Indonesia Muslim group issues fatwa on PUBG, says battle royal game insults Islam

PlayersUnknown’s BattleGrounds or PUBG is one of the most popular online battle royal game worldwide. The game is quite famous amongst youth that its addiction has now become a topic of concern in several regions of the world. Recently, an Indonesian Muslim group has issued a fatwa on Wednesday citing the game is insulting Islam and also triggers violence and agression among gamers.

The fatwa was slapped by conservative Aceh province and urged the local government to impose an outright ban. Faisal Ali, deputy chairman of the Aceh Ulema Council said, "Our fatwa says that PUBG and other similar games are haram (forbidden) because they can trigger violence and change people's behaviour’’.

"We've seen that children and even adults in Aceh are starting to get addicted to the game and they're playing it everywhere on their mobile phones," Ali added.

The game is already banned in countries including Iraq and Nepal over fears that it may trigger real-world violence and aggressive behaviour among players. In India, PUBG is also banned in the state of Gujarat.

PUBG is a battle royal game which begin with 100 players jumping from an airplane and kill each other until there is one player left in the end.

Recently, a 16-year old boy from Madhya Pradesh has suffered a cardiac arrest after playing PUBG for straight six hours.

Aceh is a region on the tip of Sumatra Island in Indonesia, where Islamic law and public flogging is a common punishment for several offences including alcohol, adultery and gay sex.