Mufti: Other things more harmful than Pokemon Go

Perlis Mufti urges Malaysians to not forget about the bigger issues.

PETALING JAYA: There are things that are more foolish and harmful than Pokemon Go in this country.

This is according to Perlis Mufti Dr Asri Zainul Abidin, who noted that anything that leads to being foolish and incurs harm is forbidden in Islam.

“Playing Pokemon may be foolish, but you are still in control. But there are other harmful things that are more difficult to control.

“It puzzles me when I see someone smoking in public while talking about the harmful effects of Pokemon.

“They don’t realise that smoking has been destroying them and others for the longest time,” Asri posted on his Facebook page today.

He added that those who misappropriated public funds were getting carried away with criticism of the widely popular augmented reality game.

“They don’t realise that our country is being destroyed by abuse and mismanagement.

“I urge people to not be so engrossed in playing the game to the point where they forget about everything else that is happening around them.

“Also do not be too engrossed in discussing about Pokemon until we forget about bigger and more foolish dangers that are around us.”

Ever since its launch, Pokemon Go has been getting a bashing from various parties.

Yesterday, the Kedah Fatwa Council announced that the mobile game had been deemed as “haram” (forbidden).

Kedah Mufti Sheikh Muhamad Baderuddin Ahmad said declaring the game as “haram” was not enough and urged the government to ban the game from being downloaded in Malaysia.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) today released its guidelines for Malaysians playing Pokemon Go.

The MCMC’s guidelines were aimed at helping Malaysian users keep safe and protect their personal information while “catching” the virtual monsters on their handphones.

Its list of 10 guidelines consisted of common-sense advice such as not playing the augmented reality game while operating motor vehicles, being wary of potential scams in the form of apps promising an advantage in the game, and being careful when making in-app purchases to avoid mixing up currencies.