After trousers, Malaysia Muslim body targets yoga

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters Life!) - Not content with banning women from wearing trousers, Malaysia's top Islamic council now wants a ban on yoga, according to a report on state news agency Bernama.

The National Fatwa Council's Deputy Director-General Othman Mustapha told reporters after a seminar on Islamic jurisprudence on Thursday that the announcement would be made soon.

Professor Zakaria Stapa of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's Islamic Studies Centre told the seminar on Wednesday that Muslims who had taken up yoga should stop practising as it could damage their faith, Bernama said.

Last week the Fatwa Council decreed that tomboyish behaviour by girls, including wearing trousers, was immoral as it may lead to the practise of lesbian sex.

Gay sex is prohibited in this country of 27 million people where over half of the population is Muslim.