Charles Hector
User
Junior Forumer
| Posts: 160 |   |
|
What about a FATWA on Detention Without Trial? - 2008/11/24 11:28
The national Fatwa Council has again hit the news - this time with its fatwa () on YOGA. Recently, it was about 'tomboyism'....
Wonder why they are not discussing and coming out with a FATWA on Detention Without Trial, ISA and the Detention Without Trial Laws,
What does the National Fatwa Council say about Detention Without Trial...? What does it say about Death in Custody? Freedom of Assembly and Expression? Corruption?...
Anyway, this is what they allegedly said about YOGA...
As expected, the National Fatwa Council yesterday announced that Muslims are prohibited from practising yoga.
In declaring yoga haram, the council said it could be traced back to Hinduism and concluded that yoga could erode the faith of Muslims.
Council chairman Datuk Dr Abdul Shukor Husin said the decision was made as yoga involved elements that were against the beliefs of Islam in its physical movements, chanting and worship.
"Many Muslims in the country fail to understand the ultimate aim of yoga.
"It combines physical movements, religious elements, chanting and worshipping for the purpose of achieving inner peace and ultimately to be one with God," he said at a press conference to announce the decision yesterday.
Shukor said once the fatwa was gazetted, it would be passed on to the states to decide on the enforcement.
Malaysia, he said, was not alone in prohibiting yoga among Muslims as the Singaporean and Egyptian Islamic councils had done the same.
Shukor said renowned Islamic scholars were also of the view that yoga could erode the faith of Muslims.
Asked if practising yoga with the intention of promoting physical health was also against the fatwa, he said although it did not include the chanting and beliefs, it was discouraged.
This, he said, was because the physical movements of yoga were a component of the practice which was haram.
"In Islam, one must not do things which can erode one's aqidah (belief). Yoga, even the physical movements, is a step towards the erosion of a Muslim's belief, hence they must avoid it."
Muslims, he added, should be careful and conduct thorough studies before embracing rituals and practices that could threaten their faith.
He said Islam had long paved the way for Muslims to achieve spiritual peace and health and they should stick to these teachings, which included praying five times a day. - New Straits Times, 23/11/2008 -Yoga Ban: Don't question fatwa, says Council
Their statement was found at the Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (JAKIM) website:-
Sidang Media - Fatwa Yoga
Jawatankuasa Fatwa Majlis Kebangsaan Bagi Hal Ehwal Ugama Islam telah mengadakan sidang media bagi mengumumkan fatwa mengenai senaman yoga di kalangan umat Islam. Pengumuman yang telah dibuat oleh Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Fatwa Majlis Kebangsaan Bagi Hal Ehwal Ugama Islam , Y. Bhg. Prof. Dato’ Dr. Abdul Shukor bin Hj. Husin telah diadakan pada 22 November 2008, jam 10.00 pagi bertempat di Dewan Syura JAKIM.
Kenyataan media Jawatankuasa tersebut adalah seperti berikut:
"Antara perkara yang telah dibincangkan oleh Ahli Majlis Muzakarah Fatwa Kebangsaan yang bersidang pada 22 – 24 Oktober 2008 di Kota Bharu, Kelantan ialah senaman Yoga. Setelah meneliti dan mengkaji hujah-hujah serta pandangan-pandangan yang berkaitan dengan Yoga maka, Ahli Muzakarah berpandangan dan berpendapat bahawa senaman Yoga yang berasal dari masyarakat Hindu sejak sebelum Masihi lagi yang menggabungkan amalan fizikal, unsur-unsur keagamaan, mentera dan pemujaan bagi tujuan tertentu seperti mendapatkan ketenangan dan kemuncaknya, penyatuan diri dengan tuhan atau tujuan-tujuan lain adalah tidak sesuai dan boleh merosakkan akidah seorang muslim.
Oleh itu, Ahli Muzakarah juga bersetuju dan memutuskan apa jua jenis atau bentuk amalan yang mengandungi unsur-unsur tersebut di atas adalah dilarang dan bertentangan dengan syariat Islam. Sementara pergerakan amalan fizikal tanpa unsur-unsur di atas yang dilakukan pada zahirnya tidaklah menjadi kesalahan. Namun demikian,masyarakat Islam dingatkan wajib berhati-hati dam berwaspada dari perkara-perkara yang boleh menghakis akidah seseorang muslim.
Seperti yang kita sedia maklum, perkara-perkara yang boleh menghakis akidah boleh berlaku dengan sebab-sebab berikut:
(1)kepercayaan atau keyakinan di hati.
(2)menerusi perkataan atau pengakuan dengan lidah.
(3)perbuatan.
Memandangkan terdapat dua elemen tersebut dalam amalan yoga, maka umat Islam wajib memelihara akidah mereka dari terhakis. - JAKIM Website
And, what really is FATWA?
