Worried that Muslims could be swayed by Yoga's elements of Hinduism, Malaysia's top Islamic body on Saturday banned the community from practicing the ancient physical exercise.

The National Fatwa Council issued a religious decree telling the Muslims, who comprise two-thirds of Malaysia's 27 million population, that practising Yoga was 'haram' or prohibited in Islam.

Apart from the physical movements, the yoga practices contain worshipping and chanting, which were prohibited for Muslims, it said.

The ruling came after an Islamic studies lecturer recently advised Muslims, who had taken up yoga, to stop practising it as they could deviate from the teachings of Islam.