The Muslim Minority of Japan

3 quick updates!

1.) First of all, jazakum Allah khayran, thank you all for your support of the channel! I hit 7000subs today, alhamdulillah :)

I really want to do another LIVE, but I need some better equipment. I am afraid I gave everyone motion sickness with my first attempt, haha.

Let's promise to see each other on a LIVE when the channel reaches 10,000 subs in sha Allah. (Will give me some time to upgrade cameras)

2.) Second, I'm still not finished editing the new video. I need one more day! Will do my best to get it up tomorrow in sha Allah :)


3.) ALSO! I took your advice on the logo:
-dropped the "AI Slop"
-hand drew some designs
-added some pretty deep Japanese symbolism (well, I think it's deep)
- even threw in a hidden 回教　(do you see it?)

What do you think? should I try and produce a more high quality version of this sketch?
Scrap it? Build on it? Try again?

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3 days ago | [YT] | 282

The Muslim Minority of Japan

There is a famous saying in Japan, 「お米一粒に七人の神様がいる」(There are 7 Gods in every piece of rice.)

Does this mean people actually think there is 7 miniature gods inside of the piece of rice?

Often I receive comments from Japanese and non-Japanese alike telling me that Japan has many Gods, Islam has only one. Japan is just too different and will never accept Islam.

...As a reverted Muslim who was born into a Buddhist family but also visited Shinto Shrines throughout the year, I obviously disagree.

I am working on a video to explain why Japan and Islam aren't as far away as one might imagine. The editing is going to take me some time, so please be patient with me :)

If you haven't already, please sub the channel and turn on notifications so that you will know when the video drops!

Thank you all for your support of the channel! Barak Allah feekum!

6 days ago | [YT] | 463

The Muslim Minority of Japan

Assalamu alaykum!
I am thinking about updating the Channel Profile Picture with a logo. What do you think? Do you like any of these?

1 week ago | [YT] | 89

The Muslim Minority of Japan

This is my son. But also, my brother.

I reverted to Islam alone. And pretty much everyone was against it.

But I had my baby boy, who was there literally since my Shahadah. I can't explain it but somehow he was Muslim from before he could speak.

As a baby he would put his head on the floor next to mine when I prayed. He would point at random flowers, rocks, pieces of grass, clouds and look at me,
"Subhnlaa" he would say in his cute baby talk.

His heart was always something special.

For some unknown reason he was really interested in Spanish and South America so he taught himself how to count and say some phrases (as a 4 year old). One day walking around the park he asks me, "Papa, why do they speak Spanish in South America?" I took out my phone and showed him England, Spain, France and Portugal and gave him a short kid-friendly explanation in which he learned three new words:
"Colonization"
"Genocide"
"Oppression"
He collapsed on the side of the road and was inconsolable. Through his tears he looked at me in the eyes and said,

"Papa, I don't want to learn the language of the Oppressors!"

In retrospect, maybe is wasn't as "kid-friendly" as I thought. . . Anyways, that was it for Spanish. . . It took me a long time to convince him that he needed to keep learning English so that he could speak with our American family members.

Bedtime stories were secretly about the Sahabah (at the time his mom wouldn't have wanted to hear them.)
"Papa tell me the one about Abu Dahdah again!"
"Papa, tell me the funny one, Nu'yman!"
We had our own secret world that only we understood.
A place in our imaginations somewhere in between Mecca and Madinah. A place that we had never visited, but it still felt like a secret hide-out only we had access to.

Everyone in the family had made me promise not to force my Religion on anyone; especially the kids. I had agreed - "There is no compulsion in Religion" - I told them.

One day my 5 year-old boy walks up to my wife's mother while she is standing in the kitchen getting ready to make breakfast and says, "Grandma, is it okay if I don't eat pork anymore?"
She stood in shock, and I was braced for the worst.
We had already had so many fights since the time that I gave up pork.

But it was her first grandchild asking her, not me. And Grandma knows that there is something special about this boy too.
Everyone in the family looked at me, I just raised my eyebrows and shook my head, "Nope. Not me." I said with a huge grin on my face.

