The National Fatwa Council (a fatwa is a non-binding Islamic ruling by a certified Islamic scholar) in Malaysia recently instructed the nation’s Muslims to avoid doing yoga for the practice is rooted in the Hindu faith and doing yoga could thus weaken one’s faith in Islam.

Council chairman Abdul Shukor Husin said the chanting in yoga and the worship-like art of yoga are inappropriate and they could “destroy the faith of a Muslim”.

Yoga classes in Malaysia are most populated by Indian and Chinese immigrants, though in the major cities it is quite common to see Muslim women doing yoga.

Most Muslims in Malaysia do not think much of the fawta, but some do share some concern about the mixing of yoga with prayer, as some Muslims have admitted doing.

One Muslim student told a BBC journalist that she combined yoga with prayers.

“If people want to practice yoga, the physical exercise, I think that is no problem,” Professor Osman Bakar of the Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies stated. “Many Muslims would say fine. But they would object to the mixing of the two things. Islam is a complete way of life. Islam is able to cater to the needs of Muslims; spiritual needs, intellectual needs and other needs, material needs. So there is no need to bring in elements from outside,” he further added.