AIMPLB to hold all-India meet of Imams against 'imposition' of yoga, surya namaskar

LUCKNOW: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) will ask Imams of mosques to educate Muslims about attacks on Islamic beliefs and how to counter them by taking up such issues in their sermons before Friday prayers.
The Board will take up the proposal at a clerics' meet scheduled to be held in Amroha in UP in September. The AIMPLB considers yoga and surya namaskar as issues that are against Islamic beliefs.
"The idea behind the move is to inform the community about the attempts being made to attack the Islamic beliefs, what is wrong about such attempts, and how a Muslim should resist such moves in a peaceful, democratic and lawful manner," said Kamaal Farooqui, AIMPLB office-bearer and head of the organising committee for the event. Farooqui, who is a native of Amroha, said, "The event will be attended by Imams from all over India."
The Amroha event will implement the agenda of the AIMPLB working committee meeting held in Jaipur earlier this year, which called for an awareness campaign among Muslims on issues related to Sharia and attempts to attack Islamic beliefs.
"Muslims should always remain cautious as there are organisations that are attacking Islamic beliefs and trying to impose Brahmin dharma. All this yoga, surya namaskar and Vedic culture are part of Brahmin dharma and totally against Islamic beliefs," AIMPLB working secretary Maulana Wali Rehmani had said in a letter to the Board members after the Jaipur meet.
Elaborating on some issues which are against Sharia, AIMPLB executive committee member Zafaryab Jilani said, "Muslims should know why surya namaskar and yoga are being opposed, what does Islam say about such issues and how one should counter attempts to force Muslims to perform surya namaskar in a lawful and peaceful manner."
"By incorporating such issues in the khutba (sermons) that are delivered before the Friday afternoon prayers, common Muslims will take them seriously," said Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali, another member of the Board's executive committee.