Islam in Japan

Salam everyone...

First of all, this entry is for sharing info that I gained here that I think will give benefit to other Muslim residing in Japan. If my entry sounded like I am telling everyone about my ibadah, please forgive me. That is not my intention.


Before coming to Japan, I knew that everything will be different here. Living style, food, religion...you can say everything will be different. But I did not think everything tru when I came here. Why? I did not have enough time to think about me coming to Japan, I was so busy with work before. I just pack one bag and get on the flight without knowing what I will faced here. Hehehe...bila fikir balik...not so good like that. This is foreign country, not going to Johor or Sabah.

Alhamdulillah, I managed to get on my track. But it does not happened in a blink of an eye. It took many efforts and understanding. Now,  I can smile and experience my being here in Japan with a peaceful heart. The comfort of practicing Islam in Malaysia always reminded me how lucky I am being a Malaysian.

Okay, back to the main story... Islam in Japan. At first, I tried to find information at Malaysia's embassy website regarding zakat payment in Japan but I could not find it. Sorry embassy.

Oleh kerana nak dapatkan arah kiblat dan waktu solat, di Jepun...saya terjumpa sebuah laman web Islamic Center Japan. This is the main Islamic Organization here in Japan. They provided many kind of information such as Prayer Time, the start of Ramadhan and when is 1 Syawal is going to be. All these years that I followed them, the decision on Ramadhan and Syawal are aligned with Malaysia. Lega sungguh bila ada maklumat macam ni. 

Beside that, they also provide zakat payment. Any muslim in Japan that wishes to pay their zakat(pendapatan and Fidyah) can pay to this organization. Last year's zakat fidyah was Yen1500.  I contacted them asking about how to pay zakat pendapatan here after I got feedback from Pusat Pungutan Zakat Maiwp that it is afdal to pay the zakat at the place I received my wages. So, in my case...lebih afdal bayar di Japan.

Their reply was very fast (I used email before). I expected I will received reply after a few days. But syukur alhamdulillah, the center replied my email the next day after they received my query. (^_^)...so happy. Hilang terus semua sakit kepala dan rasa resah di hati. The following are the information about paying zakat here. This is the exact email that I received.

Walaikum Assalam,

Thank you for your inquiry.Yes,we can accept it.Your Zakat, Zakat-ul-Fitr and Sadaqa may be paid through the following account: 

Sumitomo-Mitsui Banking Corporation, Shinjuku Nishiguchi Branch 
Current A/C No. 204137  Islamic Center - Japan Zakat Fund

And about how to calculate it,the following are instruction including the example from one Islamic scholar.

Condition to pay Zakat (obligatory) as follow: 

1. To have Nisab which equal the amount of 87 gram and 500 milligram gold or 612 gram silver.

    today on April 5,2011 (gold price 1 gram Yen4,061- X 87.5 gold  Yen355,337-) (Silver price 1 gram Yen109.1- X 612 silver  Yen66,708- most Ulama confirmed Nisab by silver.   

2. To hold this Nisab amount for one year, example someone had Yen100,000- September 2010, and he kept Yen100,000- September, 2011, means Nisab is completed therefore he have to pay 2.5 % =Yen2,500-   

May Allah bless you.

Thank you.

So, anyone that wanted to know the Nisab amount, as at April 5,2011 (gold price 1 gram Yen4,061- X 87.5 gold  Yen355,337-) (Silver price 1 gram Yen109.1- X 612 silver  Yen66,708. 

Then I asked about how to inform them after I have made the payment...they answered : "No need to tell us,because Allah know everything." So simple..the answer... but true right. Everything we do, Allah will always know.

Let's tunaikan zakat...InsyaAllah.