Rafia Naaz, the yoga teacher against whom a fatwa was issued. (Photo: ANI)

A fatwa has been issued against a Muslim woman from Jharkhand for teaching yoga, the news agency ANI reported.

The woman, Rafia Naaz, told ANI she had received many threats, and expressed gratitude to the state government for providing her with security.

"I will not be scared and will continue with what I am doing," she said.

A defiant Naaz, a graduate student of commerce who has performed yoga with Baba Ramdev, has said she will "continue to do yoga and teach yoga" for as long as she lives, according to a Mirror Now report.

The report says Chief Minister Raghubar Das himself asked state police to protect the girl.

"What is wrong if some woman teaches yoga?" Shia cleric Maulana Saif Abbas asked.

"Protesting this is highly condemnable," he said.

"Some people have made religion a joke."

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