PETALING JAYA, MALAYSIA: Indonesia will not follow Malaysia's move to ban Muslims from practising yoga.
The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) said this was because it did not know the extent to which the exercise was practised in Indonesia. (Note: An ulema is a body of Muslim scholars trained in Islamic law.)
MUI deputy chairman Umar Shihab said more research had to be done before a decision can be made to prohibit yoga.
"It is okay if it's for sport but I do not know if it is proven that it can destroy our beliefs as Muslims or contains ideas of polytheism," Umar was quoted in a report by The Jakarta Post on Monday.
He said the council did not carry out any study on yoga as it had not received any objection from the public.
MUI edict commission deputy chairman Ali Mustafa Yakub said there was no need to ban yoga as no Muslims were found practising it in Indonesia.
"If they are, they are not publicly visible, so there is no problem," he said.
Yakub added that the Indian influence in Indonesia was not as strong as in Malaysia and such influence was only limited to dangdut music.
