Tomboys. Yoga. What's next? Ramly Burgers?

I just shook my head when i first heard about the ban on yoga by Malaysia's National Fatwa Council.

I was wondering, with tongue in cheek, maybe the famous Ramly Burger will be banned next for some reason or other. (Watch a video on how a Ramly Burger is made at the end of the two reports. I just love the burger!!!)

Islamic ruling bans Malaysia's Muslims from practising yoga
Ian MacKinnon, south-east Asia correspondent
The Guardian, Monday November 24 2008

First it was the insidious habit of young women wearing trousers. Now Malaysia's Muslims have been warned off the perils of practising yoga.

The country's leading Islamic council has issued an edict prohibiting people indulging in the exercise, fearing its Hindu roots could corrupt them.

The national fatwa council's latest decision again reflects a tilt toward an increasingly conservative strain of Islam in predominantly Muslim Malaysia. It is causing consternation among the country's other ethnic groups that make up a third of the 27-million population.

The fatwa, or decision, prompted sneering remarks from liberal commentators who urged people not to be cowed by the "robed and the turbaned" who made such rulings.

But Abdul Shukor Husim, the council's chairman, said: "We are of the view that yoga, which originates in Hinduism, combines a physical exercise, religious elements, chanting and worshipping for the purpose of achieving inner peace and ultimately to be at one with god. For us, yoga destroys a Muslim's faith. There are other ways to get exercise. You can go cycling, swimming and eat less fatty food."

The ruling comes after the council said young Muslim women who wore trousers risked becoming sexually active or "turning" to lesbianism. Gay sex is outlawed in Malaysia.

The government recently had to back away from a proposal to restrict women travelling abroad alone, after derision from women's activists across the country.

But it has banned the use of the word Allah by other religions. An influential Christian group claimed Bibles were also being seized at border entry points.

Of Malaysia's non-Muslim population, 25% are ethnic Chinese and 8% are ethnic Indian, mainly Hindu. The council's ruling does not apply to them and is not legally binding. But most of the country's Muslims heed the edicts out of deference.

Marina Mahathir, a prominent columnist and daughter of the former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, wondered where it would all stop.

"What next? Gym? Most gyms have men and women together," she wrote on her blog. "Will that not be allowed any more? What endangers a society more ... corrupt citizens and leaders, or yoga practitioners and females who dress in a masculine fashion?" (Read Marina Mahathir's posts here and here)

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Pas, PKR and ordinary Muslims criticise yoga ruling
By Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 - Muslim opposition leaders want the National Fatwa Council to be more specific in its edict so that Muslims can decide what forms of yoga are permissible.

Pas research chief Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad told The Malaysian Insider that the council should not make a blanket ban but “lay down what is or is not permissible about yoga.”

“This allows a Muslim to be critical of their own faith and empower them to make judgments based on convictions.”

The Kuala Selangor MP added that if the intention of taking up yoga was for the well-being of the body, mind and spirit, then religion need not come into it.

“There is no need for this siege mentality where everything is viewed from the perspective of encroaching on Islam and attacking us,” he said, adding that if one wanted to stray from Islam, there were other ways besides yoga to do it.

PKR Youth’s chief strategist Yusmadi Yusoff also said that the council needed to be more specific with what forms of yoga it found objectionable as generalising the entire art under a ban was discriminatory and denied Muslims a choice of a healthy lifestyle.

“The form of yoga practised in Malaysia is simply a healthy exercise. If the fatwa is on the basis of religious rituals or inclinations, then it must be more specific and detail what parts exactly,” he said.

The Balik Pulau MP also noted that other martial arts, including those in Malay culture, had religious inclination but were not banned outright and doing so, as with yoga, would sacrifice a lot of benefits as a physical and mental form of exercise.

The National Fatwa Council, the country’s top Islamic body, today ruled against Muslims practising yoga, saying it has elements of other religions that could corrupt Muslims as it includes Hindu spiritual elements of chanting and worship.

Though the council’s decisions are not legally binding on Malaysia’s Muslim population, many abide by the edicts out of deference, and the council does have the authority to ostracise an offending Muslim from society.

