Another new Muslimah

We received the phone call when we were in the middle of attending to our child when he was terribly sick.

It was a Yemeni guy, asking us about necessary documents for someone to convert to Islam, as well as trying to make an appointment for a new Muslim conversion. I told him that he could bring his friend for conversion anytime but right then the timing was a bit off because we had a sick child to attend to. Hubby asked him to come to the mosque the next day.

At that time it did not occurred to us that Huzaifah would be hospitalized. Thus, when he was, hubby asked me to call up more senior members of ICOJ to attend to the Yemeni guy’s request since we might be held up at the hospital. We called, but it seemed that nobody was quite free that night to cater to the Yemeni’s guy request. Hubby decided to leave the hospital earlier than me, to prepare all the necessary documents and gifts (Islamic books for beginners) in case the guy show up with his friend - “Orang nak masuk Islam tak boleh lengah-lengahkan, nanti kalau jadi apa-apa, kita nak jawab apa…”

I left the hospital at 8.00 pm, after Huzaifah had gone to sleep. (Alhamdulillah, he always napped right before I had to leave the hospital, making it easier for me to leave quietly without seeing him crying, protesting my going away) I noticed the two extra pair of shoes on the shoe rack, but I found hubby alone in the office. We went upstairs together, and only then hubby noticed that there were two people waiting in the mosque after all – the Yemeni guy and his Nihonjin girlfriend.

Turned out that they hadn’t been waiting long, just that they didn’t know where to look for the Imam. They first introduced themselves in English, but soon after that hubby began conversing in Arabic with Hadi, the Yemeni guy while I chatted in my limited Nihongo with Sonoko-san. I apologized for our late welcome since I myself had just returned from the hospital. (It had been a long day for me – what with having to register Huzaifah for child welfare in Taito-ku ward office in Ueno first, and they requested some documents I’ve never heard of before, making it a lot more complicated than it was back in Gyotoku… In fact, that day, I reached the hospital later than Huzaifah’s other visitors – Kamarol and Mizan and his family, who were kind enough to visit all the way from Chiba…)

Things went far smoother this time compared to our first conversion experience. Hubby had prepared his script beforehand, spoke in Arabic and Hadi acted as translator for Sonoko-san. I was impressed with Hadi’s Nihongo, because he was so fluent and there was little trace of Arabic slang if at all in his Nihongo. I later found out that he’s a teacher in Yemen who works part time as tourist guide for Japanese and that was how he first met Sonoko-san. He was in Japan on Sonoko’s family invitation, to visit Sonoko-san’s father who has been hospitalized for some old age-related problems.

Actually, I was not only impressed, I was also envious. To date, while I may not be fluent, most Nihonjin I’ve talked to, often remarked that my Nihongo is rather good for someone who has been here for less than a year. However, since Nihonjin are known to be extra polite sometimes, I’m unsure whether they were honestly stating a fact or just being polite. Since our move to this mosque, my priority in learning Nihongo has shifted from trying to understand Japanese dorama, to at least be able to explain basic stuff in Islam to others who are interested to learn. The truth is, I can understand TV programs in Nihongo up to some extend now, but my spoken Nihongo is still too poor for me to be able to explain even Rukun Iman or Rukun Islam… I could answer simple questions like what time is Jumu’ah prayer held in the mosque, or do we have Quran lesson in the mosque, but whenever we get some phone calls asking fiqh related stuff, I always had to direct the callers to call others. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, and that was exactly we had been advised to do by ICOJ committee members, but I still feel that I should be able to do better than that…

Anyway, back to the conversion…

Sonoko-san’s interest in Islam was first generated as she toured in a few Muslim countries – Yemen, Syria, Iran, Malaysia, Indonesia, to name a few. She too has taken an interest in learning Arabic, and in turn was further encouraged to learn more about Islam by her Indonesian Arabic language instructor. Understandably, her decision to convert was not well received by her family, but the presence of her Yemeni boyfriend in person had helped her to get that extra boost of confidence to take the leap of faith.

Just before converting, hubby asked her some questions relating to her interest in Islam, and her understanding of Islam so far, as well as whether she has come to Islam out of her own free will. It seemed that she had found a good coach in Hadi, who has helped in explaining and answering her questions before this. She too had ‘rehearsed’ uttering the syahadah, so when the time came for her to declare herself as a Muslim, it went rather well, as her Arabic is rather jouzu for a Nihonjin. She chose an old Arabic name, Lamees, as her Muslim name (as opposed to Fatimah, Aisyah and Mariam, popular names for Muslim Nihonjin), even saying “Ismi Lamees” (”My name is Lamees” in Arabic) when hubby asked her what is her Muslim name. No, it is not compulsory to have a new Muslim name when one becomes a Muslim, (Rasulullah’s companions did not change their name after their conversion just for the sake of changing their name – Umar was Umar before he became a Muslim and remained Umar after he converted) it is just a custom to do so, but I thought Lamees is a beautiful name which suits her nicely.

Hubby then proceeded to explain to her the basic tenets – Rukun Islam and Rukun Iman – in Arabic which was translated to Nihongo by Hadi. Then, after she was done with filling in her details, with Hadi and I acting as witnesses for her conversion, hubby handed a copy of the new Muslim certificate over to her. She held it with a wondrous look for a moment just before I requested for permission to take a photo of her showing off the certificate. She looked happy posing for the camera. Hadi even clapped his hand as he muttered omedetou gozaimas (congratulations) to her.

I then promised to call up another Muslim Nihonjin who might be able to answer her questions better and have better knowledge than me regarding Islamic classes conducted in Nihongo held in other Islamic center and mosques. She would like that, because she really want to learn more about Islam. It’s a new start, it’s a new life and she looks forward to learning being a good Muslim.

She knows that it’s not going to be easy. It is never easy for many. Most Muslim Nihonjin take some time adjusting to their new faith – to stop their drinking habit, change their eating habits, start praying… She was aware that it’s going to be a tough challenge, and it may take her five, six, or even ten years before she could be a fully practicing Muslim I encouraged her to take her time. What is important first and foremost is her belief in Allah AlMighty. Everything else will fall in its places accordingly, insya Allah.

I was surprised to learn that she lived in Shibuya, not too far from a famous mosque. I wondered loudly why they did not go there instead of coming all the way to Asakusa for her conversion. Hadi explained briefly that when he called them up, stating his interest in bringing a friend for a conversion ceremony, the mosque’s response had been rather cool. Yet, when he called us, both hubby and I welcomed him warmly, sounding eager to assist in any way we could. Thus, they chose to come to us.

Shocked and sad – my expression must had conveyed what I felt right then to them because she immediately reassured me that it’s okay, it doesn’t matter where she does it right, because she is already a Muslim now.

She is getting married to Hadi soon, and insya Allah I will share more about their wedding ceremony because they had chose to get married in Asakusa too.