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Fatwa on yoga out soon
Excerpt from The Star Online today;
"PENANG: The National Fatwa Council will come out with a ruling relating to yoga exercise soon.
The announcement would be made by the council’s chairman, Prof Datuk Dr Abdul Shukor Husin, said Deputy Director-General (Operations) of the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) Othman Mustapha.
He told reporters this Wednesday after opening the two-day seminar on Islamic Jurisprudence and Eternal Islamic Thinking at Universiti Sains Malaysia jointly organised by the Islamic Studies Division of the university’s Human Knowledge Study Centre and Jakim here.
On Tuesday, lecturer Prof Zakaria Stapa of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Islamic Studies Centre advised Muslims who have taken up yoga to stop practising it for fear that it could deviate their belief. - Bernama"
My response to it, "Duh!"
From NST Online today:
By : Melissa Darlyne Chow
GEORGE TOWN, PENANG:
A long-time yoga instructor has expressed shock and dismay over statement by a Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) lecturer who said that practising yoga could cause Muslims to deviate from the teachings of Islam.
Datin Suleiha Merican, 56, who has been practising yoga for 40 years, said the meditation technique is a science of health and had nothing to do with religion.
Suleiha said she still diligently performed prayers every day despite practising yoga."When we are strong in our faith, why would we want to deviate? The professor's statement is totally uncalled for," she said.
Suleiha was commenting on Prof Zakaria Stapa's statement that yoga could be traced back to Hinduism and that practising it could cause Muslims to deviate from the teachings of Islam.
Zakaria, who is from the Faculty of Islamic Studies, also urged Muslims who are practising yoga to stop it and return to the teachings of Islam.
"There is no conflict at all as yoga is not religion-based. There is no problem. I would definitely encourage Muslims to practise yoga," she said.
Suleiha said yoga was the answer to health problems, such as headaches and back pain. She noted that hospitals in the United Kingdom and United States offerred yoga as an alternative therapy.
"Every part of the world I have gone to there are Muslims who practice yoga practitioners, for instance in Iran," she said.
Suleiha, who runs the Maya Yoga Studio in Damansara Perdana, said yoga ran in the family as her father and her grandfather were also yoga instructors.
It was reported that the national fatwa council is also expected to announce its stand on Muslims practising yoga soon.
The Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) deputy director-general of operations, Othman Mustapha, was quoted as saying that an announcement on the decision would be made by the council soon.