Jamie F
A website content-blocker and app promising ‘Shariah compliant’ browsing has launched, aimed at Muslims who want to filter out content that might compromise the teachings of Islam, including porn.
The Turkish startup company Halalz launched a browser extension named Kahf Browser and a web app named Kahf Halal Browser, for Android and iOS, which along with using AI to blur out porn images can also block access to sites linked to vices such as gambling.
The firm promises “safe, secure and halal browsing for Muslims”. As well as blocking gambling and porn content, the app is designed to block malware and phishing attacks.
Porn is usually considered haram, meaning forbidden or unlawful according to Islamic principles. When SEXTECHGUIDE tested out Kahf Browser on the Google Chrome browser, it was partially successful in shielding such offending material.
With the browser activated, visiting the Pornhub homepage resulted in seeing a grid of blurred images where hardcore porn video thumbnails once were. However, you could still easily click through to the videos and watch them unblurred, with the extension still activated.
Also, a Google image search for “gay porn” made with Kahf Browser activated resulted in a large amount of highly-explicit porn images of penises being placed in all manner of places, with none of the shots blurred.
Halalz started promoting its Islam-friendly web-blocking products around 2022, so to be fair it’s relatively early days in the startup company’s rollout. Still, its claims to “give a 100 percent halal browsing experience” seem a bit off considering our brief road test.
As well as its AI-assisted image-blur function Kahf Browser has a YouTube restriction mode, to assist browsing the video tube site without coming across more content frowned upon by Islamic principles.
“Shariah compliance means adhering to the principles and rules of Islamic law, as laid out in the Quran and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad. In the context of technology, a Shariah-compliant product or service is one that meets the ethical and moral standards of Islam,” Halalz says.
In addition to its middling performance in our brief test, if you opt to go for the Windows installer method, you’ll be re-directed to a Google Drive folder to download Kahf browser, which doesn’t feel very trustworthy or professional. To add to the confusion, the Kahf browser itself appears to be identical to another product made by the same company called Asil Browser, which is also still available to download.
