On Sunday
morning, after breakfast we put all our luggage into the bus as we weren’t
coming back to the inn anymore. The kind inn keepers walked us to the bus and
bade us farewell, bowing repeatedly whilst saying arigato gozaimashita as the bus moved until they were out of sight.
This aspect of a host’s kindness – bidding us farewell until we were out of
sight – was something we experienced during every single one of our visits. It
makes people feel welcomed and that they will be missed. Actually that’s what
people do here too in Malaysia (and perhaps elsewhere in the world), but like
all valuable cultural practices, it too is eroding, partly because of our
modern ways of living. It’s difficult, but not impossible to see someone off if
they are living in high rise buildings. Most people would just say goodbye at
their doors. Those who follow their guests all the way down to the carpark,
they are a rare breed and are special. These are little acts whose absence
don’t really tarnish our reputation as hosts, but they add that much more
warmth to our interaction with our guests.
Our first
visit was to Shizuoka Islamic Center. Since it was a Sunday, the roads were
quite clear as there was not much traffic. The center was essentially a musolla located on the fourth floor of
one of the buildings in Shizuoka City. Our driver parked the bus by the
pavement for us to disembark. We were pleasantly greeted by sister Miwa and her
husband, brother Yassine Esaadi, a Syrian born Arab who met sister Miwa while
studying in the US. He is the President of Shizuoka Islamic Center. We went
upstairs to the musolla. There were a
few Indonesian brothers there, along with brother Kyoichiro Sugimoto, President
of Chiba Islamic Cultural Center as well as International Islamic Research and
Foundation, Japan.
We all sat
down in a circle and Dr MAZA was invited to give a short tazkirah. (I can’t
remember what he spoke about :/ but I think he said something about about how
we are all bound by time but not Allah, because Allah created time. He spoke
about the excellence of Japanese culture and how the Japanese way of life represents
a ‘sunnah’ way of life)
After him,
it was brother Sugimoto’s turn to give us an introduction about Islam in Japan.
He told us how Japan has been rather closed to outside influence for a long
time and remains so in comparison to other countries. Even Christianity has not
expanded, despite being in Japan for many hundreds of years earlier than Islam,
which really only began to make an impact in the early 20th century.
He showed us photos of the first mosque in Japan, the Kobe Mosque and the first
Islamic community there and explained how da’wah
is progressing in Japan. He said that Japanese people generally are areligious,
even if many say they believe in some kind of higher power and subscribe to
Buddhism or Shintoism. Because the Japanese are a very homogenous people, they
have very little real-life exposure to cultures outside their own. Islam is no
exception. In fact, there is some fear and negative perception about Muslims,
given how they are portrayed by international media. The Japanese however are
open to knowing about the religion and in fact many who learn about it, embrace
Islam. The reason is, as brother Sugimoto explained, the concept of God and
Hereafter in Islam is very straightforward and appealing to them. It explains a
lot of the mysteries of life like injustices occurring all around the world,
and gives them hope and a sense of peace. It fills a spiritual void that many
Japanese suffer from, exacerbated by strong societal pressures to comply and
fulfill expectations, which is part of the reason why Japan has such a high
suicide rate. In Islam, absolute compliance is only to the laws of God, for
everything else is created and not worthy of absolute obedience. And that is
why too, brother Sugimoto said, there is great opportunity for da’wah in Japan. Many Japanese are
clutching at straws, looking for meaning in their seemingly perfect lives, and
Islam can give them that meaning.
At the end
of his talk, he opened the floor to questions. During the talk, he mentioned
that it was difficult to bring children up in Japan in an Islamic way. I found
that sentiment to be quite peculiar, since many of us Muslims from Muslim
countries would like our children to grow up in Japan because of how Japanese
society models the sunnah way of life very closely. So I asked him about why he
said that. He said, because there is very little spirituality in Japanese life,
it is difficult to instill the spiritual aspect of Islam, which is the backbone
of the religion, in children. People don’t mention God but instead appreciate
things for what they are. In Muslim cultures, a beautiful scenery prompts the
beholder to say Subhanallah. People
greet each other by saying Assalamulaiakum.
