Claim: MQM-L founder Altaf Hussain has passed away.
Fact: Hussain was hospitalised over a “serious illness” in London in July 2025 but has since been recovering.
On 16 July 2025, Soch Fact Check received a link to a YouTube video (archive) that claims Altaf Hussain has died. Hussain, the chief and founder of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-London (MQM-L), lives in London in self-imposed exile.
The text in its thumbnail reads, “BREAKING NEWS الطاف حسين انتقال کرگئے [Altaf Hussain has died].” Additionally, the words behind a cropped photo of the MQM-L leader are the Arabic phrase, “إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعونَ,” which translate to, “To God we belong and to Him we return.”
We also came across other social media posts claiming that Altaf Hussain had passed away.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check first observed that the YouTube video in question — posted by the channel Zaibi Islamic Media — has nothing to do with Hussain or his supposed death. In fact, it shows the Pakistani preacher Maulana Tariq Jamil reciting the Quran.
However, even in this, the audio and video are out of sync. It appears that the visual is from another one of Jamil’s appearances and the recitation is from a “Shab-e-Dua” event during Ramzan in April 2022; it can be corroborated by this footage — at the 15:40 mark.
Moreover, had the MQM-L leader actually passed away, it would be widely reported by major outlets; however, Soch Fact Check did not find any such reports by reliable media organisations.
The images used in the viral posts are, in fact, recent as Hussain was hospitalised in London, according to his own and the party’s social media accounts, as well as statements by MQM-L leaders and multiple news reports.
“MQM founder and leader Mr Altaf Hussain has been admitted to a hospital in London due to serious illness, where he has undergone various tests,” senior party leader Mustafa Azizabadi wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on 10 July 2025. He also appealed to everyone “to offer special prayers for Altaf Bhai’s recovery and long life”.
Azizabadi has since posted multiple daily updates about the MQM-L founder’s health; these can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. In one of these, he explained that Hussain “has since long been suffering from severe emotional stress which included the domestic and international geo-political situations, multiple law suits (sic) in London, and fiscal difficulties”.
In the latest one, the MQM-L chief can be seen wearing a brown beret and a hospital gown. He addressed the camera, saying, “I wanted to tell you all sisters and brothers that your Altaf bhai has recovered enough to be talking to you, to be having a conversation with you, may God grant long lives, happiness, and health to all of you who prayed for me.”
جنہوں نے الطاف بھائی کی صحتیابی کے لئے دعائیں کیں، ان سب کے لئے الطاف بھائی کا پیار اور دعائیں۔
وہ جس کی صحت و سلامتی میں قوم کی بقا مضمر ہے۔اس قائد کی درازی عمر کے لئے
پوری قوم کی دعائیں ۔
جیو الطاف بھائی #GetWellSoonAltafBhai pic.twitter.com/MTOmtj35Vu— Mustafa Azizabadi (@azizabadi) July 17, 2025
There’s a video of over seven minutes in which Hussain addresses his supporters, party workers, and well-wishers. An interview of the MQM-L chief was also reposted by party leader Qasim Ali. He has also been regularly receiving visitors, as evident on the party’s X account.
Therefore, Soch Fact Check concludes that the reports and social media posts claiming that Altaf Hussain has died are false.
Virality
The primary video has been viewed over 29,000 times so far. The same channel, Zaibi Islamic Media, has posted the same claim repeatedly here, here, here, and here.
Soch Fact Check found the claim circulating here, here, here, here, and here.
It was also shared here, here, and here on Instagram, here and here on Threads, and here, here, and here on X.
Interestingly, we also came across a vlog by Pakistani journalist and columnist Hassan Nisar — posted on 12 July 2025 on both Facebook and YouTube — that uses a clickbait thumbnail, which includes the following text:
“انا لله وانا الیه راجعون الطاف حسین کا انتقال ؟؟ کردار ہیرو یا ولن ؟ حسن نثار بھی افسردہ ہوگئے
[To God we belong and to Him we return, Altaf Hussain passed away? A hero or villain character. Even Hassan Nisar is saddened]”
The vlog features Nisar and an interviewer, who asks the columnist what he thinks of Hussain and the viral claim.
Nisar talks about the MQM-L founder and his past meetings with him, saying if “it indeed happened [Hussain died] then may God forgive his sins — God forbid this is confirmed or that it happened — then he will be added to my list” of people he prays for absolution at night.
Conclusion: Altaf Hussain was hospitalised over a “serious illness” in London but has since been recovering.
Background image in cover photo: MQMOfficial
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