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Rabat- Al-Azhar Fatwa Global Center in Egypt has warned, on Tuesday, against some electronic games, which it described as “kidnapping the minds of young people,” especially the “Fortnite” game.
The center attributed its warning “to the embodiment of the demolition or tampering of the Holy Kaaba, which directly affects our children’s beliefs, confuses their norms and identity, and underestimates their sanctities.”
This comes after images and videos of players destroying the Kaaba went viral on social media, sparking outrage.
The content showed players entering the Great Mosque of Mecca, killing people and demolishing the Kaaba to access weapons inside, which allowed players access to higher levels after completing a level.
In response to the criticism and the statement from Al Azhar, Fortnite’s developing company “Epic Games,” made a statement, along with the Fortnite team, clarifying the misunderstanding through a Facebook post by claiming “the content referred to was made by an independent player in Creative mode.”
The team added, “We would like to emphasize that our team respects all religions and we work closely with the creators of the game from our players in order to provide a safe gaming experience for all our players,” attached to the link “Creator Rules and Guidelines.”
Al-Azhar Center’s Fatwa for Fortnite is not the first of its kind. Back in 2019, multiple incidents prompted a debate across Egypt regarding the possible ban of video game “Players Unknown Battlegrounds” known as “Pubg”, as it allegedly caused disputes, family altercations and, at times, grave injury and death.
Morocco is not immune from the tragedies associated with video game addiction. Recently, in Kenitra, a child fell into depression after being deprived of playing the video game Free Fire after his account was hacked. He threatened to end his life, and died while hospitalized.
Back in December, a mother was killed by her 15-year-old son for not allowing him to play the same game. The boy fatally pushed his mother, who hit her head and died of internal bleeding.
Moroccan authorities officially denied rumors about banning online mobile games Free Fire and PUBG, following a national debate on the matter resulting from the aforementioned incident.
