Saudi Arabia Bans Pokemon Go, Calls It “Haram”

Pokemon Go is that latest viral sensation to take the world by storm. This virtual reality mobile app now has more downloads than Tinder and more users than Twitter — all within the span of a month. While millions of fans have jumped on board the Pokemon go bandwagon, one country in particular isn’t feeling the Pokemon go craze.

Saudi Arabia’s top clerics denounced the game and reiterated a 2001 ban on Pokemon in the ultraconservative Kingdom. The reason? Pokemon supposedly promotes “Darwinism, Polytheism, Evolution and gambling”. Some Saudi clerics have even called the game “Haram”, a term used to describe what is explicitly forbidden in Islam.

It also said most cards on the game carried symbols of “deviant” religions and organisations, such as “international Zionism” and Israel, Christian crosses, freemasonry, and symbols from Japan’s native Shinto religion.

While the ban may sound bizarre to any civilized country, such incidents are commonplace in Saudi Arabia.

This latest fiasco isn’t the only ridiculous ban Saudi Arabia has enforced in the name of religion. Saudi Arabia remains the only country in the world where women are forbidden from driving. Music is banned from being played in the streets. Even the beloved Harry Potter series was banned in Saudi Arabia because it promoted “witchcraft”.

Saudi Arabia adopts a radical interpretation of Islam known as Wahhabism. Sharia Law in the kingdom is strictly enforced. Religious police routinely patrol the streets to root out any “immoral behaviour”. This often means harassing average Saudis, especially women, for crimes such as “leaving the house without a male guardian”, “playing music in public” or “wearing excessive makeup”.

Although other countries in the Gulf like Kuwait, UAE and Bahrain have issued public advisories, Saudi Arabia remains the only country to issue an outright ban.