H. Maqsood Ahmed

We are announcing with a heavy heart that we have to stop copies of the Quran in the Japanese language due to some unavoidable reasons. We had started the project several years ago and, Alhamdulillah, we have distributed copies of the Quran in the Japanese language along with other books to non-Muslim Japanese and friends of non-Muslim Japanese people all over the world.  However, now, I guess the time has come for us to stop distributing copies of the Quran in the Japanese language. It was not an easy decision by any means. But, we had to do so due to the reasons mentioned below. Before I give you the reasons to stop offering the service, let me give you a little background of how we reached this decision.

We discussed this issue with a lot of people who have been involved in Dawah activities in Japan and elsewhere.  We also chatted with Japanese Muslims about their comments. Many of them told us that, generally speaking, it is very difficult for a first-time reader of the Quran to comprehend the meaning of the book.  Even the language of the translation we used to provide to non-Muslim Japanese is extremely difficult.  So, by reading the Quran in Japanese, they may get confused instead of clarifying their minds about Islam.  These were very convincing arguments.

According to them, the Quran is a book which discusses various incidents and issues as a passing reference instead of mentioning the same in detail. Quran is not a lateral book as most others are. A new person who does not know much about the basics of Islam, it may be too hard or maybe too overwhelming to understand the meaning of verses of the Quran as he or she does not have any background knowledge of the religion.  She may, instead, get confused. That confusion may even turn him or her away from Islam instead.

So, instead of providing free copies of the Quran in the Japanese language, we have decided to dispatch some introductory books about the basics of Islam, the belief system, the oneness of Islam and the basic tenets of the deen. These books are formatted in such a way that even a layman could understand the content if they make little effort to do so. Furthermore, these books are intended to clarify the minds of our target readers and answer some of the questions they may have about our religion. The would-be reciipients of these books should not worry as all these books are in Japanese language.

Of course, we know full well that some of you may have a different opinion on this issue. So, please feel free to express your views. We may be able to reverse our decision if you provide a convincing case for that.

We would love to hear from you about this topic.  Please feel free to leave your comments in the comments area below.

I was struck by a recent article published in The New York Times. The writer conducted an extensive research on the elderly people in Japan and the way they live in the final years of their lives– while facing lonely deaths. Japan, as you all know, is the most rapidly aging society in the world, and, perhaps, the most lonely one as well. The question is how to spread the light of Islam to the people who have lost all their hopes in their future, have no one to be taken care by, and, often face the prospect of lonely deaths in their living places.

The industrialization of modern Japan in the 60s and 70s entirely changed the Japanese culture in ways previously unknown to Japan where multi-generational homes had been a norm. In the words of the author in the article mentioned above, Japan was introduced to a Western structure of life centered on the nuclear family at that time.

With the widespread of Western culture, people started having a fewer number of children, began to live in smaller houses, and thus lost touch with other extended family members. As a result of the above, they became lonely and had no one to talk to most of the time.

Although, most of us, the Muslims are busy in our day to day lives, we may think about these lonely souls, reach out to them, look after them to the extent we can, talk to them, keep in touch with them on regular basis, and, gently explain the concept of Allah. Our kind behavior will, Insha Allah, develop a soft corner in their hearts for Muslims and Islam.

We need to reach out to these lonely people, give our helping hands, and show them the path to Allah which leads to eternal peace, and paradise to its adherents. However, if we are serious, we have to become an example to those who need Divine Guidance but, do not know where to look for guidance.

Alhamdulillah, as you all may know we have been sending copies of the Quran in Japanese language along with other books to the Japanese or friends of Japanese people all over the world  who want to understand the message of Allah directly from the book He revealed to His Prophet Muhammad (saw). However, for the past several months, we had to stop this for the following reasons.

• We sincerely believe that it is quite difficult for a first time reader of the Quran to comprehend the meaning when he or she does not have any background knowledge of Islam. Some other Muslims who have a thourough understanding of the Japanese society and the culture gave similar comments.
• In the past, we used to get copies of the Quran in Japanese free of charge and use our own money to ship them along with other basic books about the oneness of Allah and other important topics  of Islam to wherever we got request from.  However, that source of free supply of the Quran is now dried up for their own reasons.

In the light of above,w we are still thinking on how best to spread the divine message of Islam to our Japanese brethren.

Please give us your feedback on this very important issue as we prepare for the next steps regarding this issue.

Alhamdulillah, we have viewers from all over the world who give us valuable feedback and suggestions on how to improve this website for the benefit of other readers. Recently, we got somewhat long comment from one of our reader in Malaysia on how to read Quran properly. These comments about tips for reciting the Quran was sent to us by Damia Ellora Zulrushdi. I am going to share her words with you all of you. Please let us know if you have any comments or would like to suggest any thing important.

“Assalammualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Brother/sister in Islam, I am so happy to discover this blog that promotes Islam and Allah as the true way.  I would like to share some tips in understanding the Quran as I have learned from teachers here in Malaysia. There are 5 tips:

1. Take the Quran as if it was addressed especially to you. Sometimes we feel that the Quran is for all mankind and reading it will increase good deeds on our account, but we forget that the Quran is how Allah is communicating with His servants on one to one basis. Subhanallah!!
2. Find out about the situation of (when, where, how, why) of each of the ayah when it was revealed. If the ayah is brought down during times of hardship, we should seek to understand the ayah in our own times of hardships and vice versa.
3. Understand the nuances of the words (kalimah) used in the Arabic ayah. Sometimes translations just don’t capture the real essence of the meaning.
4. Understanding is with the heart, not only the mind. Allah’s Quran is not like a textbook where you have to memorize the information and will be able to come up with it with a snap of a finger. When we recite the Quran, it is important to let Allah’s words interact with our hearts. It has to leave a lasting impression in the heart, so when any situation arises, we will be able to recall the ayat and implement it in our lives. We will feel peacefully obliged to implement Allah’s word because we have a deep realization that we are the slaves of Allah who abides by no man or rule except Allah’s.
5. Go through, in anyway possible, the lives of the Prophet (pbuh) and his companions (sahabah). If we base all our actions and decisions so that it mirrors their lives, we will find the Quran especially meaningful.

Let us say that we are going through something that is similar to what the sahabah were facing during their time, and we read the same ayah that Allah sent to them at the time, the ayah will make much more sense as we will feel the impact of the ayah as they did. That’s all from me. Thank you. Allahualam. :).

We are so happy to share these five tips for reciting and understanding the Quran. Please feel free to give your opinions on this.

Winning our children back to Islam is such an important topic in the every day lives of Muslims that I wanted to share this amazing lecture by Br. Jeffrey Lang with you all. This is indeed the need of the hour as so many of us, actually, do not know the right way to raise our children.

This is an hour and a half long lecture available on youtube and many other online sources. Insha Allah, you will benefit by listening to it.

While looking for some material about the oneness of Allah as to why we need to believe in one God alone, I came across the following article well written by a Muslim scientist. Please share it with your non-Muslim friends if possible.

Importance of Believing in Allah alone

In fact, this is THE most important topic you could ever have in your lifetime as it is going to affect your life in this world and the world hereafter. Doing shirk, making partners with Allah is, in fact, the biggest sin in the eyes of Allah and we need to spread the word about this most hineous crime to fellow brethren who are not yet Muslims. We need to love all of humanity no matter which creed they belong to, where they come from and what their views are about religion and oneness of Allah, the Almighty.