Fact Check: Did Cockroaches Invade Grave of Prophet Muhammad and Muslim Praying Ground in Mecca?
Claim: Social media platforms especially Blogs, Tik Tok, Whatsapp, Twitter and Facebook are abuzz with claims that cockroaches invaded the Islamic praying ground and encroached on the grave of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) after a heavy downpour in Mecca.
Full Text: The claim which was shared on many social media platforms, especially Tik Tok, Facebook, Whatsapp and Blogs, was accompanied by the following caption, “Today in Mecca, a downpour fell on the grave of Mohammed – a flood on millions of people who came to celebrate Ramadan. A minute after the rain, millions of cockroaches crawled out of the ground, so the prayer stopped and everyone ran away shouting: -Stop it, get out! Everything is like in the third Egyptian plague …”
This was trailed by various degrees of reaction and counter-reaction from social media users both positive and negative.
Verification: PRNigeria scanned the image of the insect being referred to as a swarm of cockroaches in the Holy Mosque, based on the feature of the images seen. The insects were actually crickets and not cockroaches as reported.
Though crickets and cockroaches look relatively similar and around the same size with varying shades of brown and black, according to sciencing, they have several distinct characteristics that can be used to distinguish between them, especially their body shape and general anatomy. Cockroaches have a flattened, oval body shape that is low to the ground. Crickets, on the other hand, have an elongated body shape that looks more cylindrical.
Though researchers consider both ‘true insects’ and place them in the class Insecta, that’s where the relation between the two ends.
Based on the distinguishing physical features, PRNigeria establishes that the insects seen in the claim being circulated are crickets, not cockroaches. It, therefore, ran an online search to ascertain the veracity of the claim of encroachment by ‘crickets’, however, results showed no evidence that there was such a recent happening in the Holy City of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. There was no online news and there was no reference to authentic sources that such an event occurred recently in the Holy City.
However, finding from further investigations reveal that an incident occurred four years ago, precisely in January 2019 when swarms of black crickets were seen in Masjid al-Haram following a heavy downpour. This was in 2019, not 2023. The Saudi Government solved the problem by spraying aerosol inside the mosque, its surroundings as well as some certain areas of the city. This was executed by a team of 22 comprising 130 individuals who used 111 aerosol diffusers.
In a statement on Twitter at the time, the Mecca municipality said that over 130 members had been mobilised to exterminate the insects.
MONTH OF RAMADAN
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Therefore the claim that the infestation occurred “as millions of people “came to celebrate Ramadan.” The incident in January 2019 was not on islamic month of Ramdan. The Ramadan, the period of muslim fasting in 2019 was observed in the Month of May and not January when the incidence occurred. Furthermore, million of Muslims do not go to Mecca to celebrate Ramadan as claimed by the post. Some only travel to the city to observe the lesser Hajj. However, Muslims worldwide celebrate the end of ramadan during the Eidl-Fitr festivities.
GRAVE OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD SAW
Further finding by PRNigeria revealed that the Prophet Muhammad (SAW)’s grave is not in Mecca as claimed by the post but the Holy Prophet (SAW)’s tomb and grave is located inside Masjid al-Nabawi in Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
Also known as the Sacred Prophetic Chamber and the Prophetic Compartment, Rawdah Mubarak is situated in the southeastern section of Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) Mosque (Masjid al-Nabawi). The Sacred Chamber is demarcated by an iron railing, green copper, and gold.
The southern and northern sides of the chamber are 16 metres long, while the western and eastern sides are 15 metres in length. The walls of the Rawdah Mubarak were initially 3 metres high and were constructed from wood in 1282 AD/678 AH by Al-Zahir Baybars (RA). However, in 1481 CE/886 AH, after the second great fire of Masjid al-Nabawi, these walls were reconstructed using robust iron railings by Sultan al-Ashraf Qaitbay (RA).
THE FLOOR AND THE PEOPLE SHOUTING
Further observation of the video reveals that while the post claims that, “millions of cockroaches crawled out of the ground,” in the video, there’s no evidence that cockroaches crawled out of the ground. The floors were well covered with tiles/marble.
Similarly, the claim stated that the prayer stopped and everyone ran away shouting: -Stop it, get out!”, there’s nothing in the video that suggests that people were running helter skelter.
SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE ON INSECTS AFTER RAIN
While wildlife experts suspected that the cricket might have escaped from some businesses on the Arabian Peninsula that cultivate crickets for bird feed, it is natural for small flying insects to rise up after a rainstorm because some insects come out after heavy rains because of damage to their homes due to flooding and searching for a safer place while for others it may be the perfect time to breed and produce new generations.
A science journal, Nature Noon explains that insects thrive after the rain because they love a hot, humid environment, so they can: lay eggs , mate and breed, nourish their larvae, avoid drowning and enjoy fresh air.
Conclusion:
Facts gathered by PRNigeria revealed that there was no encroachment of the Holy Mosque in Mecca by cockroaches in 2023. Nevertheless, there was an incident of crickets swarming the city of Mecca in January 2019 which was four months away from Ramadan period that was observed in May that year. Similarly, the grave of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is not located in Mecca as claimed in the viral video but in Medinah.
PRNigeria, therefore, concludes that the claim that cockroaches invaded the Muslim praying ground and encroached on the grave of Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) after a heavy downpour in Mecca is MISLEADING with many FALSE narratives.
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By PRNigeria
