One Muslim scholar claims FaceApp is 'haram'

Thanks to the FaceApp challenge, millions have recently been taking to social media to post images of what they'll possibly look like when they grow old. 

The trend has also become a hit in the Arab world, where many, including celebrities, are using the application to explore what their faces will look like 60 years down the line. 

Though popular in the region, the phenomenon hasn't gone down too well with Dr. Essam al-Roubi, an Egyptian Islamic scholar at Egypt's top Islamic university, Al-Azhar. 

In a statement to Cairo 24 on Saturday, the cleric lashed out at the trend and said it was "forbidden" for Muslims to use it because "it changes God's creation." 

"This application is a type of craze that leads to undesirable consequences," he explained. "Do these images really show what will happen to people? No. Only God knows that," he added.

Al-Roubi referred to several passages from the holy Quran in a bid to prove that using the application goes against religion. 

One of them is part of verse 119 of Surat al-Nisaa. It states: "I will command them so they will change the creation of Allah."

Another is verse 70 of Surat al-Israa, which reads: "And We have certainly honored the children of Adam and carried them on the land and sea and provided for them of the good things and preferred them over much of what We have created." 

The cleric explained that because the application allows a person to change so much of how God created them (even though it's in the virtual world), it, therefore, goes against Islam. 

FaceApp was first released in 2017 but has since gained massive popularity. 

The mobile application is "designed to create realistic transformations of faces using various filters and features." The creations made through it continue to circulate on social media platforms in Arab countries. The trend shows no signs of departure anytime soon.