"Those who believe in Islam can only pray before Allah who brought him on this earth...Yoga if practised in its right form, which will essentially be done in schools, will be like placing other things on par with Allah and this will be a big sin...the board has objections over this issue," spokesman of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board Abdul Rahim Qureshi told PTI.
Hitting back at Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi's statement on yoga and Surya Namaskar, AIMPLB on Wednesday said practising yoga in the right form amounted to committing "big sin" for Muslims.
"Those who believe in Islam can only pray before Allah who brought him on this earth...Yoga if practised in its right form, which will essentially be done in schools, will be like placing other things on par with Allah and this will be a big sin...the board has objections over this issue," spokesman of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board Abdul Rahim Qureshi told PTI.
"Yoga asanas (postures) start with recitation of 'Om'... all asanas have shlokas...Surya Namaskar is also an asana in which the person doing it bows before the sun with his hands folded. I want to ask Naqvi sahab whether those practising Islam are allowed to bow before anyone other than Allah," Qureshi said.
On the suggestion of Minister of State for Minority Affairs for not associating Yoga with religion and seeing it only as a means of improving health, Qureshi said people are being misled on this count. "When Yoga will be incorporated in schools, government will implement it in its basic form ignoring all objections of families of Muslim students...why is the government not coming out with its stand on this issue," he asked.
"If Yoga is so good for health...are all those studying in schools unhealthy...why is Yoga so essential for them...it is wrong to force ones religious traditions instead of improving the education system," he said.
Naqvi had yesterday attacked the AIMPLB for its stand on Yoga saying the Muslim community was being misled by religious leaders.
"I think some persons have got a disease to oppose Yoga. This disease can also be cured through Yoga. For their (AIMPLB) misinformation and ignorance, I want to give them advice to adopt Yoga and they should not relate it to religion. Those associating Yoga with religion should correct their knowledge," Naqvi had said.
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