Is there anyone who sees Islam as avoiding pork and alcohol only?
Even though it is a perfect way of life for humanity!
My name is Qaym Yamamoto Na Oki
A student at Kyoto university, Asian and African studies college
He attended a school for religions and read a book about Islam
Qasim travelled to Muslim countries to understand Islam better
and there he felt peace and brotherhood
Since a young age, you were interested in Abrahamic religions
Why did you study these religions?
I started studying religions at a young age
And especially Christianity
And from there, my interest grew into all the Abrahamic religions
And when I was in High School
my mom bought me books that speak about these religions
So I read them but I still wanted to know more!
Did you have a bad opinion of Islam before converting?
I knew the name of the religion only
But I didn’t get a chance to learn about Islam
You didn’t know anything about Islam!
Islam was far away from me
God willing, Qayim went through a dangerous sickness before converting to Islam
Which made him relook his life
Because of this I started think about death
and the meaning of life
What is the meaning of the world?
I started thinking to myself during my sickness, why do I have to go through this?
And why am I sick and there’s no one to help me?
And after my recovery I felt like I need to thank he who saved me from my suffering!
And then I started to think, there must be a power moving this world! There must be a God!
and after that I got word that Doshisha university offers courses in religions!
Christianity, Judaism and Islam
So I attended Doshisha university
And I studied the 3 religions
During my study, I found that Islam has many answers to my questions when I was sick..So I decided to study Islam and get to know it better
from the books that influenced Qayim, the book of Towhead (Monotheism)
Written by Arsalan Al Dimashqei and translated to Japanese
The expressions in this book were really fascinating
I was fascinated by the meaning of the divine creator, Allah
And what it means to be the Servants of Allah!
So I looked at the name of the author..I mean the translator
I really wanted him to teach me Islam
And it was translated to Japanese by Nakata Koory Habeeba
And even though the book is simple but rich in its content
There was proof of monotheism and the reason for creation
And I learned afterwords that her husband is a professor at Dosheesha university
So I called him to get permission for his wife to give me lessons in Islam
But I found out from professor Hasan that his wife had already passed away
and professor Hassan decided to teach me Islam instead of her!
Which was a stage where I was encouraged to become Muslim
The book affected my heart a great deal before I converted! It was the one which taught me about monotheism and the existence of Allah and it is my guide in life now!
but again because of the minority of Muslims in Japan
I wasn’t able to meet Muslims except for professor Hasan
That’s why he advised me to travel to an Arabic country
So I could live the Islamic culture!
and that’s when I decided to travel to Egypt
His trip to Egypt was a great experience in living with Muslims
and it made him read and learn more about Islam
There I learned a lot about the Islamic culture, especially the calling of Azan at every prayer, which I liked very much
You read the Quran, and there’s a verse that affected your heart!
Which verse is that Shaikh Qayim?
There’s a lot of verses, but especially the verse “And We have already created man and know what his soul whispers to him, and We are closer to him than [his] jugular vein”
I felt upset! I really felt upset because I felt Allah but where was he?
but because of the verse I understood
Allah is closer to me than my jugular vein!
Even closer to me than my soul and my being!
“And We have already created man and know what his soul whispers to him, and We are closer to him than [his] jugular vein”
See with me how close Allah is to us!
He is closer to us than our jugular vein!
The jugular vein is a main vein in the neck
connects directly to the heart
This is how close Allah is to us!
And we still disobey him…
There’s an important moment in your life, my brother Qayim, and it’s the moment when you said the Shahada
When did you say the Shahada? and where? and how did you feel when you were saying those great words?
I converted to Islam in Egypt
I converted to Islam in the Azhar mosque in front of Shaikh Hassan and Shaikh Ali Gom’a
The Shaikh said to me “he’s already a Muslim!”
“so why not become a Muslim now?!”
“because you already have 2 witnesses!”
and at that moment I had no reason to reject
Ok then, I agree! I will become a Muslim!
I felt free! The freedom to be a Muslim!
Freedom in the meaning that I’m not a slave to a human being but a slave to Allah only!
The biggest disbeliever, Alwaleed Bin Al Mugheera, says after hearing the Quran
The beauty of Quran is felt by any one who listens truly!
But the guidance of Quran is found by he who’s pure in heart and mind!
May Allah make the Quran the peace of our hearts
My favorite verse in the Quran is “Say, “Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah , Lord of the worlds.”
And it means that the prayers, rituals, life and death of any human is for Allah
And this is the summary of the Islamic way of life
That everything in your life is for Allah.
My family and some of my friends were surprised by my conversion to Islam
And I didn’t face any hardships for becoming a Muslim
But I’m trying to change the image for a lot of people who have been mislead by the media that Islam is a religion of violence
Qasim got married to an Indonesian Muslim woman after converting to Islam
So she could help him strengthen his new religion
Even though he’s young, 25 years old, he tried to be effective in his community and wrote a book
Could you hand me the book please
“How to Live in Japan, on the Basis of Islam”
This is a translation of an Arabic book by Al Nabulsy
But I wrote the introduction
I explained the reality of faith in Islam
Japan is far from the Islamic culture
and it’s very difficult to understand the concept of faith in Islam
How long did it take you to write the book after converting to Islam?
After 2 years
I asked this very important question because after 2 years of converting to Islam he wrote a book!
And we were born Muslim and what have we added to Islam?
That’s the only question I’d like each one to ask himself what have you done?
From the main reasons for the weakness of Islam in Japan
The lack of information resources about Islam
And the lack of communication between the Japanese and Muslims
What fascinated me most about Islam is the continuity of sciences
because science is connected to Allah who is eternal in his existence since the past, present and in the future
especially the findings of the previous Muslim scientists
The death of the scientists doesn’t mean the death of their books or sciences but it remains to benefit those after them
Yes, scientists are the inheritors of the prophets
and their knowledge remains as a public charity even after their death
but the destruction of Earth is by missing them..
Allah says in the Quran “Have they not seen that We set upon the land, reducing it from its borders?”
Ibn Abbas and Mujahid said “the destruction of Earth is by the death of its scholars and scientists..”
It is difficult for Non-muslims to understand Islam and accept some the things in it easily
Especially that what they know about Islam is from the media and they make it sound very strange!
and that it’s a violent religion!
Like the Prophet (PBUH) said “Islam started as a stranger and will remain a stranger like it started! and lucky are the strangers!”
Our mission of Da’wa for Qayim is to start an Islamic website in Japanese
All I wish for is to succeed in delivering this religion to the world
To all those who are suffering from alienation in the world so they could feel safe and happy