No, this video does not show Brighton Mayor Mohammed Asaduzzaman

What’s the claim?

A video of a Muslim man being welcomed by other Muslims with garlands is circulating online, claiming that it shows the newly elected Mayor of Brighton. A Facebook user shared this video with the caption, “Apparently this is the new mayor of Brighton in the U.K!! Looks like a scene from Indiana Jones and the temple of bloody doom!! The U.K is literally screwed...." An archive of the post can be found here. 

The same video was also widely shared on X (formerly Twitter), captioned "BREAKING: The new mayor of Brighton in UK is going viral after this footage of his celebration was released. Mohammed Asaduzzaman is the new mayor that is from Bangladesh. England didn’t look like this when I was growing up.” The post had 1,500,000 views and 4,300 likes. An archive of the post can be found here.

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

However, the claim is false. The man seen in the video is Muslim cleric Shaykh Sufi Muhammad Asghar Aslami, not the mayor of Brighton, Mohammed Asaduzzaman.

What did we find?

Through a reverse image search, we found the same video posted by the Aslamiya Foundation on its official TikTok account - @aslamiyafoundation (archived here), on June 11, 2024. It was captioned: “Students welcome teacher to Muslim community event #love #muslim #brothers #respect #sheikh #fyp in Mosque Centre in Bedford (sic).”

Screenshot of the Aslamiya Foundation video. (Source: TikTok/Markup by Logically Facts)

Another video (archived here) from the same Bedford event was posted on the Aslamiya Foundation's YouTube channel on June 11, 2024, with the caption: “Brother taking bayah with Shaykh | Bedford U.K. June 2024.” The man wearing spectacles and a green scarf and the man wearing a blue shawl in the viral video can both be seen in the YouTube video at the timestamps of 0:12 and 0:46, respectively.

Comparison of viral video and Aslamiya Foundation's YouTube video. (Source: X/YouTube/Markup by Logically Facts)

Aslamiya Foundation has posted multiple videos of the same person on its YouTube channel, stating that he is “Shaykh Sufi Muhammad Asghar Aslami.” We found Sufi Muhammad’s official Facebook page (archive here), which shows him participating in many religious gatherings in the U.K. 

Screenshot of the YouTube channel which shows Shaykh Sufi Muhammad Asghar Aslami. (Source: YouTube/Markup by Logically Facts)

According to the Brighton & Hove City Council website, Mohammed Asaduzzaman was elected as the new Mayor of Brighton City in May 2024. Previously, he served as the city's Deputy Mayor. He was born in Bangladesh and moved to the U.K. in 1995. He has lived in Brighton for 30 years. 

The comparison between the image of Mohammed Asaduzzman, the Mayor of Brighton, and Shaykh Sufi Muhammad Asghar Aslami shows that both are different people.

Comparison of Mayor of Brighton and Shaykh Sufi Muhammad Asghar Aslami, a Muslim cleric.
(Source: Facebook/Brighton & Hove City Council website)

We have contacted the Aslamiya Foundation for a comment on the now-viral video. We will update the story once we receive a response.

The verdict

The man in the video is Muslim cleric Shaykh Sufi Muhammad Asghar Aslami, not the newly elected Mayor of Brighton, Mohammed Asaduzzman. Therefore, we have marked this claim as misleading.