This has come after it recently banned Muslim women from “tomboy” behavior, ruling that girls who act like boys violate the tenets of Islam. The majority of yoga practitioners in Malaysia are female.

Both Dzulkefly and Yusmadi, however, believe that the fatwas did not reflect gender discrimination against female Muslims as claimed by women’s group Sisters in Islam.

Dzulkefly said that it was wrong in principle for women to behave like men or men to behave like women and the earlier fatwa presented a set of guidelines rather than a ban on an entire artform.

Sisters in Islam programme manager Norhayati Kaprawi also came out strongly against the fatwa, calling it the latest in a regressive trend for the country’s multiculturalism.

“There has been no report or complaint of any practitioner converting to Hinduism or that yoga has caused a Muslim’s faith to weaken,” she added.

The spokesperson for the Muslim women’s group said that many Muslims have been practising yoga for decades but no one has seen it as a religious matter up to now.

She said that there was no need to be suspicious of other religions and that these presumptions were the cause of the edict.

“When you come up with a national ruling, there must first be evidence of a problem. This is all based on negative presumptions.

“Any activity done with bad intentions can lead to negative implications,” she said, in refuting council chairman Datuk Dr Abdul Shukor Husin’s statement that the physical aspect of yoga should be avoided by Muslims as “doing one thing could lead to another.”

Several Muslims have also expressed consternation with the edict.

The Associated Press reported that yoga teacher Suleiha Merican, who has been practising yoga for 40 years, called yoga “a great health science” and there is no religion involved.

“We don’t do chanting and meditation. There is no conflict because yoga is not religion based,” Suleiha, 56, had said.

Putri Rahim, a housewife, said she is no less a Muslim after practising yoga for 10 years.

“I am mad! Maybe they have it in mind that Islam is under threat. To come out with a fatwa is an insult to intelligent Muslims. It’s an insult to my belief,” Putri told AP.

In a recent blog posting, social activist Datin Marina Mahathir criticised the council for even considering a yoga ban, calling it “a classic case of reacting out of fear and ignorance.”

Sharizal Shaarani, an executive told The Malaysian Insider that he could not see how yoga could affect a Muslim’s relationship with God.

“It is a petty thing. There are more important fatwas like on corruption for the council to address,” he said, adding that as practising yoga did not adversely affect the lives of others, others should not impose a set of values on the practitioners.

Blogpost updated at 2020hrs on 26 Nov 08 with this Reuters report,

Malaysia backs down from yoga ban

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia's prime minister said on Wednesday Muslims should still take up yoga, reversing an outright ban that has drawn widespread protests amid concerns over growing Islamic fundamentalism in the multiracial nation.

Malaysia's National Fatwa Council, comprising Islamic scholars, told Muslims at the weekend to avoid yoga because it uses Hindu prayers that could erode Muslims' faith.

But the decision drew a sharp rebuke from many Muslims and even Malaysia's sultans, or hereditary rulers, who said that they should be consulted on any matters involving Islam.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi moved to contain the damage, telling the national news agency Bernama that Muslims could carry on doing yoga but minus the chanting.

"I wish to state that a physical regime with no elements of worship can continue, meaning, it is not banned. I believe that Muslims are not easily swayed into polytheism," he said.

Just before Abdullah spoke, the eldest son of the ruler of the central Negeri Sembilan state took the government to task over the yoga ruling.

"Islam is a progressive religion and the ulama (scholars) should be confident of the followers' faith rather than micro-managing their way of life," Tunku Naquiyuddin told a luncheon.

"If I go to a church or a Buddhist temple, is there any fear of me converting? ... Where do we draw the line?" the online version of the Star newspaper quoted him as saying.

The yoga fatwa ruling came hot on the heels of another edict against young Muslim women wearing trousers.

Fatwas or religious edicts are not legally binding, but they are highly influential in Malaysia, where Malay-Muslims form just over half of the country's 27 million people.

The fatwa council has said that by wearing trousers, girls risked becoming sexually active "tomboys." Gay sex is outlawed in Malaysia.

Malaysia's sizeable minorities include ethnic Chinese and Indians who practice either Christianity, Buddhism or Hinduism. (Reporting by Jalil Hamid)