Muslims in Malaysia should not practice yoga

Muslim should not practice yoga because it will erode their faith in Islam, a senior Islamic cleric said today.

“Yoga is forbidden for Muslims. The practice will erode their faith in the religion,” Abdul Shukor Husin, chairman of the government-backed National Fatwa Council, told reporters.“We advice Muslims not to practice yoga. It does not conform with Islam,” he said in response to a call to ban Muslims from practising yoga. Yoga, an ancient Indian aid to meditation dating back thousands of years, is a popular stress-buster in Kuala Lumpur.

Zakaria Stapa, a professor at the Islamic faculty of the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, recently called on Muslims to stop practising yoga as it might cause them to “deviate from their faith”. Abdul Shukor said yoga involved physical and religious elements of Hinduism including the recitation of mantras.

He could not say how many Muslims were practising yoga but called on state authorities to punish those who do. The fatwa council recently banned women from dressing or behaving like men and engaging in lesbian sex, saying it was forbidden in Islam. - AFP