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File photo of a mosque in Japan |
TOKYO,
July
16 (IslamOnline.net
&
News
Agencies)
–
Although
they
make
up
only
a
fraction
of
the
country’s
overall
population,
Muslims
in
Japan
move
in
earnest
to
give
a
true
image
and
correct
misconceptions
about
their
religion
in
what
seems
to
be a
battle
of
acceptance.
Imam
Cemil
Ayaz
makes
it
clear
when
he
sits
down
for
a
chat
about
Islam
in
Japan
:
terrorism
is
not
up
for
discussion.
In
fact,
says
the
prayer
leader
and
director
of
Tokyo
's
most
prominent
mosque,
don't
even
mention
the
word.
"Islam
is a
religion
of
peace
and
a
religion
of
love,"
the
Turkish
imam
told
Reuters
in a
report
made
by
the
news
agency
of
Muslims
in
Japan
.
Like
the
imam,
many
Muslims
in
Japan
struggle
to
disassociate
their
religion
from
images
of
militancy
and
violence.
Although
they
make
up
only
a
fraction
of
the
nearly
2
million
foreigners
in
Japan
,
the
September
11
attacks,
Iraq
and
claims
that
a
suspected
Al-Qaeda
agent
recently
lived
here
have
intensified
the
focus
on
the
Muslim
community,
and
not
in a
good
light.
"Since
September
11,
I
think
the
attitude
of
people
in
how
they
look
at
Muslims
has
changed,"
said
Mohammad
Zubair,
a
freelance
journalist
who
reports
on
the
Islamic
world
for
Japan
's
media.
Zubair
says
his
wife,
a
Japanese
who
reverted
to
Islam
and
now
wears
a
headscarf,
often
gets
the
cold-shoulder
from
her
fellow
Japanese.
"The
other
(Japanese)
women,
they
keep
their
distance,
like
she's
someone
from
another
planet,"
he
said.
It's
a
familiar
tale
for
Japan
's
Muslims,
who
number
about
100,000
–
more
than
90
percent
of
whom
are
not
Japanese.
Media
To
Blame
Part
of
the
problem,
some
say,
is
the
media.
In
the
wake
of
9/11,
Japan
's
media
has
paid
more
attention
to
followers
of
Islam,
and
not
always
in a
positive
way,
says
Manami
Yano,
secretary
general
of
the
Solidarity
Network
with
Migrants
Japan.
"You
hear
a
lot
more
being
said
about
Muslims,
people
from
the
Middle
East
and
Arabs,"
she
said.
"For
example,
on
television
there
have
been
comments
like
'there
are
a
lot
of
terrorists
among
Muslims
and
Arabs,
so
we
should
crack
down
hard
on
them.'
"If
regular
people
hear
that,
they
end
up
believing
it.
So
it's
no
mystery
that
people
get
stirred
up,"
she
said.
International
Group
The
country’s
first
Muslim
community
was
established
in
the
early
20th
century,
when
a
small
number
of
Central
Asian
Muslims,
fleeing
the
Bolshevik
Revolution,
took
refuge
in
Japan
.
In
the
1980s,
as
the
country's
economy
boomed,
Japan
became
a
destination
for
foreigners
seeking
work,
including
Muslims.
Drawn
from
such
places
as
Indonesia
,
Malaysia
,
Pakistan
,
Iran
,
Turkey
and
several
African
nations,
followers
of
Islam
form
an
international
group
in a
nation
that
has
long
prided
itself
on
homogeneity.
"(Muslim)
people
have
reached
every
corner
of
Japan
,"
said,
Abdul
Rab
Shaji,
a
founder
of
the
Islamic
Center
Japan
.
There
were
few
resources
for
Muslims
when
Shaji
first
came
from
Pakistan
in
the
1970s.
He
spent
his
first
four
years
as a
vegetarian
because
he
couldn't
find
halal
meat.
Today,
he
says,
the
country
is
home
to
about
25
permanent
mosques,
around
200
temporary
ones
and
more
than
100
Islamic
organizations.
Stigmatization
Despite
advances,
Islam
still
doesn't
command
the
same
respect
that,
for
example,
Christianity
does,
says
Kumiko
Yagi,
a
professor
of
Islamic
Studies
at
the
Tokyo
University
of
Foreign
Studies.
The
misconception
is
blamed
on
stigmatization
of
the
religion
and
its
followers,
which
Muslims
complain
lead
to
stigmatization.
"In
Japan
,
Christianity
is
said
to
be a
religion
that
loves
peace,"
she
said.
"But
with
Islam
it
is
different
...
Islam
is
associated
with
underdeveloped
countries
and
with
war."
Some
Muslims
say
that
association
and
linking
Islam
with
the
militant
group
Al-Qaeda
have
also
led
to
harassment.
Mohammad
Jassery,
38,
says
that
before
he
was
deported
to
Pakistan
in
2003
for
over-staying
his
visa,
Japanese
police
grilled
him.
The
topic?
Al-Qaeda.
"They
asked
me
if I
belonged
to
the
Taliban,
if I
belonged
to
Al-Qaeda,"
he
told
Reuters
in a
phone
interview.
Police
dispute
the
charge,
saying
that
in
an
arrest
for
visa
violation,
the
police
would
normally
ask
about
citizenship.
"(Questions
about
the
Taliban
and
Al-Qaeda)
are
not
the
kinds
of
things
we
would
normally
ask,"
said
Hidemi
Shigeta,
assistant
chief
of
the
Tokyo
police
station
where
Jassery
said
he
was
detained
for
three
months.
Jassery,
who
lived
in
Japan
without
a
break
from
1988
to
2003,
is
sticking
to
his
version
of
events.
"I
am
very
disheartened,"
he
said.
"What
does
it
matter
if I
am
Muslim
or
Christian
or
Buddhist?"
Source
:
http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2004-07/16/article06.shtml
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