A senior Saudi cleric has banned taking photographs of cats in a bid to stop people trying 'to be like Westerners'.

Sheikh Saleh Bin Fawzan Al-Fazwan issued the order after being told of a new trend of animal lovers posing for pictures with their pets.

After being informed of the craze, he said during a televised broadcast: 'What?! What do you mean pictures with cats? Taking pictures is prohibited. The cats don’t matter here.'

Banned: A senior Saudi cleric has barred taking photographs of cats in a bid to stop people trying 'to be like Westerners' (file picture)

Earlier he had been told how 'a new trend of taking pictures with cats has been spreading among people who want to be like Westerners'.

But the sheikh, a member of the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars, added: 'Taking pictures is prohibited if not for a necessity. Not with cats, not with dogs, not with wolves, not with anything.'

A video of the cleric's comments was posted on YouTube in April and has been translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute monitoring group.

Saudi Arabia applies a rigorous doctrine of Islam known as Wahhabism.

Earlier this year, the kingdom's top religious cleric ruled that chess was forbidden for Muslims because it was a 'waste of time' and promoted gambling.

Earlier this year, the kingdom's top religious cleric Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh (pictured) ruled that chess was forbidden for Muslims because it was a 'waste of time' and promoted gambling

Grand mufti Abdul Aziz bin-Abdullah issued the fatwa ahead of a major chess tournament in Mecca.

He said the game was 'an opportunity to squander money' and fell under the category of gambling which is banned in the Qu'ran.

And last month, a footballer in Saudi Arabia was ordered to have a haircut moments before kick off - as part of the kingdom's crackdown on players with 'anti-Islamic' hairstyles.

Waleed Abdullah, a goalkeeper for Al Shabab and Saudi Arabia's national team, was just about to join his teammates when match officials intervened.