Fatwas are formal legal opinions issued by a recognized religious legal authority. Fatwas are most frequently issued in response to questions about living everyday life in accordance with religious law, such as proper diet, gender relations, or the use of new technologies, for example.
However, fatwas have also been used to communicate radical anti-Western messages. In 1989, former Iranian spiritual leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini famously called for author Salman Rushdie's death for his publication of his novel, The Satanic Verses.
Other Muslim and Arab authorscondemned the fatwa:"Naguib Mahfouz, the winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature, criticized Khomeini for 'intellectual terrorism' but changed his view later and said that Rushdie did not have 'the right to insult anything, especially a prophet or anything considered holy.' The Nobel writer V.S. Naipaul described Khomeini's fatwa as "an extreme form of literary criticism."
Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden issued a fatwa in 1996 titled, "Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places."
The two holy places are Mecca and Medinah, both in Saudi Arabia.
Bin Laden's fatwa is not considered legitimate by most Muslims. He is clearly a criminal, and has no recognized religious authority. Indeed, the Islamic Commission of Spain issued a fatwa condemning bin Laden in March 2004, a year after an Al Qaeda attack in Spain killed 190 people. - Source:-http://terrorism.about.com/od/politicalislamterrorism/g/Fatwa.htm
Another Definition:-
Definition: A fatwa is an Islamic religious ruling, a scholarly opinion on a matter of Islamic law.
A fatwa is issued by a recognized religious authority in Islam. But since there is no hierarchical priesthood or anything of the sort in Islam, a fatwa is not necessarily "binding" on the faithful. The people who pronounce these rulings are supposed to be knowledgable, and base their rulings in knowledge and wisdom. They need to supply the evidence from Islamic sources for their opinions, and it is not uncommon for scholars to come to different conclusions regarding the same issue.
As Muslims, we look at the opinion, the reputation of the person giving it, the evidence given to support it, and then decide whether to follow it or not. When there are conflicting opinions issued by different scholars, we compare the evidence and then choose the opinion to which our God-given conscience guides us.
Pronunciation: fa-twa
Alternate Spellings: fatwah, fetwa, fetwah
Examples: Some scholars have issued a fatwa that smoking cigarettes is forbidden in Islam. - http://islam.about.com/od/law/g/fatwa.htm
And yet another definition in Bahasa Malaysia - about Fatwa ...and Keputusan Fatwa (Fatwa decision).
KEPUTUSAN FATWA
Dari segi Bahasa
memberi jawapan/penjelasan bagi sesuatu masalah agama
Dari Segi Istilah
Penjelasan mengenai hukum syarak oleh Mufti bagi sesuatu masalah agama berdasarkan dalil syarak sebagai jawapan kepada sesiapa yang bertanya, baik secara sendirian atau berkumpulan.
FATWA
Fatwa ialah keputusan fatwa yang telah dikeluarkan oleh Jabatan Mufti dan telah diwartakan oleh kerajaan negeri bagi proses penguatkuasaan undang-undang. - e-Fatwa
|
|
|
| | The administrator has disabled public write access. |
Abdul Fareed Bin Abdul Gafoor
User
Junior Forumer
| Posts: 53 | |
|
Re:What about a FATWA on Detention Without Trial? - 2008/11/24 20:56
The Fatwa concerning Yoga is in relation to the Muslims' faith and the aspects which involve chanting. So let Muslims deal with it.
It is unwarranted for non-Muslims to question it as it does not concern them. It is within the realm of Muslims. Do not blow something out of proportion just to invite polemic that could be hurtful.
|
|
|
| | The administrator has disabled public write access. |
Young Ai Peng
User
Fresh Forumer
| Posts: 4 | |
|
Re:What about a FATWA on Detention Without Trial? - 2008/11/25 12:51
Dear learned friend Abdul Fareed,
Is it not hurting to the yoga practitioners when the fatwa labels their practice as "haram"? Don't they have a right to voice out? If this does not concern them, then what does?
Do unto others what you want others do unto you.
|
|
|
| | The administrator has disabled public write access. |
Tan Peek Guat
User
Junior Forumer
| Posts: 78 | |
|
Re:What about a FATWA on Detention Without Trial? - 2008/11/25 13:49
Fatwa ought not brand 'yoga' as haram; nor anything else as 'haram'.
This is because Fatwa has not clearly determined whether 'detention without trial' is indeed a haram act of the perpetrators.
Remember what Susilo of Indonesia said when the Tsunami attacked Indonesia? He said, eat everything, anything that is donated by the US.
He loved his people so much, and was concerned about their 'starvation' and cared for the present deprivation rather than to threaten them unnecessarily about matters concerning 'after deaths'.
