Al-Azhar Warns against TikTok's Blackout Challenge

Al-Azhar warned on Sunday against the scarf game or the so-called Blackout Challenge on TikTok.

The TikTok game invites its users to perform a unique and different experience, by holding their breath while recording it on the app.

The Challenge basically dares participants to choke themselves until they lose consciousness. The game has actually been around for years and is sometimes known as the "Pass out Challenge", "The Game of Choking", "Speed Dreaming" or "The Fainting Game", but it's currently gaining traction on TikTok.

Al-Azhar International Fatwa Center said in a statement that homes have become full of smartphones, applications and video games harmful to children, and even after society gets rid of these applications, more dangerous versions appear on market.

The statement added that these games and applications did not stop at messing with beliefs, trying to destroy many values ​​and morals, and corrupting families and societies but, it rather extended to include the destruction of the soul, the call to death, stressing that the blackout challenge is a new death game.

Meantime, TikTok has caused controversy again in Egypt, this time due to the sudden and successive death of 3 friends. While it was not proven that they were subjected to any kind of criminal death, some local media said that the cause of death was the scarf game, or what is known as the blackout challenge.

Last month, a girl died of asphyxiation in Sicily, in a case that has shocked Italy. Her parents said she had been participating in a so-called blackout challenge on TikTok, putting a belt around her neck and holding her breath while recording herself on her phone.