrap Hindu women in the guise of love to convert them to Islam. One user wrote, “Bangladesh Hindu Cyber ​​Team hacked an Islamic Facebook group and found it from there. They will get more money if they convert Brahmin girls and Indian Bengali girls.” Archived versions of the viral posts can be accessed here and here.

Screenshots of the viral posts. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, we found that the original notice by the body was for all district-level officers of the organization, directing them to initiate regular sessions of Quran and Sahih Hadith teachings in all mosques in Bangladesh. 

How did we find the truth?

Bangladesh Jamiyat Ahl-al-Hadith, established in 1946, is an Islamic organization based in Bangladesh. According to their website, it serves as a "unique platform dedicated to promoting and spreading Ahle Hadith Tawheed and Saheeh Sunnah". 

We checked their Facebook and found a notice with the same date and reference number as the viral post. 

The original notice, dated February 7, 2022, was directed to all district officials of the organization, informing them of the decision to initiate regular sessions of Quran and Sahih Hadith teachings in all mosques in Bangladesh. 

On comparing the images, we observed that only the text of the notice in the viral image has been altered, while the date, reference number, and the two undersigned and their names remained the same. The original notice was also published on the official website of the organization on February 7, 2022. Additionally, the words ‘Special Notice’ have been added to the morphed viral letter and were not there in the original letter. 

Comparison between the viral fake note and the original notice. (Source: Facebook/X/Modified by Logically Facts)

The text of the original notice is entirely different from that of the viral image, and it does not mention anything about religious conversion. 

Bangladesh body issues clarification

Logically Facts reached out to Bangladesh Jamiyat Ahl-Al-Hadith, who confirmed that the circular was fake.

Earlier, after the fake notice went viral, the body had issued a press release on their X handle and official website clarifying that they did not publish any such notice. Posting a comparison of the fake notice and the original notice, the religious body called the fake circular “conspiratorial, false and baseless”, adding that it was intended to “defame and harm Islam and Muslims”.

The body further asked people to delete such posts, and mentioned that necessary legal steps would be taken.

The verdict

A notice published by a Bangladeshi religious body has been altered to spread the claim that they offered money for the religious conversion of Hindu women. The original notice was published in 2022 and doesn’t mention anything about conversion. The body has also called out the viral notice as fake.

(Update: This story has been updated to reflect a response from Bangladesh Jamiyat Ahl-Al-Hadith.)