We treasure family

“I have lived in Japan for quite long. It's been thirty years this March.

I was a student when I first came here. My uncle was running a printing shop, and I had a part-time job there back then. Now I still work in printing business.

I haven't been back to Pakistan for four years, since my parents passed away. Until then, I had visited Pakistan every year.”

“The cities in Japan are the cleanest in Asia. 

The people are gentle, or in other words, they have good manners. I've learned a lot here.

They have a regular routine of waking up at the same time and going to work, and they're hardworking and kind.

This Japanese way of living is very similar to the principles of Islam.

It's not about pork or faith in God. "Cleanliness" is the most important principle of Islam. Not only cleanliness of the body, but also cleanliness of the mind. 

So we pray five times a day to maintain our cleanliness.

Also, we thank before going to sleep, we thank for what happened on the day.”

-What else is an important value for Muslims?

"We treasure family. We take good care of family and will never give up on each other. The first greeting or the first thing we ask when we meet means as much as "Have you eaten your meal yet?" So when we meet up with each other, we first sit down and have a meal together. That's how we connect "soul to soul" and then start talking about anything else."

“I'm on the way back home from the mosque in Yoyogi-Uehara.

There was a small party, as two people have become Muslim. One of them is a Japanese woman who got married to a Pakistani.

At present, there are about ten thousand people who are Japanese and Muslim. Japan Muslim Association has a new center in Gotanda as well.”

（Nakanobu）