The Harmful Impact of PUBG: Insights from Islamic Teaching

Understanding PUBG’s Negative Effects According to Islamic Teachings

Among various types of video games, PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds) is a well-known name, enthusiastically played by children, young adults, and even the elderly. PUBG stands for PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and is a fictional war-based video game. If you listen to its players or observe their condition, you will find that there is not even an ounce of positivity in this game, whereas its negative effects are deep and widespread.

Since it is a virtual war game, as its name suggests, its core activities involve killing, shooting weapons, eliminating opponents, and causing destruction. Consequently, this game has harmful effects on society, even leading to mental illness among its players. Many PUBG players have ended up taking their own lives, some have murdered their own family members, while others have harmed their friends. Generally, psychologists emphasize only the negative impacts of this game. The situation has worsened to the extent that, due to its domestic and societal damages, there have been national-level demands to ban it. Listing incidents of PUBG players committing murders is unnecessary, as such cases are widely available on the internet. However, let’s examine some of the major psychological effects this game has on its players.

• While all internet-based games cause social detachment to some extent, PUBG’s case is even more severe. The addiction to this game becomes so overwhelming that the player isolates themselves from everyone, confining themselves to a room or withdrawing from social interactions. The mission in PUBG is to be the last fighter standing after eliminating all opponents, and this sense of loneliness seeps into real life. The player starts avoiding people, dislikes meeting anyone, and dedicates all their time to PUBG, making it their only companion, friend, and world.

• The addiction to this game is so overpowering that a person loses their sense of normal living. They become indifferent to essential routines such as sleeping, waking up, eating, and fulfilling household responsibilities. Even when delicious food is placed before them, their focus remains on PUBG. This leads to health deterioration as their eating, sleeping, and rest patterns are entirely disrupted.

• This game negatively affects a person’s intellect, turning them into a psychological and mental patient. Today, a large number of psychological patients owe their condition to this game. When a person’s mind itself is not sound, then no part of their body can function properly.

• Bollywood movies have not spread as much violence over the years as PUBG and similar games have done in a short period. PUBG has instilled aggressiveness, bad temper, irritability, detachment, enmity, misbehavior, and violent tendencies in its players. As a result, some players end up harming themselves, while others kill those closest to them—even their parents, siblings, or friends—losing all sense of familial ties.

• Another major negative aspect of this game is that it enslaves a person, diverting them from their fundamental responsibilities. A student’s studies will suffer, an employee will neglect their job, a teacher will fail in their duties, and a household or societal leader will not be able to fulfill their responsibilities properly.

These are some of the significant negative effects of playing PUBG. So far, we have only discussed its worldly harms. Now, let’s evaluate this game in light of Islamic teachings to understand its religious implications and why we should avoid it.

Islam has commanded us to protect five essential things, known as Dharuriyat Khamsa: religion, life, intellect, lineage, and wealth. PUBG directly harms four of these five fundamental aspects.

PUBG and Religious Harm:

This is a meaningless game that wastes a lot of time and psychologically distracts a person from their obligations, potentially leading to neglect of important acts of worship such as prayer. This is a general harm. However, a major religious concern is that it is reported that there is a stage in the game where a player must bow before an idol to gain power. If this stage truly exists, then this game is pushing its players towards disbelief (kufr), causing severe damage to their faith.

PUBG and Life’s Harm:

Since this is a war game, it instills habits of fighting and killing. In reality, many people have been murdered due to this game. Players harm themselves as well as others, making this game a direct threat to human life. Islam prohibits anything that endangers human life, even forbidding actions that cause minor harm. Allah says:

"And do not throw yourselves into destruction with your own hands." (Surah Al-Baqarah: 195)

Abdullah ibn Abbas (RA) narrated that the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said:

“There should be neither harming (of others) nor reciprocating harm.” (Sahih Ibn Majah: 1910)

This hadith states a fundamental principle: neither should one harm oneself, nor should one harm others. In fact, the definition of a Muslim is that others are safe from his hands and tongue. Accordingly, it is narrated from Abdullah bin Umar (رضي الله عنهما) that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

“A Muslim is the one who avoids harming Muslims with his tongue or his hands. And a Muhajir (an emigrant) is the one who gives up (abandons) all what Allah has forbidden.”

