Yoga Day row: Chanting of Om' against tenets of Islam, say Muslim clerics

Lucknow: In another twist to the controversy over Yoga Day, the Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband has said that chanting of ‘Om’ is against the tenets of Islam and has asked Muslims to stay away from the event.

Maulana Abul Qasim Nomani of the seminary said that chanting of ‘Om’ was a part of Hindu worship and asking Muslims to join in was un-Islamic.
“This is against the freedom to worship that is granted to every citizen of the country. Muslims cannot be expected to indulge in idol worship so why should they be expected to chant ‘Om’? The order issued by the Ayush ministry deserves to be condemned,” he said.

He said that the Darul Uloom Deoband was now appealing to Muslims across the country that if chanting ‘Om’ was a part of the Yoga Day functions, then Muslims should stay away from the event.

The Maulana said Muslims should ensure that their children do not go to schools where the event is being held because they may be pressurised to join other children in chanting ‘Om’.

Interestingly, Darul Uloom Deoband, in June last year, had said that Yoga could be accepted as an exercise to promote better health provided there was no political agenda behind it. “We still maintain what we said.

There is no opposition to Yoga because it helps in improving one’s health. We cannot accept Om because it is a part of Hindu rituals and Islam does not permit us to chant the mantra,” Maulana Nomani said.

Muslims clerics had also raised objections to making Surya Namaskar compulsory in schools, terming it as a Hindu religious practice. Meanwhile, the Dargarh Ala Hazrat in Lucknow has issued a fatwa against the Patanjali products. The Mufti of the Dargah said that since Patanjali products contain cow urine, it was unholy according to Islam and should not be used by Muslims.