Netflix declared ‘un-Islamic’ by a Pakistani private bank

A local bank in Pakistan has declared the use of streaming giant Netflix as 'un-Islamic', after a user’s payment was denied.

According to a report by BBC Urdu, Mohammad Ahmed Tariq, an avid user of Netflix and other applications that require a monthly subscription had been using the platforms for some time now, till abruptly, his payment was rejected.

The reason provided by the local private bank was what took Tariq by surprise as he was told by a representative that the issue he faces regarding the monthly payment of the streaming platform would not be getting solved as it falls against the bank’s ‘Shariah policy’.

Talking to BBC Urdu, Tariq revealed: “First of all, I hadn’t asked them for all the information that the bank had given me over the phone. And it wasn’t even in my mind that the Netflix payment would be rejected because the bank deems it ‘non-Islamic.’”

The usage of the popular streaming website has been on the surge in Pakistan with its global user count exceeding 148 million.