If a tragedy strikes, people say, Inna
lillahi wa inna ilahi raji’oon. If they feel thankful, they say alhamdulillah. Even though these phrases
are often used meaninglessly by Muslims in Muslim majority countries, and
sometimes even deceptively, they still provide a scaffolding of spirituality
for the community. In Japan, mosques are scarce so even the adhaan is not heard. Children in school
don’t talk about God or prayers. So, brother Sugimoto said, it is difficult to
instill God-consciousness in children when there is hardly any spiritual
element in Japanese culture. It’s easy to teach them to be good people and lead
upright lives, but it’s not easy to infuse that uprightness with the most
important aspect of being a Muslim, namely being God conscious, for it is that
God consciousness that ultimately determines one’s destination in the
Hereafter.
His
response provided us a view of the issue from another dimension which we never
considered. And it somehow resonated with what I felt when I studied abroad for
a number of years, but strangely never thought about in this matter of bringing
up Muslim children in Japan. The other side of the coin in this problem that
requires scrutiny and deliberation by us Muslims, is the question which is
likely to be in the minds of many Japanese, that is why should they convert to
Islam when Islam has so little to offer in terms of living orderly lives based
on their experience of visiting Muslim countries. Here, brother Yassine shared
with us a rather sad and frustrating story about how a Japanese young man came
to Shizuoka musolla to convert
because he wanted to marry a Muslim woman and not because he was really
interested in Islam. Brother Yassine asked why he felt that way and he related
an incident about when he visited Egypt. He was in a cab when he heard the adhaan. The cab driver pulled over at a
mosque and asked for permission to perform his solah. At that moment, he said he felt impressed and wished that he
had order in his life like that of the cab driver. After solah, the driver returned and they got on their way again. Along
the way, the driver ate something and after finishing, wound down the glass and
threw the plastic packaging out the window. When the Japanese guy saw this, he
said to himself, “If this religion was good, this man would not have done what
he did.” Subhanallah, I was so sad
and disgusted when I heard this story. The analogical image of what I had just
heard was that of a man who gives someone a lighted candle to illuminate the
darkness around him, and then himself blows the flame out. Of course a rational
person should not blame an ideology because of the actions of its followers,
but that is the reality of how things work, which is why having good akhlaq is of utmost importance. The
light that shines from good character if cultivated sincerely for Allah and not
just for show, is a powerful light that can attract others unto the path of
Islam. Unfortunately, we all know the terrible state of affairs of Muslim
countries. We have some of the dirtiest environments in the world, low levels
of integrity, and overall have failed to portray Islam as a mercy and a solution
to the problems of this world.
That said,
Brother Sugimoto stressed the importance of da’wah.
He said that it’s true that having a Muslim community made of members with good
akhlaq is essential but it is only
90% of overall da’wah. The remainder 10% is having da’ees to call people to Islam, because even if everyone in the
Muslim community portrays excellent akhlaq,
people will not automatically embrace Islam unless they are called to it.
This is especially relevant in Japan because people already live orderly and
moral lives, but have a spiritual craving which Islam can provide only if they
know about it. The caller’s job is made easier in a Muslim community which
embodies Islam properly, and vice versa. But having the callers (da’ees) is a necessity for Islam to
spread. Thus, brother Sugimoto made a plea to us to help the da’wah efforts in Japan. Dr MAZA asked
what kind of help he needed. He said he just needed someone to sponsor 10
people to do da’wah full time for the
whole of Japan. By sponsor he meant, pay them the minimum wage Japanese workers
earn monthly so they don’t have to work and can solely focus on da’wah activities. Mind you the minimum
wage for Japanese workers is equivalent to 2000 US dollars per month. Dr MAZA
said that is quite a lot to sponsor, but he would be willing to sponsor new
Muslims to come and study Islam in Perlis for short courses, everything paid
for except for flight tickets.
 |
| From left: Sister Miwa, Kak Shaz, Imam Sugimoto's wife and himself, Dr MAZA and brother Yassine Essaadi |
After lunch,
we got onto the bus to make our way to the site where Shizuoka Mosque would be
built. It was not very far from the musolla.
