RABAT, Morocco, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- A religious leader in Morocco has issued a fatwa calling candid camera TV shows "among the most grave and abhorrent of sins."
Sheik Adnan Zohar, a member of the Scholarly Council's Fatwa Committee, said the shows aim to create fear in the audience and require actors to lie, the al-Arabiya television network reported.
"In several candid camera episodes you would see a man crying, a woman calling out for help, or frightened people. Instilling fear in people is against Islam," he wrote in his fatwa. "These programs are among the most grave and abhorrent of sins."
The shows also humiliate people and encourage the audience to waste time better spent in worship and prayer, he said.
Zohar took particular aim at Taxi 36, a show on the state television network. He said everyone involved in the show, whether producers or actors, is involved in sin.
Another Islamic scholar disagreed.
"These shows aim at entertaining people and we cannot prohibit jokes in principle," Sheik Mohamed al-Taweel told al-Arabiya.
