Yoga is bad

d) Identify the elements of shirk in the Reiki healing system, and in Yoga





In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful


Reiki is a the act of healing a person by spiritual power. Although there is no scientific proof for it, many believers use it as a supplement to therapy. Usui Mikao is the founder of this belief system. He claimed to have this miraculous healing power after spending three weeks in fasting on a mountain. The purpose is to heal mental, emotional and physical ailments


Healing sessions resemble those done by the Christians where hands are placed on the sick person and a healing force goes into them


Christians are laying hands on people as a result of their Bible teaching them to do so. For example many verses in the Bible indicate that was the method that Jesus peace be upon him used to heal people


Mark 6:5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them


It is funny that Christians will reject Reiki and label it as witchcraft whereas their healing practices are almost identical under a different name


Since Shirk can be broken down into three categories we can examine the Reiki system to identify how and why it goes against the fundamentals of Islamic tawheed


First off the Reiki system does not attribute its healing power to God. A Muslim must believe that both the good and bad ultimately come from him. Even if the whole of humanity were to gather to try and harm you, they would not be able to do it unless Allah had already destined for that thing to occur and vise versa. So if a Muslim believes that a healing is coming about by some mystical power then they have denied that the will of Allah is supreme. How can someone believe the good and bad ultimately come from Allah and also belief in mystical super powers? In assuming that this system has power over the creation it goes against tawheed of Allah’s lordship. What the person is doing is establishing a partner to Allah. Instead of asking Allah for help and healing the person has deviated and is using a system under which they feel they can heal the person with a mystical force. So this force has become a subtle form of idolatry. They have given Allah a partner. Even if they believe that this mystic force is lesser than Allah this is still shirk by association and is no different than many religions that have greater and lesser gods


If Allah is the lord over all things then we should turn to him for help. That doesn’t mean that we avoid medical treatment because as we know it is the Sunnah of the prophet to try to cure your sicknesses. It is fine to try and heal yourself and others using medications or methods by which is prescribed by Allah. But when it comes to use of spiritual or religion rituals then this is an innovation and is clear shirk


This also is shirk by negation because it does not indicate the existence of Allah. Therefore since it does not indicate that Allah exists subliminally they are suggesting that it is not important whether he exists or doesn’t exist. Similarly Buddhism falls into this category also, as does Janism. These are all philosophies which commit shirk by negation because they do not specify a belief in God. Therefore Reiki is shirk of Allah’s Lordship


Regarding shirk in worship of Allah, Reiki is a clear example of that


The prophet peace be upon him indicated in a hadith that the Christians and Jews had taken their leaders as gods and used to worship them because the leaders made halal things haram and haram things halal and the people had blindly followed their rulings. Since we know that magic is haram then anyone who follows a person who says that it is halal has committed shirk be worshipping that person


I don’t think that anybody would argue that Reiki is clearly a form of magic. Magic in Islam is forbidden and the punishments are strict for those who offend this commandment. Usui however has made these rituals of magic something that is halal. So if a Muslim is following these teachings then it is shirk the same way the Christians and Jews committed shirk. They have worshiped that person instead of Allah


Living in the west I have met one among the kufar who strongly believed in Reiki. And her love for it replaced the love of God. This is an act of shirk in worship of Allah because Allah has stated in the Koran


Surah 25:43 Seest thou such a one as taketh for his god his own passion (or impulse)? Couldst thou be a disposer of affairs for him?


The majority of people practices Reiki do so out of intrigue and desire for it. This is their main motivating factor since there is no proof to support it. Of course it is natural to be curious of the unknown but those who practice Reiki have a love for it. This is clear shirk because they do not have love for Allah and have taken for a god something in this life that they love. As per Allah’s statement in the previous ayah that I quoted this is classified as shirk


Another proof that loving something more than Allah is shirk can be found in Allah’s statement


Surah 2:165 Yet there are men who take (for worship) others besides Allah, as equal (with Allah.: They love them as they should love Allah…


If those who practice Reiki were to have some calamity strike them so that fear were to enter their heart they would probably not even think about their supposed healing powers to save them. They would automatically and naturally call out to Allah for help. They would reject their beliefs and embrace tawheed


Surah 6:40 Say: "Think ye to yourselves, if there come upon you the wrath of Allah, or the Hour (that ye dread), would ye then call upon other than Allah.- (reply) if ye are truthful!


