A Bangladeshi cleric issued a fatwa banning the use of the lol emoji on Facebook to mock people. "Right now we are using Facebook's lol ​​emoji to mock people," Ahmadullah said in the video, which has been viewed more than two million times.

On Saturday (19/6), Ahmadullah uploaded a three-minute video which essentially discussed ridicule on Facebook. In that video, he issued a statement prohibiting the use of emoji hahaha to mock others.

"If we use the lol ​​emoji purely for fun then it doesn't matter, but if the reaction is meant to mock or ridicule then it is haram and forbidden in Islam," he continued, quoted in India Today, Thursday (24/6).

Ahmadullah asked everyone to exercise restraint by avoiding using these emoticons for the purpose of ridiculing or mocking someone.

"If you hurt someone, he or she might retaliate with unexpected bad language," he said.

Thousands of followers reacted to his videos, mostly positive, although several hundred made fun of him using the "lol" emoji.

Ahmadullah is a newcomer preacher in Bangladesh who is very popular on social media, his sermon videos have reached millions of views.

The video that got a lot of attention was about his explanation of the origin of the coronavirus. Despite having many supporters, not a few also call Ahmadullah as a spreader of hate and hoaxes.