South African church leader Ibrahim Richmond converted to Islam in 2023, not recently

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

To reach this conclusion, iVerify Pakistan conducted a keyword search to corroborate the matter with news reports.

Posts from users, accounts and pages on multiple social media platforms since April 3, 2025, claimed that South African Christian priest Ibrahim Richmond has embraced Islam. However, the development occurred in 2023, not recently.

HOW IT STARTED

The iVerify Pakistan team was alerted on April 10 about a Facebook post and requested authentication for the content.

On April 3, a Facebook page shared a post with the following caption: “South African church leader Ibrahim Richmond converts to Islam. A hundred thousand of his Christian followers also convert to Islam.”

The post gained 3,100 likes.

A similar claim was shared by digital media outlet Verified Pakistan Urdu, gaining 2,600 reactions

The same claim was widely shared across different social media platforms by many users such as Facebook here, here, here, here and here; on TikTok here; on Instagram here, here, here and here.

The claim was shared on X by a supporter of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Fazl, gaining 63,000 views.

The same alleged development was also shared by media outlets Suno News TV, 24 News Digital and City 42 in news reports on April 4.

METHODOLOGY

A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of this claim due to its virality, to satisfy the public’s request for authentication and because of keen public interest in new converts to Islam.

A keyword search to corroborate the alleged developed yielded a news story from Aaj News English dated June 27, 2023, titled: “Priest converts to Islam after series of dreams, performs first Haj.”

According to the report, Richmond accepted Islam and thousands of Christians from his church followed suit. It said he later visited Saudi Arabia to perform the Haj under the King Salman Ḥaj Programme.

A similar report by Iran’s Press TV on June 28, 2023, also covered the same development.

Numerous YouTube videos from 2023 also featured interviews of the former pastor talking about his experience as he narrated his journey to accepting Islam after receiving an epiphany in a dream.

He said he felt compelled to share this message with his congregation, leading them to embrace Islam together. He expressed joy in following the teachings of Islam and emphasised the positivity he found in the religion.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: MISLEADING

The claim that South African church leader Ibrahim Richmond has recently embraced Islam along with his followers is misleading.

He converted to Islam with followers of his congregation in 2023.