SMS: MUI's investigation into yoga

Tue, 12/02/2008 10:35 AM  |  Reader's Forum

Your comments on the Indonesian Ulemas Council's (MUI) investigation into yoga following the decision by the Malaysian National Fatwa Council prohibiting Muslims from practicing it.

Where does it say you have to be a Hindu to practice this? It's just a routine of stretching exercises, breathing and meditation. If you don't want to say the mantras, don't chant them. Just focus on your individual beliefs.

Simple, isn't it? Why do we always focus negatively on religions and create more havoc in the already-stressed-out world of today? Yoga actually makes you peaceful with or without chanting mantras and that is what we are learning.
ANITA RAM
Jakarta

If yoga can erode Muslims' faith then that faith can't be very strong in the first place. Does the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) really have nothing better to do?
TOM
Pangandaran, West Java

I'm curious how many Muslims who have done yoga may have converted to Hinduism. I bet none.
CHERYL SURYANTO
Denpasar

Wow. The Council will summon yoga experts to explain the practice. I'm waiting for the headline: Indonesia follows Malaysia in banning yoga for Muslims. Soon they'll come up with something even more ridiculous.
IYUEN
Jakarta

What is truly sad is having to actually defend practices such as yoga in the first place. MUI members should spend more time diffusing the radical points of view of the current voice and face of Islam and in promoting tolerance.

Yet they spend more time deliberating the inane. Are Indonesian Muslims so weak that practicing yoga will erode their faith and "gasp" transform them into Hindus?! Just like seeing a shoulder will cause an erection in a Pious Islamic Man, and it's not the fault of the Pious Islamic Man, it's the woman's fault for showing her shoulders.

Do these people care what type of public image Indonesia's Islam is showing to the world? One that is more radical every passing day.
DAVID K.
Jakarta

I joined a yoga class. However, I still do my prayers regularly only to Allah. So what's wrong with a Muslim who practices yoga?
UMI
Surakarta, Central Java

Why don't you guys gain from the positive aspects and throw away the negative aspects? Yoga is healthy. If you feel the mantras are not suited to your belief, then change it to your own prayer. Easy, right? Don't be too narrow-minded, lah.
ANNA SURESH
Jakarta

Yoga is essentially a mind-body therapy involving exercises and meditation. It is gradually gaining recognition as a potent alternative branch of medicine all over the world. Yoga is becoming popular because it has no side effects whatsoever.

It gives long-lasting results and works to deter the development of disease without the help of any orally administered medicine. It is broadly categorized into three categories: breathing exercises, body postures, and meditation.

Yoga focuses on harmony between mind and body. The word "yoga" means union or merger. The ultimate aim of this philosophy is to strike a balance between mind and body and attain self-enlightenment.

To achieve this, yoga uses movement, breath, posture, relaxation and meditation to establish a healthy, lively and balanced approach to life. Yoga thus symbolizes balance in every area of life.

Yoga seeks to harness the body's own energy to regulate heart rate, clear away confusion and provide peace of mind. It also helps in retarding the aging process. It is achieved through a number of yogic postures called asanas.

Yoga helps to cleanse and detoxify the body and the senses. For the body, purification of the bowel and colon, cleansing of nasal passage and eyes are the common practices. Hatha yoga, one major branch of yogic practices, is both meditative and therapeutic.

Citing one example, Pranayama is a breathing exercise which helps get rid of blockages in the body's fine system of energy channels, or nadis. Such blockages can thwart the proper flow of prana, a kind of energy, through the body. They are caused by various factors such as stress, toxins and improper diet.

According to yoga advocates, the interrupted flow of prana leads to adversities in a person's mental, physical and emotional health.

Yoga contributes to improved blood circulation and physical flexibility. It sharpens the mind and corrects the mood. Other benefits include improved respiration, digestion and evacuation. Measurable improvement in memory and intelligence, lessening of pain, stopping addictions, enhancing motor skills, visual and auditory perceptions and better metabolic function are other advantages.
SUNIL K. KUMBHAT
Jodhpur, India

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