TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Is Yoga a threat to Islam?
When a Malaysian friend told me that Malaysia's National Fatwa Council had declared that "yoga is forbidden for Muslims", I honestly thought he was joking
Change Size
When a Malaysian friend told me that Malaysia's National Fatwa Council had declared that "yoga is forbidden for Muslims", I honestly thought he was joking. It was, therefore, surreal for me to see this topic being discussed in the editorial section of this paper.
However, I then began to question whether I and many of my Muslims friend had become closeted Hindus after practicing yoga for years.
As an enthusiast of Ashtanga Yoga, I wondered which part of it has caused some kind of irritation to these ulemas.
If we translate plainly, Surya Namaskara, which is central to the practice of ashtanga yoga, means Sun Salutation. To claim that performing this movement indicates that a Muslim yoga practitioner worships Surya/Ravi (the Sun God), instead of Allah is an insult to our intelligence.
While performing this movement, practitioners concentrate on their bodily movements and breathing. No yoga instructor is trying to corrupt the Muslim practitioner's mind by suggesting we chant something like "let us pray to the Sun God, and may He give us health and wealth" or something similar.
The very reason why many have argued that yoga is an exercise, which can give us peace of mind, is not because the Sun God plays its trick (or responds), but because during the whole process we concentrate solely on our breathing and the flexibility of our body.
Unlike many competitive sports in which we have to focus not only on ourselves, but also on how to defeat our opponents, yoga is extremely noncompetitive. Practitioners only have to pose and move according to their own bodily ability and flexibility. They do not need to worry whether someone next to them is fitter and suppler.
In a life where most of us are conditioned that it is important to be number one and to be the best whether we admit it or not (i.e. being the best student, having the best job, adhering to the best religion on earth, living in the best country of the world or whatever), practicing yoga is a kind of bliss.
At least for a while, yoga practitioners only focus on how precious their body, mind and breathing are. There is no need to feel that we have to win, to defeat or to be much better than everybody around us.
It is true that there is a part in the exercise in which practitioners chant a mantra. For example, in the yoga class that I sometimes attend, we chant Mantra Mangala.
However, it is wrong to simply translate the Mantra Mangala as a chant directed to Mangala (Mars/the God of War). Instead of throwing accusations that this sort of chanting could potentially make Muslims question their faith, we should actually focus on the content of the chanting itself.
More or less, the chanting includes words such as "may there be peace on earth; may all human beings be prosperous and live in harmony; may the welfare of all people be protected" and so on.
This is a universal message that I believe people from all religions -- be they Muslims, Hindus, Christians or Buddhists -- are familiar with. If one refuses to see this chanting as something which has a universal value, at least chanting that is better than rehearsing words which would potentially lead people to attack others who do not share their beliefs.
The universality of yoga can also be seen by the variety of participants who join the classes. In my own experience, it is hardly that yoga classes are dominated by Hindus as some rather foolishly think. In fact, there are always people from widely different cultural and religious backgrounds in these classes.
The funny thing is that yoga is actually a heritage of our ancestors. It has gained a remarkable international reputation due to its universal appeal and message. Indonesians should actually feel closer to it, instead of treating it as some kind of alien exercise that can corrupt our minds.
It is not my place to criticize the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) for debating the practice of yoga. However, it is appropriate to question whether this move will even further distance many Muslims from others. Another question is of course whether some actually regard the essence of universality itself a threat against the exclusivity of their faith.
The writer holds a bachelor's degree in International Relations from the School of Social Science and Cultural Studies, University of Sussex.
