There is supposed to be an announcement of the ruling on yoga exercise for Muslims today but the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) Director-General Datuk Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz said the National Fatwa Council chairman, Datuk Abdul Shukor Husin, was overseas on official business and the announcement has to be postponed. A lecturer of University Kebangsaan Malaysia's (UKM) Faculty of Islamic Studies, Prof Zakaria Stapa had said earlier that yoga is based on Hindu elements and could affect the faith of Muslims practising it. A letter Solat a good alternative to Yoga in the local paper written by a certain Tengku Azlan Sulaiman from Seri Kembangan said that there is yoga in Buddhism too. According to latter, practising yoga won’t cause a Muslim to deviate and become a Hindu but copying or adding elements which are clearly from other religions is not acceptable in Islam and the reminder was given in Surah Al Kafirun. As such the writer suggests an alternative to Yoga - the Solat, which refers to the compulsory prayers that the Muslim performs five times each day. According to the writer, the Solat is a sequence of movements which is good for the body, encouraging blood circulation to several nerves in the brain and has been proven to increase concentration and refine memory besides providing a calming effect and regulating stress, and making the body healthy and active. I kinda of like the idea.
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