Reiki is the appealing to another power other than Allah but when some horrible disaster comes they would only appeal to Allah. This is proof that they commit shirk in worship of Allah


Surah 22:71 Yet they worship, besides Allah, things for which no authority has been sent down to them, and of which they have (really) no knowledge: for those that do wrong there is no helper


In the previously quoted ayah Reiki is a perfect example of those who worship besides Allah. No authority has come down to them to heal in this manner and they have no knowledge regarding this matter. Since this is the case it is an innovation


The purpose of yoga is to unite one self with the supreme consciousness. Depending on the type of yoga practiced some even believe that they can achieve immortality within their physcial body. What that means is that they will try and live forever on this earth. This claim is silly as there is no proof whatsoever for it. A person might be inclined to believe that a spiritual immortality could be achieved but to believe that the physical body can become immortal is delusional since there is evidence to the contrary. The evidence is in the fact that people die and they do not become immortal


Yoga falls into shirk the same way that Sufism does. Both these beliefs seek to unite the soul with God or as the yogis call it the supreme consciousness. This is shirk in lordship because it falls into the category of negation. A person might ask how they are negating the belief in God since they teach a belief in a god. It is not like Buddhism which in its teachings neglect to mention whether there is a god or outright denial. But Sufism and yoga both are just as guilty of shirk by negation. They believe that Allah can become part of the creation itself. When a person makes such a statement what this really means is that there is no God. For example if I am Allah or one with Allah then he is not superior to anything and therefore cannot be God. God be definition is the greatest and most superior to all things. This is part of tawheed of his lordship. A person must believe that Allah is superior otherwise how could the person believe in tawheed of his lordship? So yoga is an act of shirk in regards to Allah’s lordship by negation of Allah


This is shirk in lordship because it says that you can unite with God. You can become one with God. Therefore those who are advanced within that religion would be seen as equals to Allah or as they call it, the supreme consciousness


Yoga is also shirk of names and attributes of Allah. Some Shiites believe that Ali was a manifestation of Allah. They had given him the attribute of Allah. In a similar way the yoga belief that a person can unify with the supreme consciousness or in other words unite with God is basically saying that a person can obtain the attributes of God. Sufis also have this belief that they can unite with God and become one with God. Therefore they are given the characteristics of the creator to themselves. Likewise yoga does those same things. It indicates that becoming one with the greater power which they call the supreme consciousness. This is attributing to a human being what only is for Allah. We are the inferior and Allah is the superior


Although this is a Hindu practice, in the west yoga is practiced as an exercise. It has absolutely no spiritual or religion significant. If a Muslim were to sign up for yoga classes in the west there is not harm in doing this except that imitation of a people is wrong. People imitate other people that they want to be like and could be considered a form of worship. So for the Muslim to imitate the Hindu practice of yoga even though he does it for exercise it is an act of shirk


In Arabic the term ibadah comes from the root word meaning slave. To imitate a people and trying to be like another people is like being a slave to your own desires


Surah 25:43 Seest thou such a one as taketh for his god his own passion (or impulse)? Couldst thou be a disposer of affairs for him?


In this Ayah it is said that some people take their desires as a god. To imitate a people would mean that you are following your desires and allowing them to rule your life. Your desires would then rule how you act and how you dress. Literally by imitation the person has become a slave to their desires and is considered to be worshipping their desires. Imitation is therefore an act of shirk in worship of Allah


Islam is unique from other religions in that it rejects all forms of shirk which lead to corruption. Tawheed is the reason why millions of people take shahadah. This was the main reason for my reversion to Islam because when I read the Koran I could see that it was such a pure and clean message. It was not tainted with shirk like other religions. It was so pure. Allah was so powerful and unique. I could see that anyone who follows this book could never be led astray. We are in debt to Allah because he has given us the gift of Islam. Tawheed stops a person from going away from the straight path


And Allah knows best