muslim ban from yoga. wad..?!

[astro_girl86]

recently, news have been spread originally frm KL, Malaysia, that muslims are ban frm practising yoga. oh geez, i just tot of signing up for yoga classes and then this has to happen?

i seriously need to learn how to relax etc and i think yoga lesson has the best solution as it teaches how to breathe the right way etc. anyone has opinions? and yes, am a muslim hence i brought up this topic.

[Plavt]

Maybe not;


http://www.newkerala.com/topstory-fullnews-42193.html

[durain]

but that's in malaysia. no problemo in singapore.

[Strong Eagle]

Look Astro Girl... some clown issues his personal 'fatwah' that doing yoga is not compatible with being Muslim. But what does this idiot know? Only you know. Are you happy in your religion? Does it fulfill your life? Will yoga get in the way? Only you can answer, and just because some clown has made a statement, it really has no relevance to you.

Are you an alive, free thinking person, or stuck in the rut of having others tell you what is right, what to do?

[waz]

Hi Astrogirl.

The problem it seems in Malaysia is that part of that specific Yoga practices has hyms and posture which they believe is inconsistent with the Islamic teaching.

Getting advise from non-Muslim does not help you in any bit from the "deviation" that is supposed to be in question.

At the end of it, you have to question yourself if such act would shake your "iman".

I can write further on the fundamental of the Islamic belief on why yes, and no to yoga. But I do believe this is not the right forum for it.

Cheers.

[tigger]

recently, news have been spread originally frm KL, Malaysia, that muslims are ban frm practising yoga. oh geez, i just tot of signing up for yoga classes and then this has to happen?

i seriously need to learn how to relax etc and i think yoga lesson has the best solution as it teaches how to breathe the right way etc. anyone has opinions? and yes, am a muslim hence i brought up this topic.

Dear Astro_girl,

May peace be upon u.

I am a Muslim and a yoga practitioner myself for the past two years. there are many different types of yoga, some which use mantras (in Sanskrit) during the sessions, mostly during the relaxation part. it really depends on the yoga teacher, so choosing one which resonates with your energy is important. I can recommend one yoga teacher who don't use mantras in her yoga sessions. She's Adele from Faeries Loft. Let me know if you're interested.

Islam is universal and a religion of love. i don't agree with what the malaysians' gov is doing in banning yoga coz that's the easy way out and by doing that, people from other faiths may perceive Muslims as people with closed hearts when in fact Islam's spirituality, the esoteric part, teaches us to open and connect with our hearts.

deviation only comes due to the lack of knowledge. when one chant a mantra, one need to know what is the meaning of the mantra. a yoga teacher may use mantras in his/her sessions but if one is uncomfortable with it, one can always replace it with something else. There are also similarities in the physical movement of yoga and with the way we prayed because in both cases, the action activates the energy centres (chakras, chi, etc) of our body.

Hope the above helps.

Love,

Tigger

[Vaucluse]

For once I agree with Mahatir when he asked why Muslim's beliefs are seen to be so weak that they doubt or leave their faith because of physical exercise.

The head-moron at the Supreme Fatwa Council, or similar, has now conveniently passed the buck to the royals who are treating it like a hot potato, confirming their complete and utter lack of doing anything useful.

As someone mentioned, this is the Malaysian Fatwa Council and has no jurisdiction anywhere else, it doesn't even have the power to enforce it in all states. Indonesia has already said it would NOT follow suit.

Two things here that I find disturbing about the OP:

1) Why would you not do something because someone, somewhere proclaims it to be wrong. Women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to drive, does that mean that you will not get a driver's license?
The Taliban are against girls or women getting an education, will you now quit school?

2) Is your faith so weak that you are afraid of turning into a different person if you practise yoga?

Utter drivel

[Wind In My Hair]

The head-moron at the Supreme Fatwa Council, or similar, has now conveniently passed the buck to the royals who are treating it like a hot potato, confirming their complete and utter lack of doing anything useful.

I shouldn't laugh, but I did.

Astro Girl,

I find Tigger's and Vaucluse's posts very good for you to think about (just ignore the strong language). When I was younger I found it difficult to think for myself and wanted simple answers from other people as well, so I can understand why you posted here.

Think about this though: If you have to seek others' opinions on something as simple as whether to practise yoga, then you probably have difficulty figuring out a lot of other, perhaps much more important, decisions in life as well. Plus, how are people's answers going to help you on this issue? Will you go by majority vote? How will that help the next time you need to make a decision - call another vote?

My take is this: before you can make a good decision, you have to understand what you are deciding about. If I were you I would find out everything I can about yoga and compare it to everything I know about Islam. See for yourself if there are any contradictions. Think about how you can embrace what is good in both and reconcile them in yourself, thereby finding a way forward.

[Jeppo]

Indonesia has already said it would NOT follow suit.

Don't know where you got that info. From the Jakarta Post

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008 ... icing.html

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) is telling Indonesian Muslims to stop practicing yoga while the council investigates the practice after public concern rose when a Malaysian top Muslim body banned the practice.

MUI head of edict affairs said Tuesday the council would invite yoga experts to explain the practice within the next two weeks.

"We will let them explain it to us before we issue an edict on the practice," he said as quoted by Tempointeraktif.com

The council plans to study whether yoga includes rituals, actions or teachings that run counter to Islamic teachings.

Last week Malaysia's National Fatwa Council, which has the authority to rule over how Muslims practice their faith, issued an edict banning Muslims from practicing yoga, saying the Indian physical exercise contains spiritual elements including chanting and Hindu worship practices that could corrupt Muslims.

Many analysts have said the edict reflects the growing strain of conservatism in Malaysia. The majority of Malaysians are Muslim.

[Vaucluse]

Jeppo wrote:

Don't know where you got that info. From the Jakarta Post

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008 ... icing.html

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) is telling Indonesian Muslims to stop practicing yoga while the council investigates the practice after public concern rose when a Malaysian top Muslim body banned the practice.

MUI head of edict affairs said Tuesday the council would invite yoga experts to explain the practice within the next two weeks.

"We will let them explain it to us before we issue an edict on the practice," he said as quoted by Tempointeraktif.com

Here:

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008 ... -body.html

Excerpt:

The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) said Sunday it would not follow its Malaysian counterpart in banning yoga, if only because it did not know how widely yoga was practiced here.

MUI deputy chairman Umar Shihab said the board of clerics would have to conduct a study before issuing an edict to ban it.

"It's OK if it's for sport. I guess we can allow it here. But I don't know if it is proved it can destroy our beliefs as Muslims or contains ideas of polytheism," he said.

Umar said the MUI had never conducted a study on yoga because there had been no public complaints.

Your quite was from the 25th, mine from the 24th . . . who can keep up

An interesting note is the following line:

because there had been no public complaints.

The only complaints in Malaysia were from the fatwa council . . . another great example of the state mixing up sharia and constitutional law.

[Avida]

Too much for the ho hah, Malaysia govt has now un-ban yoga for Muslims.
Yoga is fine as long as Muslim don't recite the Mantras.