[QUOTE=CityMonk;38432]Sorry, my fault. I have just looked it up. That was the original book of Phulgenda Sinha was published in 1976 in india and reprinted in Ukraine in 1990.:)[/QUOTE]
FYI:
I would post the URL but look up Yoga Journal dot RU .
This is a part of an article from Wikipedia
Islam
The development of Sufism was considerably influenced by Indian yogic practises, where they adapted both physical postures (asanas) and breath control (pranayama).[81] The ancient Indian yogic text Amritakunda (“Pool of Nectar)” was translated into Arabic and Persian as early as the 11th century. Several other yogic texts were appropriated by Sufi tradition, but typically the texts juxtapose yoga materials alongside Sufi practices without any real attempt at integration or synthesis. Yoga became known to Indian Sufis gradually over time, but engagement with yoga is not found at the historical beginnings of the tradition.[82]
Malaysia’s top Islamic body in 2008 passed a fatwa, which is legally non-binding, against Muslims practicing yoga, saying it had elements of “Hindu spiritual teachings” and that its practice was blasphemy and is therefore haraam. Muslim yoga teachers in Malaysia criticized the decision as “insulting”.[83] Sisters in Islam, a women’s rights group in Malaysia, also expressed disappointment and said that its members would continue with their yoga classes.[84]
The fatwa states that yoga practiced only as physical exercise is permissible, but prohibits the chanting of religious mantras,[85] and states that teachings such as the uniting of a human with God is not consistent with Islamic philosophy.[86] In a similar vein, the Council of Ulemas, an Islamic body in Indonesia, passed a fatwa banning yoga on the grounds that it contains “Hindu elements”[87] These fatwas have, in turn, been criticized by Darul Uloom Deoband, a Deobandi Islamic seminary in India.[88]
In May 2009, Turkey’s head of the Directorate of Religious Affairs, Ali Bardakoğlu, discounted personal development techniques such as yoga as commercial ventures that could lead to extremism. His comments were made in the context of yoga possibly competing with and eroding participation in Islamic practice.[89]
The only sect of the Islam community that has successfully incorporated yoga into its practice is the Jogi Faqir, whose followers are Muslim converts from the Hindu Jogicaste.
[edit]Christianity
Main articles: A Christian reflection on the New Age and Aspects of Christian meditation
The Roman Catholic Church, and some other Christian organizations have expressed concerns and disapproval with respect to some eastern and New Age practices that include yoga and meditation.[90][91]
In 1989 and 2003, the Vatican issued two documents: Aspects of Christian meditation and A Christian reflection on the New Age, that were mostly critical of eastern and New Age practices. The 2003 document was published as a 90 page handbook detailing the Vatican’s position.[92] The Vatican warned that concentration on the physical aspects of meditation “can degenerate into a cult of the body” and that equating bodily states with mysticism “could also lead to psychic disturbance and, at times, to moral deviations.” Such concerns can be traced to the early days of Christianity, when the church opposed the gnostics’ belief that salvation came not through faith but through a mystical inner knowledge.[93]
The letter also says, “one can see if and how [prayer] might be enriched by meditation methods developed in other religions and cultures”[94] but maintains the idea that “there must be some fit between the nature of [other approaches to] prayer and Christian beliefs about ultimate reality.”[93] The Rev. John Wijngaards points out the long Judaic and Christian histories of absorbing elements from surrounding religions. He notes that the absence of any intense experience of God’s power has sent some Christians eastward. Many Roman Catholics now bring elements of Yoga, Buddhism, and Hinduism into their spiritual practices.[93]
Some fundamentalist Christian organizations consider yoga practice to be incoherent to their religious background and therefore a non-Christian religious practice. It is also considered a part of the New Age movement and therefore inconsistent with Christianity.[95]