William of Orange (Conversion to Islam)
WikiIslam Archive,
Archives of the first iteration of WikiIslam, prior to acquisition and revamp by Ex-Muslims of North America
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William the 1st (April 24, 1533 - July 10, 1584 AD), Prince of Orange and Duke of Nassau was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish and the founder of the royal house of Oranje-Nassau.
Contents
Claim
A Dutch article claiming William of Orange converted to Islam has been circulating the Internet:
The article featured a historian who wrote that deep archival research led him to believe that William of Orange converted to Islam in order to form an alliance with Caliph Abdul Abu Uzrim of the city Al Hoceima in present day Marocco, both partners in the alliance being at war with Spain. It was used on many Islamic websites and forums including marokko.nl and the Dutch Muslims broadcast and for a time it was believed the article was real. This led to heavy debating and the writing of "Allahu Akbar" on Muslim forums.[1]
Analysis
The article first appeared in the Dutch satirical news website De Speld, on September 25, 2008. Although the site is clearly intended for humor, once the the article itself was posted on other forums and blogs, the proper use of the 16th century Dutch dialect, mentioning the Dutch national archive, quoting a fake 16th century writer side-by-side with the names of real historians led to confusion and the article was taken over by other websites, mainly those that deal with Islam.
The more it spread, the harder it became to trace back to De Speld. Some Muslims eventually stopped quoting the article and just made claims. Though it did not manage to spread outside of the Netherlands, a blog mentioned the incident in English:
Jochem van den Berg explains:
See Also
- Notable Former Muslims
- Fake Conversions - A hub page that leads to other articles related to Fake Conversions
References
- ↑ Willem van Oranje toch geen moslim - Mare Online (Dutch), October 2, 2008