Cairo: Egypt’s top Islamic body, Dar Al Iftaa, on Thursday prohibited a notorious online suicide game, days after the death of a son of an ex-lawmaker was blamed on practicing the game.
Dar Al Iftaa, responsible for issuing fatwas or religious edicts for Muslims, urged agencies concerned in Egypt to criminalize the platform of the game known as “The Blue Whale”.
“This game poses a danger to children and youngsters,” the institution said in a statement. “Individual and societal security is one of the main aims of Sharia [Islamic law],” it added.
“At the end of the game, the participant does one of two things: either to commit suicide or kills another person. Islamic Sharia has prohibited destroying the body and quashing the soul by means of suicide. God Almighty makes killing another person for no righteous reason amount to having killed the entire mankind.”
Egypt reacted with shock this week after the family of ex-MP Hamdy Al Fakharani said his 18-year-old son Khaled hanged himself inside his room under the influence of the “Blue Whale” game.
MP Sharif Al Wardani said he has filed a query to Minister of Communication Yasser Al Qadi about the popularity of the game in Egypt and the need for blocking access to it.
“There must be a way to close this game,” Al Wardani told private Egyptian television Al A’sema. “This dangerous game turns the person into a slave and pushes him to suicide.”
On Thursday, a lawyer lodged a legal complaint with Egypt’s chief prosecutor, requesting authorities to block access to the Blue Whale and other suicide-induced Internet games. So far, there has been no official comment.
Khaled’s death was the second Blue Whale-related death reported in Egypt in recent months. Earlier this year, a 32-year-old man reportedly killed his father under the influence of the game.
The deadly game, created by a Russian now in jail, is believed to have been inspired by a blue whale species that appears to commit suicide by purposefully beaching itself ashore.
