Is Yoga Bad For You?
Leo Reyes
November 23, 2008 Is the practice of Yoga bad for your health? If you are a practicing Muslim it may be bad for you.
In Malaysia, Muslims have been banned from practicing Yoga by the National Fatwa Council. They claimed that the Indian inspired mental and physical exercise contains elements of Hinduism that could corrupt the Muslims.
“It is inappropriate. It can destroy the faith of the Muslim” said Abdul Shukor Husin, Chairman of the National Fatwa Council in and interview with reporters, adding that clerics in Egypt also issued similar edicts in 2004 that says “the practice of Yoga is an “aberration”.
Abdul was quoted to have said that:”many Muslims who practice the globally popular Yoga failed to understand that its ultimate aim was to be one with a god of a different religion. We are of the view that Yoga, which originates from Hinduism, combines physical exercise, religious elements, chanting, and worshipping for the purpose of achieving inner peace and ultimately to be with god” Only recently, girls behaving like boys or tomboys have been banned by the same body in Malaysia saying that girls, who act like boys, violate the tenets of Islam.
Malaysia has a population of about 27 million people and approximately two thirds of them are Muslims. Although the edicts are not legally binding unless they are enshrined in the national or Shariah laws, Muslims abide by the edicts out of deference.
In India, where Yoga originated, it is mostly regarded as a medium for cure of common illnesses. To most practitioners, Yoga is a form of therapy that claims to enhance one’s physical and emotional well-being. They claim that Yoga, when practiced with therapeutic intention, can help prevent and aid in recovery from physical and mental ailment.
Art Browenstein, a Medical Doctor, defines Yoga therapy as the use of the techniques of Yoga to create, stimulate and maintain an optimum state of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health. In this definition, one would find it hard to associate yoga with religion or a practice of certain religious beliefs.
Tags: Yoga , Religion , India , Malaysia
Comments
I heard about this. As far as girls acting like tomboys, I see no harm in affording women of all countries social freedom to express themselves anyway they want to. It is sad, that such a religion as Islam would condemn the practice of meditation and yoga when it is proven to be a healthy alternative to some medicines. I hope that the worlds religious leaders come to understand that there is only one God, and he created the many different peoples and faiths. I recall when Bin Laden destroyed the Budda statues in Afghanistan, destroying a valuable earth treasure that was enjoyed by people of all faiths. I hope such discrimination is realized and this type of control is forbidden world wide, teaching peace through tolerance.. I hope the laws get reversed. Nice article and very informative. Thank you.
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