In fact, Fatwa ought to be more concerned about the 'life after death' of the Muslims political leaders it is leading/controlling; and advise the affected Muslims accordingly - especially those who misuse their 'power' and 'authority' and cause miseries upon the lives of others - that is, of those whom they fear they cannot control and therefore, throw into jail!
Therefore, it is especially important for Fatwa to advise these Muslims with 'authority' on earth not to misuse their 'power' and 'authority' which is not eternal, and they have seized upon their securing - from the people, and then, sitting on the seats of 'power' and 'authority', they forget about their miseries completely!
Tan Peek Guat
|
|
|
| | The administrator has disabled public write access. |
Annou Anselm a/l Joseph Xavier
Visitor
|
Re:What about a FATWA on Detention Without Trial? - 2008/11/25 15:08
Fellow Friends,
I have to agree to a tiny section that it is best to leave it to the Muslims to deal with these impracticable Fatwas by the State Religious Bodies. Why do I say impracticable?
1. In 1995, the Selangor, Kedah and Perlis Fatwa Councils issued a fatwa to ban smoking. See what really happened in practise? The Muslims have little or even no regard to the said fatwa. Everyone smokes, even at the corridors of Kompleks Mahkamah Jalan Duta.
2. In Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, through their Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) do not even impose ban on yoga. But in Malaysia, the 'most Islamic' nation, have such a ban.
3. Datuk Zuraidah Atan, a lawyer, Muslim and advisor to National Cancer Society of Malaysia even postulated that yoga helps eases cancer patients as it is a form of relaxation. Is Datuk Zuraidah any less a Muslim that the members sitting on Fatwa Councils?
4. These Fatwa Councils claim that yoga is haram as it can erode one's faith. Did Lina Joy, for e.g, leave Islam because she practised yoga? Has any Muslim who has become a 'murtad', left Islam due to practising yoga?
5. Even the true guardians of Malays and Muslims in Malaysia, our beloved and respected Sultans, are quick to interject by stating that these Fatwas ought to have been referred to them. Isn't these Fatwa Councils disrespecting the Sultans themselves?
Hence, these Fatwa Councils do not seem to receive the respect and/or approvals from Muslims themselves as many (right-thinking and non-fanatic) Muslims are able to decipher between good, bad, moral and certainly do not need a body to regulate their lives.
Annou Xavier.
|
|
|
| | The administrator has disabled public write access. |
Lily Shazreena binti Abd Rahim
Visitor
|
Re:What about a FATWA on Detention Without Trial? - 2008/11/25 16:16
Guess we have deviated from the initial topic.
I agree with the topic posted; that we should expand on the areas of fatwa. The fatwa council should be invited to make fatwa on detention without trial and other crucial matter, but the way I see it is that now, we are discussing whether the fatwa on yoga is appropriate or not.
Let me clarify-The meaning of haram (in the Islamic context) here is that it is not permissible for muslim to practise yoga for some valid reasons. Qouting Fareed-The Fatwa concerning Yoga is in relation to the Muslims' faith and the aspects which involve chanting. Yes, yoga is a good way to exercise and relieve mind, but for muslim, it is not permissible simply because it is afraid that the chanting and worshipping may erode one's faith.
Similarly, it is haram for a muslim to eat pork. We are not trying to hurt others , it is simply in our religion that we are not permitted to eat pork.
And to judge on the impracticability of a fatwa by applying the blanket test of looking into the aspect of whether it is being followed or not, I guess it is unfair. If a religion (as a matter of fact, any religion) prohibits you from doing something, and just because it is not adhered to by some others, does it means that the religion itself is impracticable?
I believe it is important for us to understand the whole context to avoid misunderstanding.
|
|
|
| | The administrator has disabled public write access. |
Tan Peek Guat
User
Junior Forumer
| Posts: 78 | |
|
Re:What about a FATWA on Detention Without Trial? - 2008/11/25 18:23
The "World Assembly of Muslim Youth" says that :
1. Muslims believe that the present life is a trial in preparation for their next realm of existence.
2. All the Prophets of God called their people to worship God and to believe in life after death.
3. They laid so much emphasis on the belief in life after death that even a slight doubt in it meant denying God and made all other beliefs meaningless.
Therefore, the 'Fatwas' issued should emphasize to our Muslim political leaders in Malaysia of the need to adhere to the above belief.
Then, the need to instil into themselves the need of having some true conscience even while dealing with the "ISA cases" or any other local political situations - so that the situations are handled in such a manner as not to deny the politically powerful personalities of their own "life after death" - especially when they enthrall in taking charge of our own local political situations in Malaysia.
In this manner, the needs of our people will be better satisfied, regardless of their original race or religion.
Tan Peek Guat
|
|
|
| | The administrator has disabled public write access. |
|
Circular No: 7/2008 - Palestine Humanitarian Fund
