Conservative imams in Iraqi Kurdistan issue a fatwa against PUBG

This is a really weird story. Here's a BBC News video that highlights the controversy:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-middle-east-46214184/playerunknown-s-battlegrounds-imams-divided-over-video-game-fatwa

For those who don't know, a 'fatwa' is a declaration made by a imam that is analogous to a legal decision in Western law, and in most cases a fatwa is issued against a person or thing to denounce them as being un-Islamic or incompatible with Islamic law (sharia) or Islamic culture/life. This is not a legal ruling, and I don't think they can stop the sale of PUBG in the region; that would be a difficult law to enforce anyway, as Iraqi Kurdistan is not an independent state, but rather an autonomous region within Iraq. The Kurds are a persecuted ethnicity in the region, as most Kurds are Sunni Muslims while the majority of Iraq is Shi'a; Kurdish political parties hold two out of 328 seats in the Iraqi council of representatives. The Kurds also have large communities in the neighbouring countries of Syria and Turkey.

According to the video, the fatwa was issued because PUBG is supposedly corrupting the Kurdish youth. The imams argue that video games like PUBG is a "waste of time" and lead to inactivity and idleness, distracting husbands from their wives and responsibilities. One of the spokesman for the organisation that issued the fatwa stated that the Prophet stated that Muslims have a right and an obligation to care for their bodies and to look after their physical well-being.

There has been a response from more liberal imams and scholars among the Kurd population, with one imam saying that the fatwa targets and victimises the young, citing other examples such as hairstyles and beards as things criticised by more conservatives members of the Muslim community (the 'ummah').

In the West we've heard this sort of stuff all before; moral panic, accusations of media turning the young generation into wastrels, the clash between the young and the old. The fact that PUBG in particular was singled out, rather than games in general, strikes me as being similar to the think-pieces you see in Western media about the current obsession with Fortnite. The video specifically mentioned that people play PUBG on their phones, as they're less likely to have consoles or PCs.

But it seems like the stakes are that much higher when this kind of issue emerges in other cultures with other practices and beliefs. Muslims are part of our modern world, regardless of whether they live in a Western country or in a Muslim-majority country, and modern communication has encouraged discussions about faith and practice among younger generations who are more likely to be liberal and influenced by Western media.

I understand that Kurds would want to preserve their cultural identity, since they are a stateless people spread across multiple borders, and Islam is a huge part of that identity. If the youth of the region are increasingly becoming interesting in Western culture and media, such as video games, then I can see why some people would see that as a threat to their way of life.

But this fatwa is obviously going to do the exact opposite of what the imams want to achieve, which is to bring people back to the traditional way of life as outlined by Islam. Young people are going to feel victimised, misunderstood, and underappreciated, which in all likelihood will only create a bigger gulf between them and their local religious community. No ban or declaration like this, anywhere in the world, has actually succeeded in discouraging people from playing games; life always find a way. I don't see why this should be any different.

I apologise to any GB users who may be Muslim themselves if I have misrepresented or inadequately explained the situation. I do not claim to be an expert on Islam, although I have enjoyed studying it.

Player Unknown needs to let someone cut for seconds in the buffet line. Unless he does that good deed, he’s as good as dead...

A fatwa such as this sounds like men out-of-sync with secular society. It's not unlike the witch hunt against violent games some 15-20 years ago.

This is rather surprising, considering that Iraq's Kurdish population has a reputation of being somewhat more open to Western ideas than the rest of the Iraqi population. Guess this just goes to show that people are fundamentally the same everywhere. The old do not understand the young.

The Peshmerga were one of--if not THE most--effective groups fighting ISIS. This whole thing reminds me of all of those American writers who love to condemn millennials as lazy and entitled, while ignoring the fact that millennials have been the primary participants in the nation's longest-running war.

The Kurds are a stateless people, beset on all sides by nations who (at least) don't want to see a free and independent Kurdistan. Let the young find their peace and their fun where they can. These imams could stand to learn from that.

(Edited previous paragraph for combative language.)

So what you're saying is PUBG is improving life in Kurdistan?

The ummah has no central authority, so fatwas like this always make me a bit smug, but obviously this would affect people in the area. Glad to hear there's push-back.

The notion that Islam and the "West" are incompatible never ceases to amuse me, especially when a) some talk as if there's a monolithic understanding of Islam that is (conveniently for their typical line of argument) often taken to be the most radical, b) when some Middle-Eastern authority figures think they don't have a culture that isn't strictly Islam itself, and c) when some people think that Christianity and the "West" are synonymous.

Godspeed to everyone over there making the sensible arguments against fear of a fucking plain-ass video game. I know people who've had this exact argument with their parents as a kid, and while it's obviously an inconsequential comparison, they came around(-ish). You espouse the benefits of video games and then close with a reminder that Muhammad also spoke of everything in moderation, so you know, play video games but don't neglect your other duties, as you would aim for with any other beneficial activity in your life.

If you do start to neglect your duties because of a game, the reasonable response isn't to ban the fuckin video game in your whole darn community a la Pokemon cards or some shit. Ugh, that's such a typical respo--nope, not even gonna get started on that.

But yeah, just goes to show things seem to really boil down to being either conservative or liberal (socially in this case), wherever you are, and whatever big "G" you clasp your hands to. I bet there's plenty over here (i.e. North America) who'd love to issue similar "fatwas" themselves on media they don't like.

This surprises me no more than some Arch Evangelical presiding over a Mega church declaring the same thing. In fact one of these individuals denounced yoga the other day as a tool of satan and to be no longer practiced.

But I also have this attitude, that some Iman's given hostility towards PUGB isn't a hill I would die on. These are things that get worked out in time. I hope for a better future for the Kurds then what they seem to have now, with violence for many a way of life, rather than in a video game meant for fooling around, not to be taken seriously.