Kyoichiro Sugimoto, Japanese Muallaf Share Opportunities and Challenges of Da’wah in His Country

Jakarta, MINA – A convert or muallaf from Japan, Kyoichiro Sugimoto Salman told seminar participants about the opportunities and challenges of da’wah in his country.

“In Japan, there are very few Muslims. Only about 200 thousand people, mostly expatriates (non-Japanese people). So the opportunity is very big,” he explained in front of the participants in the da’wah seminar in Japan organized by the World Halal Industrial Trade and Alliances (WHITA) on Tuesday.

Sugimoto also said that it was relatively easy for Japanese people to accept Islam on condition that the preachers (da’i) could explain Islam in a logistical and simple way.

Therefore, he invited preachers, especially from Indonesia, to preach in Japan because the opportunity was huge.

Meanwhile, the challenge is that most Japanese people embrace the Shinto religion which believes in many gods.

Some Japanese people also read media that discredit Islam so that they have a negative opinion of Islam.

The converts from the area in Chiba also said that currently there are 120 mosques in Japan. This has increased massively compared to 1990 when there were only two mosques.

World Halal Industrial Trade and Alliances (WHITA) is an organization engaged in halal trade, especially in Japan, with the vision of building a Halal Social and Economic life in accordance with Islamic teachings by prioritizing the interests of society (Ummah) above personal interests.(L/R3/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)