What about a FATWA on Detention Without Trial?

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