"And He feeds me and quenches my thirst and when I fall sick then He (Allah) cures me" [Soorah Shu'araa: 80]


22.11.08

Fatwa Council says yoga with worshipping, chanting is prohibited


By MAZWIN NIK ANIS, The Star Online ,22nd Nov 2008


PUTRAJAYA: The National Fatwa council has declared that the yoga practice which involves three elements of physical movements, worshipping and chanting as haram (prohibited) in Islam.

Its chairman Datuk Dr Abdul Shukor Husin said although merely doing the physical movements of yoga minus the worshipping and chanting might not be wrong in the eyes of the religion, it should be avoided as “doing one would lead to another”.

He said yoga has been practised by the Hindu community for thousands of years and incorporates physical and religious elements and chants and worshipping, with the aim at “being one with God”.
“Because of this, we believe that it is inappropriate for Muslims to do yoga and the council has declared that practising yoga when it comes all together with the three elements as haram.
“We discourage Muslims to do yoga as a form of exercise because it will ultimately lead to religious worshipping and chanting which is against Islam.

“In Islam, one must not do things which can erode one’s aqidah or faith. Doing yoga, even just the physical movements is a step towards an erosion of one’s faith in the religion, hence Muslims should avoid it,” he told a press conference.
He added that the council had come up with an edict on yoga as the matter was brought up to them following growing concerns whether it would be against the religion if Muslims do the exercise.
Recently, a lecturer Prof Zakaria Stapa of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Islamic Studies Centre advised Muslims who had taken up yoga to stop practising it for fear that they could deviate from the teachings of Islam.

Shukor said the declaration of yoga as haram was done after serious and indepth discussions were made by the council members who met last month.
He added after studying the matter, including the history and purpose of yoga where the ultimate aim was to “be one with God”, the council decided that it was inappropriate for Muslims as it could affect one’s faith.

Asked if the decision would draw flak within the Malaysian community, including the non-Muslims, he said the ruling was only meant for Muslims and the rest were free to practise yoga.
“The fatwa (edict) is meant solely for the Muslims to follow. The non-Muslims need not question or debate about this because they are free to do whatever they wish. It is the Muslims who have to adhere to this,” he added.

Shukor said once the edict was gazetted, it would be up to the state governments on how they plan to implement and enforce the ruling as religious affairs come under its purview.
“Malaysia is not the only country which declare yoga as haram in Islam. Singapore and Egypt have come out with the same edict as well,” he said.

He said Muslims must be careful as to not do things which could erode their faith, adding the religion strongly advocates “prevention is better than cure”.

“There are many other forms of exercise that Muslims can partake especially when the religion promotes healthy living and lifestyle. Performing prayers for example is a good form of exercise,” he said.
Cross reference: yoga (wikipedia)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

yup solat 5x sehari semalam + sunat2 pun a way utk exercise. i mean on the movements la. yg inner lain cerita la kan.

tapi ada kawan yg dah bertahun2 buat yoga ni, and she was like.. 'ehh? are we so week-willed that when we exercise, our faith collapses sooo easily?'
and again here, we are talking abt the movements, the breathing techniques in and out and the way you hold it.

ada duduk mcm sami pastu cakap.."ohmmm ohmmmmm" dak?
and she tergelak besar... naaaaaaaaaahh

but errr, do they ever went to observe a class? hmmm

anyway, i'm not into yoga thingy. time occupied.

cuma adalah sesekali tengok org attend class sesambil tunggu budak2ni kat pool: they seemed relax, nampak mcm good people je, langkah cool tenang, and they were smiling at me masa keluar dari kelas.. langsung tak nampak mcm terrorist or sampah masyarakat :-P

inner? well, somebody used to tell me, tgk air paip, kalau keladak yg kat tangki dalam tu, keluar dari paip pun keladak gak.
so, badan sihat terpancar ke muka la kot.. uhuk.

senang2 ke aqidah pesong eh?

~z~

Anonymous said...

plus ..

what abt silat2 yg ada rituals tu? yg ada jampi serapah tu?

mandi darah binatang la.. perasap keris la.. konon tak lut la..

not prohibited? is it also some form of exercise?

~z~

Anonymous said...

Dear z (doter),

Dlm satu hadith yg masyhur-"innamal a'malubinniyyat"-setiap perbuatan itu bermula dgn niat.

depend on our niat la..apa yg kita nak dgn yoga-yogi ni..kalau niat kita ikhlas-lillahiataala, insyaAllah mendapat redha Allah s.w.t.

lagi satu plk-'matlamat tidak menghalalkan cara'-ini sifir fiqh yg asas.

matlamat kita mungkin dah betul (nak kesihatan dsb) tp kalau cara tu x ikut syariat, maka itu pun x dibenarkan dlm Islam

Dedi believed puak JAKIM dsb dah buat kajian yg mendalam (termasuk intipan, penyamaran dsb) dan depa responsible menjaga aqidah umat Islam, kalau x akan disoal di kemudian hari. jadi nak tak nak kita ikot je la..bukan payah benau pun..nak argue2 banyak mana sgt le ilmu kita..

tak gitu?

Anonymous said...

I have to agree with dedi this time.

I think its a good alert gak. So that we know where to stop. Yelah mula2 movements la. Mana tau lagi naik tahap, lagi belajar2 mendalam lagi kot2 tersasar pulak kan.

Aritu kan, kita borak2 ngan kawan he said, apart from the hindu roots, tang mana akidah leh rosak.
he said, its the concentration.
the focus.
where kita focus to one titik.
and by doing that kita BERSATU dgn roh alam or roh tuhan.
in pure yoga itu matlamat dia.

ah? like that ah? ayoyo ammaaa appaaaa

But i thought i read abt some titik focus to something related to pusat chakra etc etc etc somewhere.. hmmm di mana yaaa.

kih.. saja nyakat.

Anonymous said...

tu la pasal..
banyak bahya tu..silap-silap boleh jadi syirik..bukan ke dosa syirik tu takkan diampunkan?..nauzubillah..

cakra tu sebenarnya ada dikaji oleh ahli-ahli sufi Islam, terutama dari tareqat Naqsyabandiah.tapi ia dipanggil 'latif' dan ada 6, terletak di sekitar dada.

mentioning about amalan pembersihan jiwa ni, org Islam ramai yg tak pelajari tasauf, sdgkan dlm tasauf itu,diajar cara-cara pembersihan hati, melawan hawa nafsu, seterusnya mengenal Allah pada Dzat dan sifat-sifatnya.malang bagi ramai umat Islam! amalan Nabi ditinggal malah dipandang serong, pastu gi kutip plk amalan hindu kuno dsb!

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