How To Merge Japanese & Islamic Social Values

There has been a lot of talk among the Muslims living  in Japan how great the Japanese social values are and how we, as Muslims, can adapt to the local norms and ethics prevailing in the Japanese society to play a more active role in the country. In many ways, Japanese social norms are compatible with those of their Islamic counterparts, thus can co-exist without having to sacrifice any of the two.

In fact, from Muslims’ perspective, two types of social norms in Japan exist parallel to each other. The first type is related to the customs which are  emphasized in most of the Muslim societies as well. The other type  deals with the norms which are against the fundamental Islāmic beliefs such as drinking alcohol or eating pork and other haram items.

Similar discussions have been going on in many other non-Muslim countries as well where Muslims are a significant minority. Those communities have been trying to handle this question in their own ways.  The most common way, and, indeed, the practical one, is to start a healthy dialog between representatives of both Japanese society and Muslim minority groups so that, in the long run, both the communities could co-exist with each other without undermining the rights of others.