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Misleading video links Ashura procession to El-Sayed win; senator-elect cites 'shawarma law'
A widely shared video purportedly showing Muslims marching in Dearborn, Michigan, to demand the implementation of Sharia law after Abdulrahman El-Sayed won a Senate seat actually shows an Ashura procession held last June.
Following Democrat Abdulrahman El-Sayed's victory in Michigan's U.S. Senate race, making him the first Muslim elected to the chamber, a video circulated with claims that it showed thousands of Muslims marching in Dearborn to demand the implementation of Islamic law and reject U.S. laws. The posts linked the footage to El-Sayed's victory and warned that it would give Muslims “greater boldness.”
The claims began circulating on November 6. One post received about 2 million views and another about 1.5 million views before the narrative spread to other languages, including Spanish and Dutch.
However, Al Jazeera's Open Source unit verified the footage and found that it shows an annual religious procession held in Dearborn on June 28, 2026, to commemorate Ashura—more than four months before the election. The procession matches an announcement by the organizers of the Ashura Project that they would hold the city's 12th annual procession under the name “March for Justice.”
The unit located the filming site on Ford Road in Dearborn, near Fordson High School, and found versions of the footage posted on June 29, as well as a report with footage of the procession published by a local website on July 1. It concluded that the video provides no evidence that participants called for the implementation of Sharia law or rejected U.S. laws.
El-Sayed had mocked fear campaigns about “Sharia” with a phrase that gained wide circulation: “The shawarma law must be obeyed.” The remark played on the similar pronunciation of “Sharia” and “shawarma” in English. El-Sayed, who was born in Michigan to Egyptian parents, is preparing to take his Senate seat next January.
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