with yoga? I don't understand all the hullaballoo surrounding the issue. I mean, yes, yoga has its roots in Hinduism. So does that mean that if I go and attend my friend's wedding ceremony in a Sikh Gurdwara it makes me less of a Muslim, which then makes my belief in Islam somehow diminish? What about those uncles and aunties who practice Qi Gong, which has roots in Buddhism? Does that also erode their faith in the Almighty Allah? Cos I don't see them rushing to pray in a Buddhist temple after their Qi Gong sessions if that's what you mean...

To me, it's rather shallow and simplistic to simply assume (the key word being assume) that because people practice yoga, therefore it automatically follows that their faith will be eroded. Because the way I see it, most people see yoga as a form of exercise, which is not as strenuous as, say, weight lifting, or bench pressing. And yes, because they teach you to employ the proper breathing techniques, therefore you will feel the aches and pains you previously experience to lessen, and gradually disappear.

I have always believed that inculcating religious values does not necessarily mean that you always have to take the prescriptive approach. I'm sure people don't like it when you say 'You must do this, this, this...and cannot do this, this, this....' without being given the proper, logical explanation why or why not. If you're talking to a four year old, of course you can say 'Because I'm your mommy and I said so, and you know Mommy is always right!' Even then, there are four year olds who are not contented with such a dismissive answer and would demand an explanation until they are satisfied.

It's the same way with us.

I'm sure people would gradually be able to accept if, indeed, yoga is prohibited, as the Fatwa Council has decreed. But the explanation given must be logical, and not be done in such a way that it insults people's intelligence.

I'm not writing this because I am a yogi (someone who practices yoga), but because the idea had been idling in the corner of my mind, and I just wanted to put my thoughts into words. Even the Prophet Muhammad says that dakwah should be done with 'hikmah'... there are, I'm sure, other ways to inculcate and instill religious values other than taking the prescriptive approach.

Perhaps that is the question that the powers that be should answer.