A Future Vision:
After five years from now, I think I will still be in the university. Not as a teacher, but as a Ph.D. student inshallah. The truth is: I cannot imagine or visualize the future because I always thought I will live a normal life like any other normal Japanese. When I was in my first year at college, I never ever thought about Islam. I just thought: “after graduation, I will work in a company, and after five years, I’ll get married and so on…” Just like any traditional Japanese guy. I was a normal person, but now I’ve changed a little. Also, when I was in high school, I loved the school, I loved home, I didn’t like traveling or even getting out of home or my room. That’s why I never imagined that one day I will travel to Syria at all. I didn’t even travel within Japan so my visit to Syria changed me a bit. Now I am more active and that’s why I can’t imagine what the future will be like.
Happy?
Your name in Arabic ‘Said” means happy. Are you?
I am really happy. First, because I am here. If I didn’t embrace Islam nor did my Islamic studies with the guidance of Allah, I would still have been working in the company in Japan now.
Different?
I am not different. It’s just that co-living with Muslims and understanding them is not that easy. Of course I can co-live with them, this is normal, but it’s a bit difficult to understand the Syrians 100%. This applies to understanding Japanese too. Full understanding or 100% understanding is impossible (except for Allah, He knows all and He Understands us all). Co-living with each other doesn’t need 100% of understanding, but I always try to understand them and look for the common things between us.
Did you fear at some point that your decision might not be right or that you might back off?
No, no. I never feared a thing, never, never.
What’s the difference between Japanese Muslims and Muslims born to Muslim parents?
I think Japanese Muslims are strong because they took the decision (to be Muslims) by themselves. This decision needs determination without any hesitation. But honestly, I don’t know much about Japanese Muslims. Of course the Arab Muslims are strong, but I think the Japanese are stronger.
What’s the sweetest thing about your Islam?
Sweetest means: the taste is sweet. It’s al-Hayat altayyebah ; ‘The Good Living’.
In Islam if I work rightfully with the humanity, I become happy and the others around me will be happy too now and in afterlife. Out of Islam, I don’t think this is possible. Even if you do the right thing depending on a way other than Islam, you might end up happy, but still there will be unhappy people around you. In Japan, a lot of the ideas –especially in ethics – are similar to Islamic ideas. This is something shared between Muslims and Japanese. Islamic ethics are very similar and close to those of the Japanese but still, if you follow the Islamic way, everyone will be happy 100%.
Another sweet thing about Islam is that, most religions ask for spiritual (heart) obedience disregarding the logical one. But Islam asks for both. My heart and mind were convinced so I became a Muslim. It’s very important that the heart doesn’t contradicts the mind or vice versa.
Books and Translation:
I think translating books from Arabic into Japanese needs a lot of explanatory details for the Japanese to understand well. I remember I read a book translated into Japanese. I didn’t understand and it wasn’t useful because it was translated literally, and literal translation here is not good.
I wish Dr. Okuda writes a book collecting the lectures he gives at the university. Such a book will be definitely useful for the Japanese because his style suits the Japanese mind. He speaks about Islam in relation to Japan and Japan’s problems quoting Japanese thinkers and explaining gradually how Islam has the solution to all such problems but never separating Islam from other religions.
Advice from Said to people in words
I just want to say that Islam is very simple and natural; not complicated and not strange. Really Islam is simple; “No God but Allah”. These words make us happy.
ما شاء الله اسأل الله ان يثبته ويثبتنا جميعا على ديننا ويجعله نفعا للإسلام والمسلمين
كم انا سعيدة بزيارة مدونتكم دائما اخى الكريم ولكن لا أحب ان اكتب تعليقا حتى لا أشغلكم يكفيني زيارتها ^_^
واسأل الله ألا تكونوا نسيتموني وأسرتكم تذكروني بالخير
جزاكم الله خيرا
سلامي لأسرتكم كثيرا ^_^
دمتم بخير
دمتم في طاعة
أكرمك الله على تذكرك بنا ونحن لا ننساك وندعو لك الخير والتوفيق
بارك الله فيك دائما وأبدا