(Sahih al-Bukhari: 6484)

PUBG and the Harm to Intelligence

Medical and psychological experts have found that PUBG negatively affects human intelligence, turning individuals into mental patients. In fact, this is something we observe ourselves. We frequently witness people’s intellect deteriorating due to this game, just as alcohol causes mental impairment. Islam commands the protection of intellect, and therefore, anything that harms it must be avoided. Just as alcohol and intoxicants damage the intellect and must be avoided, so must PUBG, because playing it harms intelligence.

PUBG and Financial Loss

PUBG is a game where money is spent to create an account, and then further money is spent to buy items and engage in gambling-like contests of winning and losing. On one hand, money is wasted without reason, and on the other, it involves gambling, which is prohibited in Islam. Allah Almighty says:

"O you who believe! Intoxicants (all kinds of alcoholic drinks), gambling, Al-Ansab, and Al-Azlam (arrows for seeking luck or decision) are an abomination of Shaitan’s (Satan) handiwork. So avoid (strictly all) that (abomination) in order that you may be successful." (Al-Ma'idah: 90)

And the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

“Indeed, Allah dislikes three things for you: idle talk, wasting wealth, and excessive questioning.”

(Sahih al-Bukhari: 1477)

Now, you can assess how PUBG affects four out of the five essential protections Islam emphasizes. The reality is that PUBG is a game filled with countless harms, offering no intellectual, physical, or health benefits—only losses. It is meaningless, futile, time-wasting, and distracts one from duties and obligations, engrossing people in idle entertainment. Allah Almighty forbids His servants from engaging in such futile activities. To take heed, consider some statements from Allah and His Messenger:

Allah describes the traits of true believers:

"Successful indeed are the believers, Those who offer their Salat (prayers) with all solemnity and full submissiveness, And those who turn away from Al-Laghw (dirty, false, evil vain talk, falsehood, and all that Allah has forbidden)." (Al-Mu’minun: 1-3)

Similarly, Allah states:

“And of mankind is he who purchases idle talks (i.e. music, singing, etc.) to mislead (men) from the Path of Allah without knowledge, and takes it (the Path of Allah, the Verses of the Quran) by way of mockery. For such there will be a humiliating torment (in the Hell-fire).” (Luqman: 6)

Abu Hurairah (رضي الله عنه) reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

“Indeed among the excellence of a person’s Islam is that he leaves what does not concern him.”

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi: 2317)

The Value of Time

To emphasize the importance of time, the Prophet (ﷺ) gave us a valuable piece of advice regarding five things:

“Seize five before five: your youth before old age, your health before illness, your wealth before poverty, your free time before busyness, and your life before death.”

(Sahih al-Targhib: 3355)

Those who do not guard their time and fail to dedicate themselves to the worship of the Lord of all worlds are ultimately doomed. In a Hadith Qudsi, Allah says:

“O son of Adam! Free yourself for My worship, and I will fill your heart with contentment and remove your poverty. But if you do not, I will fill your heart with distractions and will not remove your poverty.”

(Sahih Ibn Majah: 3331)

The Issue of PUBG from a Shariah Perspective

Another problem with PUBG is that it involves animated characters, including depictions of living beings and even semi-naked female avatars. We know that in Islam, it is not permissible to use images of living beings. Consider these two hadiths from Sahih al-Bukhari:

• Abdullah bin Umar (رضي الله عنهما) reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

“Those who make these pictures will be punished on the Day of Resurrection, and it will be said to them. ‘Make alive what you have created.'”(Sahih al-Bukhari: 5951)

• Aisha (رضي الله عنها) reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

“The people who will face the most severe punishment on the Day of Judgment are those who try to imitate the creation of Allah.” (Sahih al-Bukhari: 5954)

Now, all the critical points related to PUBG have been presented before you. You have read about the psychological harms it causes and its impact on the five fundamental objectives of Shariah (ضرورات خمسہ). Due to these harms, PUBG directly contradicts the Islamic principle of “لا ضرر ولا ضرار” (Neither should harm be inflicted, nor should harm be endured). Moreover, it is a futile amusement that wastes time and wealth, distracts from worship, and falls under the category of forbidden imagery.

Thus, there is absolutely no doubt in saying that playing PUBG is not permissible in light of Islamic teachings. Muslim boys and girls should refrain from this game, and household heads should responsibly supervise their families and prevent them from playing PUBG.

Author: IslamicHelper