Jubail Must everyone practice yoga? The answer must be in the negative since yoga is only one form of exercise which can be useful to the body. In India, yoga is held in very high esteem and is given importance as one of the best exercises to maintain health and physical fitness. However, the problem is that yoga cannot be forced on everyone as was done a couple of months ago in India. Some Muslims claim that yoga is not compatible with Islam, as in this particular exercise there is one exercise which is called Surya Namaskar, which means Sun Salutation. All of the scholars of Islam say that Muslims worship only Allah, and they cannot compromise their faith for the sake of adopting yoga exercises. Islam teaches its followers not to become involved in "shirk", meaning associating partners with Allah, and a person doing so may not be called a true follower of Islam. Islam is a peace-loving religion, it prohibits attacking innocent people, it exhorts its followers to have good ties with their neighbors, to feed the poor and to help the weak and feeble. It also, teaches respect for parents and obedience to them and the need to have good relations with one's kith and kin. Islam is against all forms of terrorism and fascist activities and tells us that to kill one innocent person is as if one has killed all of humanity. But Islam makes it very clear that its followers must not become involved in "shirk" and must worship only Allah. In the line of faith, Islam does not allow its followers to compromise on this, as it is the fundamental concept of Islam. In the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), the pagans of Makkah suggested to the Prophet (pbuh) that one year he should worship their idols and the next year they would worship Allah. In this connection, Surah Kafirun was revealed in which it was declared that: "Your religion is for you, and our religion is for us". Therefore, in light of the core concept of Islam, Muslims may hesitate to practice the Surya Namaskar, It is said that yoga gives 100 percent peace to the mind, as meditation is the fundamental point in yoga exercises. Due to questionable statements which have been made about yoga, many Saudi men and women have been visiting Nepal and other countries to practice yoga. I am very surprised to note their experiences as Islam has the concept of five prayers a day, and if Muslims offer those five prayers with utmost sincerity and with calmness, they may have much greater inner peace than with yoga. I read in a newspaper that one Saudi woman visited Nepal to practice yoga, and she said that she used to meditate 12 hours a day in yoga classes after which she experienced perfect peace. However, I wonder how a Muslim, spending 12 hours in yoga exercises and thereby neglecting five daily prayers can truly achieve peace? As a matter of fact, there is much exaggeration on the part of yoga instructors and propagators of yoga. They make very high claims for yoga exercises and try to make others believe that yoga is supreme and that all other forms of exercise are insignificant. However, if one walks half an hour or an hour every day and eats a proper diet, then that person also can maintain his soul and body in good condition. My point is that yoga should not be forced on everyone as some people may feel that it is contradictory to their religious belief. And those who are not bothered by this can continue in their practice of yoga.
