Al-Azhar's fatwa committee has denied issuing a fatwa banning the use of Facebook.
Former council head Sheikh Abd Al-Hamid Al-Atrash, to whom the fatwa was attributed, clarified that it was permitted to surf the Web if there was a purpose in doing so, but not for such corruption as prohibited relations or viewing licentious websites.
Al-Azhar's Islamic Research Academy expressed a similar stance, saying that Muslims are permitted to use Facebook for useful purposes such as defending Islam and Islam's image.
(See Al-Azhar Fatwa Bans Facebook)
Source: Islamonline.net, February 5, 2010
