Islam is under heavy scrutiny in the past few years from the western world. There is a large gap in the understanding of Islam between the people's perception of Islam vs. what people see happening around the world vs. what the people following Islam say it is. There are many reasons people have voiced about the gap in understanding all around the world depending on which side of the discussion they are on.
The purpose of this post is NOT to endorse, explain, or criticise Islam or put it in comparison with other religions.
I did a little bit of research and found a few similarities between Islam and Yoga, and my goal here is to explain to you these observations. It is up to each of you to decide what you want to do with this information.
I would first like to point out the major differences between Islam and Yoga -
Purpose - Muslims (the followers of Islam) believe that "there is only one God. He begets not, nor is he begotten. And there is none like unto him" (Holy Quran, Surah 112, Verses 1,2,3,4). The science of Yoga believes that there is only one ultimate called "Brahman", that is the Supreme Self which is beyond time and space, causation. It is limitless. It is tranquil. It shines with equal effulgence in all bodies that exist in this universe. It cannot be any particular thing. It is pure consciousness. It is the imperishable and inexhaustible. It is an indescribable reality and is beyond illusion.
From the above observations, I think that both Islam and Yoga seem to point that there is oneness in GOD or the ultimate supreme self that is present in everything, everyone, and everywhere around the universe.
From the above observations, I think that both Islam and Yoga seem to take a path to achieve god that includes physical postures that open the body and mind to the supreme.
Prayers: - In Islam, during Salah, the practitioners recite verses, phrases and prayers from Quran called Surahs. Similar to this, in Yoga, there are Mantras. These are typically melodic, mathematically structured meters, believed to be resonant with numinous qualities. In sophisticated forms, mantras are melodic phrases with spiritual interpretations such as a human longing for truth, reality, light, immortality, peace, love, knowledge, and action.
The purpose of this post is NOT to endorse, explain, or criticise Islam or put it in comparison with other religions.
I did a little bit of research and found a few similarities between Islam and Yoga, and my goal here is to explain to you these observations. It is up to each of you to decide what you want to do with this information.
I would first like to point out the major differences between Islam and Yoga -
- Islam is the second largest religion in the world articulated by Quran and is followed by more than 1.7 billion people around the world. Whereas Yoga is not a religion but a science of spiritual, mental, and physical practises or disciplines.
- Islam began in the first half of 7th century around 610 A.D (Around 1400 years ago) whereas the exact beginning of Yoga is not clearly known however the first reference of it was around 1700 B.C (Around 3700 years ago) in the ancient Indian scriptures.
- Islam originated in Mecca and Medina whereas Yoga originated in ancient India.
Purpose - Muslims (the followers of Islam) believe that "there is only one God. He begets not, nor is he begotten. And there is none like unto him" (Holy Quran, Surah 112, Verses 1,2,3,4). The science of Yoga believes that there is only one ultimate called "Brahman", that is the Supreme Self which is beyond time and space, causation. It is limitless. It is tranquil. It shines with equal effulgence in all bodies that exist in this universe. It cannot be any particular thing. It is pure consciousness. It is the imperishable and inexhaustible. It is an indescribable reality and is beyond illusion.
Physical Practice - The prayers that Muslims practice up to five times a day is called Salah. It is a spiritual, mental, and physical act of worship a practitioner does to realise and connect with god. Similar to this, Yoga is a science with spiritual, mental, and physical practices. Yoga practitioners do Yoga Asanas that are physical postures that opens the body and mind to bring them in alignment the supreme and achieve the real self.
From the above observations, I think that both Islam and Yoga seem to take a path to achieve god that includes physical postures that open the body and mind to the supreme.
See below for a few similarities between Salah and Yoga Asanas
From the above observations, I think that both Islam and Yoga provided their practitioners with tools that they can recite and whose sounds bring them to a higher level of consciousness.
The observations I made above is not based on a full understanding of Islam or Yoga. But in my journey to see oneness in everything though the practise of Yoga, I came across other religions including Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, and many others that all seem to have provided ways to see oneness in everyone and everything across the universe.
It would be great if every human in the world sees the common message and goal of all religions and philosophies. I hope that we all can get to the level of elevated spiritual maturity to spend some time on realising the oneness with everyone and everything around us.
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