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Living as a Japanese Muslim In Japanese Society
Muslim-born and raised among Muslim families and society might be a bit difficult to imagine how Muslim reverts practice Islamic teachings in non-Muslim societies. Today we introduce three episodes that Japanese Muslims are facing in their daily life.
“We do our best to find and eat halal foods when living with family”
Halal food shops and restaurants are increasing in Japan. Yes, it is. But it is still an issue if you are a revert living with your family which is non-Muslim since it might be a challenge in arranging the food. For example, a Japanese Muslim maybe can’t have special storage for halal meat because most only have one refrigerator in the house. There is also the case where a Japanese Muslim can’t help to eat non-halal chicken or beef when attending a special big family occasion.
However, they are doing their best to avoid foods containing pork or its derived ingredients and mostly their family understands not to serve them pork and foods with its extract.
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See Also
How New Japanese Muslim Deals with Halal
The Revert Story of a New Japanese Muslim
“We mostly do the Jama prayer during working hours”
If you are working in an international company that has an understanding of 5 times prayer, you might be able to have a quick 5-10 minutes to pray when the time comes, but the story changes if you are working in a common, ordinary Japanese company.
Basically, you will need to work and rest during the designated hour. So that when Muslim staff (not only Japanese Muslims) asks for 5-10 minutes to pray, they might need to extend their working time with the same time they used to pray and preferably do Jama prayer, for example, doing asr prayer together with zuhr prayer during lunch break.
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“We can’t wear hijab at work, but do our best to wear it in other errands as much as possible”
The understanding of diversities among Japanese companies and society is truly improving, however, there are still cases where a Muslimah can’t wear a hijab at work due to the company’s policy. People might think “if so, you better change your job”, yet it is not an easy thing to do. That’s why even a Japanese Muslimah can’t wear hijab at work but they are actively wearing hijab on other occasions.
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See Also
5 Things Muslims Need to Know When Working in Japan
Summary
Japanese society upholds the thought of “not standing out among the community” and “equality for everyone”. In some cases, there might be a complication to “outstand” with hijab in the society they belong to.
We hope by knowing the reality of how Japanese Muslims practice Islam in Japanese society as mentioned above, we can have a better understanding of conditions from a different points of view and give positive and peaceful support to each other.
See Also
Must See! This is How to Proceed Reverting to Islam in Japan (Mu’allaf)
The Stories of Japanese Muslims and Muslims in Japan
