A top Egyptian cleric has issued a fatwa banning the use of Facebook, alleging that the social networking site encouraged adultery.Sheikh Abd Al-Hamid Al-Atrash, former head of the fatwa committee at Cairo's Al-Azhar University, issued a religious decree saying that increased use of social networking sites have resulted in rise of the moral corruption. The edict followed a study carried out by the Egyptian National Center for Social and Criminological Research which found that one in every five cases of divorce is due to one of the partners using social networking sites such as Facebook.
Sheikh Abdel Hamid al-Atras said:
It's an instrument that destroys the family because it encourages spouses to have relations with other people which break Islamic sharia law. While one or other of the spouses is at work, the other is chatting online with someone else, wasting their time and flouting the Sharia. This endangers the Muslim family.
Although, the cleric praised the social networking sites for spreading Islam, he said most of the people were using it for making illegitimate relationships.
Like satellite TV, social networking sites are 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.
Last year, the authorities in Egypt arrested several protesters who used Facebook and other social networking sites to orchestrate protests against the government.
