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.
Assalam. May I know, on average, how much is the postal cost per translation book?
Assalamu Alaikum, please send me 5 copies of Holy Quran in Japanese languadge, Thank yu Jzaakallah.
Assalammualaik.
I have a few suggestions. You may decide to follow or you may disregard them if you so please.
For the FIRST bullet point, I totally agree that it is difficult for a someone who has practically no knowledge of Islam to read the Quran without knowledgable and sincere guidance from others. Some exceptions may have been able to break free from this, but I think for the general public, this may be difficult, no matter from what background they may have come from. I think that understanding Islam and the Quran is something that needs to be done as a community, or at least involving a few people.
I say this because there are many examples in hadeeths and the Quran where people who learn or embrace Islam, do it together and support each other. Rasulullah SAW taught the sahabah in a group, as many hadeeth were reported where there were more than one sahabah at one time. Many (not all) hadeeth is this way.
In the Quran, there were the Ashabul Kahfi, a group of young men who fled to a cave to protect their iman from tyrannical leaders and society. The Hawariyyun of Isa AS, or his disciples as they are more commonly known as in the Christian or English speaking communities. They were a group who swore to strive in the cause of Allah.
Islam is not only a way of life for the individual. Islam is the state of the whole of mankind in which they are one, ummah wahidah, and when one part of the ummah feels pain, the other parts will feel the same pain as well and will work together to resolve the issue. Islam is what brings humankind together in a state of absolute and true peace. Absolute heiwa. That is what I believe.
So, I suggest that there should be weekly classes or meetings for those who are interested to understand more about Islam and the Quran. A sense of helpful, understanding, trusting and familiar community should be created, with Islamic teachings as the basis. Starting from the understanding of the Aqidah (belief, faith, iman towards Allah, the Angels, the kitab of Allah, the prophets, the Akhirah and the Qadar of Allah) to reading and understanding surahs and hadiths and do practical sessions of ibadah.
The goal is so that everyone who is interested in Islam will steadily grow into Muslim individuals that are knowledgeable in practising Islam and become true Muslims, and have the spirit to share Islam with others in any way they can.
For the SECOND bullet point, alhamdulillah that Allah gave you a chance to do this before. What you all have done is something to be respected. May Allah bless you and reward the best for your deeds. Maybe you can distribute the Quran in Japanese in an electronic form such as a .PDF file? So that those who are interested can always read on their handheld devices or print it out if they want? Or maybe some one can develop a Japanese Translation Quran App that can be installed on people’s phones? This way they can also hear the Quran MP3s or search for keywords easily if they need to. Or maybe during classes, you can photostat or print out the ayat or surah that you are learning and distribute to them.
That is all I have for now. May Allah reward you all dearly for all your time, energy and possessions that you have given up in the way of Allah.
“Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties [in exchange] for that they will have Paradise. They fight in the cause of Allah, so they kill and are killed. [It is] a true promise [binding] upon Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur’an. And who is truer to his covenant than Allah ? So rejoice in your transaction which you have contracted. And it is that which is the great attainment.” At-Taubah, 9:111
Still available?