'Yoga is good and should be practiced, but keep away from Puja', Cleric tells Muslims

Close to 300 Muslim men, women and children are expected to be part of International Yoga Day celebrations in Lucknow

Member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and Sunni cleric Maulana Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahali has claimed that Yoga was good and needed to be practised. He also said that there should be no issues with Muslims participating in International Yoga day celebrations as long as they jeep away from Puja involved in Yoga.

In an interview to television channels, the Sunni cleric said that Muslims should stay away from any religious rituals involved while practising Yoga. "Only thing Muslims should refrain themselves from is being involved in any kind of puja involved in the Yoga celebrations," he said.

Close to 55,000 people are expected to take part in International Yoga Day celebration that is scheduled to be on June 21. The event will be held at Ramabai Ambedkar Maidan in Lucknow where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be in attendance.

The cleric also said that he would consider his participation in the event if an invitation was extended. Lucknow will host the mammoth event this year after beating other locations like Bhopal, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Ranchi and Bengaluru which were in consideration.

OneIndia News