To this day I don't know how or why. I never talked with him about why I stopped eating pork, and I made an effort to avoid the topic. Fighting over pork was pretty low on my list of priorities. If anything, fights about pork and alcohol were counter productive.
No, at that point I was just trying to get my family to the starting line.
"la ilaha illa Allah" was all I wanted.
And here was my boy. His fitrah speaking truth to Grandma. She paused before responding, "Okay, if that's what YOU want. Is that what YOU want?"
"No more please" he said. And that was it for pork.

We didn't connect to the Muslim community until he was already maybe 8 years old. I had a few Syrian friends that met maybe once a year, and my boy had never met another Muslim kid in his life.

Everything changed when his mother accepted Islam, and we dived headfirst into the Japanese Muslim Community. Alhamdulillah. (she is much more social than me, haha)

This is a picture that I believe Maeno Sensei took of my boy giving the Adhan at the Japan Muslim Association the first time that we met.

Up until this moment neither myself or my boy had ever given adhan for anyone other than ourselves and the Angels.

And also at this moment I realized how far we had come.

That's why I say:

This is my son. But also, my brother.

1 week ago (edited) | [YT] | 937

The Muslim Minority of Japan

I don't understand the Quran.

I mean, I'm learning the words, being taught tafsir, repeating ayaat I've memorized. But I don't really understand it—not the way the Quraysh did.

They would hear the ayaat recited and instantly recognize the hand of Allah.
It would break them, terrify them, inspire them, bring them to tears.
The Quraysh understood that these were not the words of men.

I've spent most of my life with zero exposure to Islam or Arabic, living in a Muslim minority country. Resources are limited. There are no masajid on every block. Dars are limited. Teachers are limited. Texts are limited. The whole neighborhood doesn't celebrate Ramadan or Eid together. Families don't gather. There's no one with knowledge in our families we can turn to for advice. There are no huffaz around us. Yet still we sit at desks, usually alone, trying to connect to God through a language that remains foreign to us even after years of studying it.


But whenever I start feeling distant from His signs—because I can only have the miracles of the Quran explained to me, not experience them for myself—I step outside.


Allah didn't only put His ayaat, His signs, in a book. He put His signs in the world all around us.


Sometimes I feel as an Ummah we need more balance. There are those in the Muslim world who seem to only see the signs of Allah in His book and in the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. They only see the connection to Allah—to Truth, Wisdom, Mercy—through words on a page. But this disconnect feels off to me. Something is missing. . .


Living in a Muslim minority country, I find myself a lot of the time outside, marveling at the ayaat Allah has left all around us. Unlike the Quran, these ayaat have no barrier to entry.


Don't get me wrong, I am amazed by the Quran. I love the Quran, but I will never experience it like Abu Bakr or Umar RA did.

However, when I stop for a minute.
When I step outside.
When I give a sunset enough time, it speaks to me too—and when I deeply contemplate the signs of Allah in the world around me, even the sunset can terrify me, inspire me, bring me to tears...

Maybe that's the point. Maybe Ar-Rahman knew some of us would need signs we could read without translation.

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 336

The Muslim Minority of Japan

"Japan is a country of Buddhism and Shinto!" I hear this all the time. Especially from the far right.

Evidence that some people didn't bother staying awake in History Class . . .

Buddhism is a foreign import, and during the Meiji Restoration in 1868 the Japanese government launched a campaign called, "Haibutsu Kishaku" (Abolish Buddhism! Destroy Shakyamuni Buddha!)

Thousands of Temples were destroyed.

Statues were beheaded.

Sacred Sutras were burned.

Monks were forced to return to secular life.

. . . not foreign radical extremists doing this. The Japanese Government. Japan obviously didn't feel that Japan was a country of Buddhism during Meiji.

The Meiji Government wanted to build a National Identity around the Imperial Family. And so, the Modern Shinto religion was innovated by mashing together a mix of beliefs and customs that played into the political narrative that the Emperor was a direct descendent of the Gods (specifically Amaterasu)

And what of the shrines and traditions that didn't play into the narrative?

Defunded. Marginalized. Decommissioned. Forced abandonment.

Modern Shinto isn't a spiritual religion. It's a National Propaganda tool built to prop up the Imperial Family during the Meiji Revolution.

