Muslim Facebook-users are sinners, declares fatwa

Cairo, Feb 5: Taking immediate action against 'family destroying' Facebook with a fatwa, an Egyptian cleric has declared that all Muslims who use the social networking site are 'sinners'.

Sheikh Abdel Hamid al-Atras, a top cleric, has issued a fatwa against Facebook after learning about a study that found that one out of five of divorces in Egypt was caused by affairs which started off on Facebook or other social networking sites

"It's an instrument that destroys the family because it encourages spouses to have relations with other people which break Islamic sharia law," al-Atrash is quoted as saying.

Camparing the popular socail networking site to Television, the cleric termed Facebook a 'double-edged sword'.

"While they permit the spread of Islam, they allow people forbidden love and relations. That is why whoever uses such websites must be considered a sinner," al-Atrash contended.

OneIndia News