Space is very limited in Japan, but they managed to secure a modest plot of
land in a residential area. It was strategically located facing Suruga Bay, the
deepest bay in Japan, with a fantastic view of the bay and mountains making up
the promontory. The Japanese are very particular about not being a nuisance to
others, and so they had to make sure the area around the site of the mosque has
ample parking space for Jum’ah prayer. Luckily, there is a public parking space
across the road from the site of the mosque, near the marina. The road in front
of the mosque leads to a recreational park, and so once the mosque is complete,
visitors to the park will surely see it as they drive by. That would increase
the likelihood of having Japanese visitors to the mosque. See how much thought
was put into acquiring a plot of land for the mosque. Brother Yassine did not
just want to make a mosque for worship, but wanted to make sure it would be a
center for da’wah, and hence chose a
location that would fulfill that purpose. Shizuoka City Council also proposed
for the mosque to have an escape platform in case of a tsunami, which brother
Yassine happily accepted. The mosque will then also be a place of refuge in
times of danger. What a mosque, subhanallah!
 |
| The amazing view from the site where the mosque will be built |
After the
site visit, we then went to visit the beautiful recreational park mentioned
earlier for a short walk. I gave as a present my book Stories of The Prophets
to brother Yassine and told him that he is welcome to translate the book and
use the profits therefrom for the benefit of Shizuoka Muslim Association (a few
weeks after this visit, he contacted me to tell me that he finished reading the
book and would use some of the contents for his khutbah, alhamdulillah).
The trip to
the park was not in our plan, so we only stopped for a very brief period. As we
got onto the bus, we bade farewell to brother Yassine and the Indonesian
brothers who came along, hoping to see them again in the future. It was a
meaningful morning, meeting new people working hard to keep Islam alive. May
Allah assist brother Yassine, brother Sugimoto and all others who are actively
involved in spreading the light of Islam in Japan. Ameen.
 |
| The park |
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There was
no time to waste, as we had to make our way back to Tokyo for our visit to
Necco Café, a café which hires disabled persons. On the way back, we stopped at
a famous rest and service area in Shizuoka with a fantastic view of the
majestic Mount Fuji. We all got down the bus and took individual and group
photos from different angles, with the beautiful mountain as our backdrop.
Truly, Mount Fuji is a sight to be behold. With its almost perfect cone shape
and snowy top, it stands out conspicuously above the landscape, visible for
many many miles away, even from Tokyo! No wonder it is the most famous icon of
Japan, frequently used as a backdrop for all things Japan, from postcards to
travel advertisements. Interestingly, it is not as high as Mount Kinabalu, but
is snow-capped while Mount Kinabalu is not because they are located on
different latitudes with different climates.
Below are
some pictures of the majestic mountain.
 |
| The glorious Fuji! |
After the
short pitstop, we continued on our journey back to Tokyo. It was a pleasant
ride with nice views of landscape, until traffic started getting heavier as we
approached Tokyo. We forgot, that it was a Sunday, and just like in KL, people
were going back to Tokyo from their hometowns. It was getting dark and there
was no way we were going to be able to make it in time for our visit to Necco
Café. Kak Shaz had to cancel the appointment and we had to wait patiently in
terrible traffic. I never thought traffic could be so bad in Japan, but after
some further pondering, the jam wasn’t that bad considering the population of
Tokyo, which is the most populated metropolitan city in the world. It means,
relatively speaking, our jams here in KL are worse even if we’re not stuck in
traffic for as long.
After what
felt like half a day’s worth of driving, we arrived at our hotel, Mystays
Premium Omori. All of us were tired. Kak Shaz had already ordered bentos for
dinner, so we took our bentos and went to our rooms. I was paired with Muhaimin
again. The hotel room was clean and comfortable. I put on the pyjamas provided
and after uploading some pictures onto facebook, went to bed.
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