JAKARTA, INDONESIA, January 27, 2009: Muslims in Indonesia have been banned from doing yoga if they engage in Hindu religious rituals during the exercise. About 700 clerics from the Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI) agreed on that action at a national meeting on Sunday.
“The yoga practice that contains religious rituals of Hinduism including the recitation of mantras is ‘haram’ (forbidden in Islam),” according to chariman Ma’ruf Amin. “Muslims should not practise other religious rituals as it will erode and weaken their Islamic faith.” Indonesian Muslims are still allowed to do yoga strictly as exercise. “If it is purely a physical exercise or sport, it is not considered as ‘haram,'” Amin said.
The clerics also banned Indonesian Muslims from abstaining from voting, as the country gets ready for April’s election. “As long as there is a candidate leader that meets criteria such as being Muslim, honest, brilliant and ready to fight for Indonesian people’s aspirations, it is ‘haram’ for Muslims to abstain from voting,” Amin said. But he added: “It is forbidden for Muslims to vote for a non-Muslim candidate leader.”
Nearly 90 percent of Indonesia’s 234 million people are Muslim. Religious edicts issued by the MUI are not legally binding on Muslims, but it is considered sinful to ignore them.