These old images of Muslims practising yoga are not from Saudi Arabia - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 24, 2021
A post is being widely shared on social media claiming that the two images of Muslims practising yoga are from Saudi Arabia. These images are going viral in the backdrop of the recently concluded International Yoga Day on 21 June 2021. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Images of Muslims practising yoga in Saudi Arabia.
Fact: Both the images are not from Saudi Arabia. The first image was captured in Abu Dhabi in June 2017, where the Bohra community members were performing Yoga ahead of the third International Yoga Day at Bohra Islamic Community Cultural Society in Abu Dhabi. The second image is from Ahmedabad, Gujarat captured in June 2015, where Indian Muslim students were performing yoga ahead of the first International Yoga Day. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
Image 1:
When reverse image search was done on the first image in the post, similar image was found in the article ‘Bohra community organises yoga session’ published in Gulf News on 20 June 2017. The caption with the picture published in the article reads ‘Bohra community members performing Yoga at Bohra Islamic Community Cultural Society in Abu Dhabi.’ The image credit has been given to Binsal Abdul Kader/Gulf News. According to the article, ahead of the third International Yoga Day, the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim Community from India had organised a yoga session in Abu Dhabi, and the event was held at the Bohra Islamic Cultural Centre at Mohammad Bin Zayed city.
Image 2:
When reverse image search was done on the second image in the post, a news article titled ‘India Readies to Showcase Yoga to the World’ by VOA News published on 18 June 2015 was found with the same image. The caption in the article is read as, “Indian Muslim students practice yoga at a school ahead of first International Yoga Day in Ahmedabad, India, Wednesday, June 17, 2015. The United Nations has declared that June 21 will be observed as the International Day of Yoga.” A picture gallery of Zee News published on 21 June 2015 also has the same image with a similar caption.
According to a WION news article published on 21 June 2021, Saudi Arabia had signed a memorandum of understanding with India for establishing formal yoga standards for the promotion of yoga in the Kingdom. Yoga was not officially permitted in Saudi Arabia for decades, however, the Kingdom in November 2017 recognised yoga as a sport amid a new liberalisation drive, according to this NDTV article.
Glimpses of International Yoga Day celebration on 21 June 2021 in Saudi Arabia can be seen from the posts from official twitter page of Consulate General of India, Jeddah. Indian Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia through its official Twitter account said that the celebrations culminated at the Embassy of India, Riyadh with a demonstration of the Common Yoga Protocol in hybrid format.
#IDY2021 celebrations culminate at the Embassy of India, Riyadh with a demonstration of the  Common Yoga Protocol in hybrid format #YogaForWellness#BeWithYogaBeAtHome@MEAIndia @iccr_hq @moayush @IndianDiplomacy pic.twitter.com/obUUQ7JAWe
According to this article, not only in Saudi Arabia but also around the world International Yoga Day was celebrated, and that the striking images from India and around the world can be seen.
The United Nations had on 11 December 2014, through a resolution adopted by the General Assembly, decided that June 21 would be observed as the International Day of Yoga. According to this article, 47 Islamic nations among the 177 countries of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) officially co-sponsored with India, a resolution to establish June 21 as “International Day of Yoga”.
To sum it up, these old images of Muslims practising yoga are not from Saudi Arabia.