PUBG Mobile & Free Fire games are officially Haram in Aceh

A few months ago, at the beginning of 2021, there was a sad event in New Zealand, namely the massacre of Muslims who were praying Friday by white supremacists. The impact of this incident reached Indonesia. Therefore, FPS games such as PUBG were mentioned as one of the factors causing the massacre, so the Ulema Council in Aceh had time to study PUBG and friends to be labeled an illegal game.

However, due to many rejections from the community and also directions from the government regarding the potential for PUBG to be connected to eSports, PUBG was canceled from being labeled haram. Even so, there are still those who do not agree with the MUI decision. Therefore, through an in-depth study, finally, in June 2021, the Ulema Council in Aceh officially labeled the PUBG and Free Fire (FF) games haram.

Study of the Ulema Council in Aceh

The Ulema Council that labeled PUBG and Free Fire (FF) unlawful is not the Indonesian Ulema Council, but the Ulema Consultative Council (MPU). The Ulama Consultative Council is an Islamic organization filled by a handful of Acehnese clerics. The fatwa decision was issued by the MPU through an in-depth study for three days which took place from 17-19 June 2021 located in the MPU Secretariat Hall.

An in-depth study wrapped in a trial format, with the theme “Law and Impact of PUBG Games and the Like According to Islamic Jurisprudence, Information Technology and Psychology.” After being studied for three days, MPU concluded that playing PUBG and the like is haram. Apart from the Christchurch incident, this in-depth study is a continuation of the MPU’s recommendations in the previous three years regarding controlling online games. At the time of the previous three years, PUBG did not yet exist.

The decision of the three-day in-depth study was not without clear reasons. But there is a discussion accompanied by related facts. Some of the reasons that are used as the basis for the decision that FPS, PUBG and Free Fire (FF) games are illegal are that these games are sadistic and brutal which are feared to change the behavior of the players into negative behavior.

Examples of these reasons are issuing curses, foul language when the character is killed, and/or being violent. Another reason is that FPS games can make the players suffer from addiction to a dangerous level, teaching the players the elements of Islamophobia, pornography, and violence.

The illegitimate fatwa against FPS games does not only apply to mobile and online platforms. But on console-based games, PCs, and similar android offline games. With the fatwa issued by the MPU, the government is expected to act decisively by blocking this forbidden game, especially in the Aceh region.

List of Haram Games in Aceh:

Criteria for Haram Games in Aceh:

• Games with pornographic elements
• War games and nuances of violence
• Game with Islamophobia or insulting Islam

The existence of a fatwa from the Ulema Council in Aceh which labels PUBG and Free Fire (FF) games as haram has received mixed responses from the Indonesian people. There are pros and cons to this fatwa. The reason that contradicts the MPU’s fatwa is that the MPU’s decision is not right on target. Supposedly, the fatwa given is the person, not the game. In addition, those who are against it state that PUBG and similar FPS games have many benefits, such as training in concentration, increasing solidarity, and relieving stress.

Those who are pro against MPU’s decision give the reason that PUBG games and the like can damage morale and make the younger generation lazy, individuals who are indifferent and don’t care about the surrounding environment, and waste money in games.

That’s the news about PUBG and Free Fire (FF) and similar games which are officially labeled haram by the Ulama Consultative Council (MPU) specifically for the Aceh region, not Indonesia as a whole. What do you think about this problem?

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