Issuing a religious fatwa against people who go out and buy Twitter followers to boost their ‘popularity’ is probably a bit extreme to say the least, but there’s every chance that it might just happen following the decision of a prominent Saudi Arabia cleric to denounce the practice as “dishonest and malicious”.

In a recent interview reported on by the English-language Al Arabiya news network, Sheikh Abdullah, one of Saudi Arabia’s most senior Islamic scholars said spending money on Twitter followers was “a lie and slander” and went against the country’s religious values. Abdullah made his remarks after being asked how he felt about reports that it was common practice for celebrities and religious figures in the oil-rich kingdom to purchase Twitter followers to enhance their accounts.

According to the report, Twitter followers don’t half come cheap in Saudi Arabia, where it’s possible to buy up to 10,000 followers for as little as $70.

Abdullah’s take on Twitter was later backed up by Dr. Talal Thaqafi, a clinical psychologist who stated that “someone who pays money in order to increase their followers obviously has a weak and disturbed mind, as they cannot achieve that feat by any other means.”

Ouch.

This isn’t the first time the practice of buying fake Twitter followers has hit the headlines – just last month, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was recently accused of adding 140,000 new followers to his account, while British MP Louise Mensch insists that the 80,000 or so followers that she accumulated virtually overnight were purchased by someone else in an attempt to embarrass her.