Viral FaceApp challenge 'forbidden', Muslim scholar says

An Islamic scholar has condemned a social media trend that has swept the Middle East and much of the world, arguing it goes against the religion.

Essam al-Roubi, a graduate of Egypt's top Islamic university, told local media on Saturday said the FaceApp challenge is forbidden because it "changes God's creation".

The viral trend has seen social media users use the FaceApp app to create realistic transformations of what their faces could look like in old age.

Many social media users have posted doctored images of themselves and celebrities such as Egyptian footballer Mohammed Salah using the hashtag #FaceApp.

Roubi, however, has not been so amused by the pictures.

"This application is a type of craze that leads to undesirable consequences," he told news website Cairo24.

"Do these images really show what will happen to people? No. Only God knows that," he added.

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