Viral video does not show Muslims praying in Times Square after Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral win

The iVerify Pakistan team reviewed this content and determined that it is misleading.

To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan conducted a reverse image search and keyword analysis to corroborate the visuals.

Multiple right-wing accounts shared a video on social media platform X on November 6, 2025, claiming that it showed Muslims praying at Times Square after Zohran Mamdani won the New York City mayoral race. However, the video is old.

Mamdani made history as the first Muslim and South Asian to be elected mayor of New York City, winning on a platform focused on economic justice, affordable living, and building a more inclusive city. He secured a decisive victory despite weeks of racially charged attacks and coordinated misinformation campaigns.

Throughout his campaign, Mamdani, a vocal critic of Islamophobia and a long-standing advocate for Palestinian rights, was repeatedly targeted with racist tropes, fabricated claims and efforts to discredit his religious and political identity.

HOW IT STARTED

On Nov 6, a right-wing Islamophobic account shared a video of muslims praying on the road on X.

The caption of the post said: “Thousands of Muslims gathered for prayer in Times Square, New York. The comments were full of people calling for America to be a Muslim country. Posted by (wayoflifesq, ‘Servant of Allah’) New York City just voted for Zohran Mamdani, a Muslim, as their mayor. Get it yet?”.

The post gained 449,000 views.

The same video with a similar claim was also reshared by another right-wing Islamophobic account, gaining 1.1 million views.

The post was captioned: “ISLAMIFICATION: And so it begins. Thousands of Muslims gathering for a show of force in Times Square, calling for America to become an Islamic nation.”

The same video with a similar claim was shared by different right-wing and Islamophobic accounts on social X, as can be seen here, here, here, here, here and here, collectively gaining over 15,000 views.

Another Islamophobic account shared the same video with a similar claim on social media platform Instagram, gaining over 30,000 likes.

The same video with similar claims was shared by similar accounts on Instagram, as can be seen here, here, here, and here.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its high virality and keen public interest in the matter.

A reverse image search yielded a YouTube video live-streamed uploaded on March 3, 2025, titled: “Live Taraweeh in Times Square!”.

The livestream showed the Taraweeh and night prayers at Times Square on the third of Ramazan 2025.

Comparing the 1-hour, 10-minute, 17-second mark of the livestream with the viral video, the same individual wearing a hat and the imam with a keffiyeh can be seen clearly.

A keyword search showed that the gathering was also covered with the same context by Turkish media outlet TRT World on its YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook accounts.

Furthermore, it was found that the same right-wing account had shared the same video previously on June 26, 2025, after the Democratic Party’s primary elections that were held on June 24, 2025, electing Mamdani as the mayoral candidate

FACT-CHECK STATUS: MISLEADING

The claim that a viral video shows Muslims praying in the streets of Times Square in New York after Zohran Mamdani’s election as mayor is misleading.

The video is old from Ramazan Taraweeh prayers on March 3, 2025.