Mad Malaysian muftis condemn yoga and tomboys as ‘un-Islamic’

EVERY so often some cracked clerics worm their way into the headlines with idiotic condemnations of the ancient art of yoga. It’s “un-Christian” they grizzle – and deny yoga groups access to church halls (see Freethinker reports here and here).

Yoga – un-Christian and un-Islamic

But now we learn that yoga has been condemned as un-Islamic in a country where thousands practice it every day – Malaysia.

According to this report, Zakaria Stapa, a professor in the Islamic faculty of the National University of Malaysia, has called on Muslims to stop practicing yoga, saying it could cause them to “deviate from their faith”.

Muslims in Malaysia practiced yoga not just for exercise but also as part of the growing urban lifestyle and involved “chanting mantras while in various positions,” he said.

Why should we look for other alternatives to exercise and search for peace? Yoga could cause (Muslims) to stray from their faith because its movements are according to the style and traditions of Hinduism.

Now it looks as if a yoga fatwa is to be issued.

Harussani Zakaria, a controversial cleric from the northern Perak state, said the government-backed National Fatwa Council would soon release a decree which would decide if Muslims were allowed to practise yoga.

If it involves any faith or religious elements it is definitely not permissible, but if it is just a form of exercise that is all right. But Muslims cannot practice yoga in its original form because it involves another religion.

The practice of yoga, a popular stress-buster in Kuala Lumpur, dates back thousands of years in India, where it was a favourite of holy men before becoming hugely popular internationally, especially among western celebrities.

Malaysian actress Sharifah Amani is seen with her head shaved during an interview to promote her film Muallaf

The Malaysian fatwa council last week made an international ass of itself when it banned tomboys. Under the ‘fatwa’, girls are forbidden to have short hair and dress like boys. Girls who act like boys violate the tenets of Islam, the council declared.

Lesbian sex is included in the ban.

Harussani Idris Zakaria, who attended the meeting of the National Fatwa Factory Council, said an increasing number of Malaysian girls were behaving like tomboys, and some of them were engaging in homosexuality.

He said the council’s ruling was not legally binding because it has not been passed into law, but that tomboys should be banned because they are ’sinful’.

The imbecile wailed:

It doesn’t matter if it’s a law or not. When it’s wrong, it’s wrong …God created them as girls, they must act like girls.

It was not immediately clear what punishment awaited those who violate the fatwa.

A well-known Malaysian Muslim actress, Sharifah Amani, caused uproar last year when she shaved her head  for a film. A bunch of outraged muftis promptly urged Muslims not to watch the movie, arguing that the actress had violated Islam by making herself look like a man.

Muallaf, or The Convert, is scheduled for release in Singapore next month, but no date has been set for its release in Malaysia.

Muslims make up some 60 percent of Malaysia’s 27 million people, and are subject to Islamic laws and the council’s edicts, even if the rulings have not been enshrined in national or Shariah law.

Male homosexual sex is illegal in Malaysia and punishable with up to 20 years in jail.