There is now a fatwa in Malaysia banning Muslims from practising yoga for fear it might deviates their belief. These are a few moments that I must say, I am ashamed to be a Muslim. It is this fatwa, along with some others that have rendered us Malaysian Muslims to be completely narrow minded.
I admit that I am not a devout Muslim but I will stand by every Muslim principle that I believe in and I will fight and debate those matters to death when challenged. But when this fatwa was made public on Saturday, a Christian yoga friend called me up to challenge me on this issue. And for the first time ever, I was speechless.
I am not sure how something so good can be seen by a few narrow minded people as a deviation and then be passed on as fatwa. I bet none of these people have ever been to a yoga class. I bet they don't even know the different types of yoga that are available, let alone name them all. Again these people manage to put Malaysia as a laughing stock on the map.
So, all I can say is Good luck Malaysia in reaching the 2020 goal...if this is what our leaders are concerned about, then we have a long way to go...
2 comments:
Dear Lini...my friend,
I apologise if this may sound patronising but u should be careful of what u say in matters of Islam. Wallahualam it may lead to "syirik". I m not a devout Muslim too but we should respect what the religious leaders decision coz ultimately they will bear the burden ("dosa") in the afterlife.
I also believe that yoga should not be banned outright. Some types of yoga which purely involves physical movement and do not involve mantra & stuff should be allowed. But I believe if your purpose of practising yoga is for health then u should say in your heart ("niat") that u are doing exercise not yoga. Do it without the mantra & stuff!
Anyway, the fatwa has been put on hold till further notice.
This is my two cents' worth. I hope u r not offended. I'm just doing my duty as a Muslim and as a friend.
Dear Michel,
Yeah...you are right, I should be more careful, but the problem is it is kinda difficult to respect the religious leaders' decisions when they are made in a brash manner.
Why come up with a fatwa and then only investigate? The matter should be researched before any decision is made. Then, it can be accepted and respected by all.
We all grew up with a thinking that we should not challenge our religious leaders, but actually, by challenging and understanding, we are making our faith stronger and not weaker.
I am truly blessed to have Ustaz Yasin as my mentor. He may be very controversial with his opinions but we engage in discussions to help us all understand and not just learn to accept. He is our spokesperson in trying to reverse the fatwa. So, we'll see.
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