Iran’s religious authorities are cracking down on TV game shows, apparently because their games too closely resemble gambling products.

Iranian state television recently debuted a new program called Barande Bash (Be The Winner), a shameless knockoff of the UK’s global hit Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. The show, hosted by local singer/actor Mohammed Reza Golzar (pictured, without beard), has proven a ratings winner for the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) company.

But the show’s arrival was met almost immediately by criticism from conservative cleric Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem-Shirazi (pictured, with beard), who published a fatwa (a nonbinding legal opinion) in a local newspaper declaring that such quiz shows offered “games of chance” and thus were effectively gambling, which is haram (forbidden) under Islamic law.

Other conservative media outlets quickly echoed the cleric’s claims, accusing IRIB of airing “a halal casino” and reminding Iranians of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s 2004 condemnation of such programs for eroding the nation’s “culture of hard work and productivity” by offering contestants something for nothing (other than brain power).