Modern Japan isn't defined by Buddhism or Modern "Shinto"

But Shinto continues to work as a strong political tool especially in these times of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric.

But actually that's not what the video I made is really about ー

The question I ask is, what happens when we forget about politics?

What happens when we take a look purely at the beliefs and the spiritual evolution of Japanese Buddhism?

Once we put politics aside is it possible that the next most natural step in this evolution is Islam?

Video drops tonight at 9PM JST.

There was too much to cover in one video, and I don't feel like I've done this topic justice. Undoubtedly there will be some historians out there angry that I didn't include everything (but since I was trying to make a 10 minute video, I think I did pretty good haha) At least it gets the conversation started, in sha Allah.

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 388

The Muslim Minority of Japan

Assalamu Alaykum! On my last video I said, "I think debate culture has been one of the worst things to happen to Muslims in modern times."

I made a mistake.

I said, "I think"

Actually this is incorrect. To be fair, I don't really have an opinion or a lot of emotion invested in this topic. "My" opinion is wholly informed by what the Scholars have said.

Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, Imam Shafi' and Imam Ahmad think that lay people should not engage in debating, and that it should be reserved for the Scholars.

. . .and just to make sure that I cover all my bases:

Both Imam Ghazali AND Imam Ibn Taymiyyah also said that lay Muslims should not be engaging in debating and that it should be left to Scholars.

I don't really have my own opinion on this. To be honest, if even one of the above 6 said that laypeople should not debate then I wouldn't debate. (It's kind of ironic that this topic itself is on the verge of becoming a debate, haha.)

So anyways, please forgive me for coming across as rude if I do not respond to comments on this topic. It's not that I don't value your input I just am really committed to not debating. It scares me to be honest. What if I say something about the Deen that is untrue?

So, instead of us having a debate about debating, please go to your local masjid, ask the Imam what madhab he follows and then ask them what the madhab says about debating. Please direct your conversation to people that are more knowledgeable than me. I am wholly unqualified to be engaging in any debates about anything related to the Deen.

And if the Imam tells you something that clarifies a point and you believe that I am incorrect and wrong about my stance, then please inform me. I am 100% open to learning from people who actually have knowledge.

Truly though, it was not my intention to belittle any of the Dawah work that brothers are doing around the world. Every engagement is not debate, and I understand the difference between debate and answering the questions of sincere Truth-Seekers.

Have a blessed weekend.

Assalamu alaykum!

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 654

The Muslim Minority of Japan

Assalamu alaykum! Sorry guys. I don't think I will have time to post today, I'm behind on my studies.

I have this goal of trying to get fluent in Arabic before I turn 40. . . not doing so well at the moment, please make du'a for me! In sha Allah, there is still time!


P.S. I'm thinking of doing a LIVE when I hit 5,000 subs. What do you think? Maybe I can show you guys somewhere in Tokyo on a live stream? Where do you want to see?

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 290

The Muslim Minority of Japan

I hated the game.
In 2025, you need views and subs just to be heard.
Not because your ideas matter — but because your numbers do.
And I refused to play such a stupid game. For years.
But then I woke up one morning, saw white in my beard, and realized:
I was waiting for other influencers to carry my message.
Trying to borrow their platforms.
Trying to stay “pure” while the world moved on.
What was I doing?
I may not like how this world works.
But I don’t have time anymore.
My youth is vanishing (it's scary!)
And if I truly believe in this vision — of an Islamic Japan, of our own identity —
then I need to build it myself.
So here’s my ask:
If that vision moves you, even a little — give me a chance.
I’m not asking for money.
Just a sub.
See what this channel becomes in the next year.
It’ll be worth the 2 seconds.
And then some.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 209

The Muslim Minority of Japan

Assalamu Alaykum!

I really wanted to put this video out today, but life happens and editing takes forever :(

Islam is the next most natural step in the spiritual evolution of Japan.

I will walk you through 1500 years of Japanese religious history to explain why!

→ Don't forget to Subscribe and turn on Alerts for when this video drops, in sha Allah.

Japan is much closer to Islam than you might think ;)

Leave a comment if there are any other topics you want me to dive into!

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 234