Kedah first state to declare Pokemon Go as 'haram'

The decision was made by the Kedah Fatwa Council in a meeting comprising 10 committee members held at its office in Anak Bukit here today.

State Mufti Datuk Sheikh Mohammed Baderudin said the game should be prohibited, prevented and blocked from being played in Malaysia.

"We want more than that. We want this game to be stopped by the authorities. If we just declare it as haram, people will still play it.

"We found that Pokemon Go contains more harm than good and gives negative impact to Muslims," he told reporters after chairing the meeting.

Last week, Muslims were told to not engage themselves in the virtual world of Pokemon characters and play the game due to the principles of maslahah (public interest) and harmful consequences.