As we attended the first time of “Meeting of Countrywide’s Muslima” that was hold in Keio University, below is a coverage about that.
Time: Saturday, 11th of February, between 11:00 am and 7:30 pm.
Place: 2nd floor of T House in SCF campus of Keio University.
Sponsor: Kanagawa prefecture Laboratory of Islamic Studies, Keio research institute at SCF Prof. Atsushi OKUDA’s Laboratory for Arabic Islamic Studies
Topic: To think about the education of the second generation of Muslims: in what way would the period of junior high school and high school be spent.
This meeting is the female version of the “Meeting for Muslims around Japan”that was held last year and the year before last in Keio University. 7 Muslima (Muslima=Female Muslims) from Nagoya, Yokohama, Saitama, Fukuyama, Fukushima, Yamanashi and Fukuoka participated. They talked about and exchanged personal children-rear experiences, opinions and examples from surrounding Muslima (mothers) and children.
After the keynote speech by Okuda Atushi, a professor in faculty of Policy Management at the Keio University, in the first section, there were presentations and discussions by Muslima about problems in the school life of the children in the second section. In the third section, along with mothers from different generations, five young Muslims from the second generation joined, and all shared an energetic argument about problems of home education or internal sense of values.
From Masjid Nagoya’s side, there were presented an interview with children who are joining (the mosque’s) group of high school students, and there were cases reported by the coordinator of that group, suggesting that the compulsory Islam education may lead to detach children from Islam. Similar ideas were expressed by attendees from second generation, and it was agreed that Islam education should tell the beauty of the original Islam rather than impose rules. Also, we raised the significance of making friends, and got the attendees’ consent for the necessity of (starting) fields to interchange and to perform activities for that purpose.
As regards Islam education in Japan, it was largely led by foreign males so far, and we can say that this meeting of Japanese females together (in one place) is an epochal thing. Moreover, it could be thought also that this is the first-ever chance in (history of) Islam of Japan in which second generation (Muslims) talk together about their personal experience in such a place.
May Allah enable the Muslim children to be self-confident and (even) proud while living in Japan, and let this meeting be utilized largely. May Allah enable parents to practice a guidance that is snuggling up to the hearts of the children. May Allah bless the future of children, Aameen.
*The points that parents are asked to reconfirm are summarized in the following statements.[12 points for the education addressed to Muslim high school students]
