PROBLEMS OF MUSLIM GRAVEYARD IN
JAPAN~PART 2
By: Hussain Khan, Tokyo
In my previous report, I had provided some
information about an incomplete Graveyard project pending since last 4 years.
Brother Aquil Siddiqui has kindly sent the following information about the
graveyard he is successfully managing under his Japan Islamic Trust (Otsuka Mosque Committee).
This Japan Islamic Trust is
managing a Mosque in downtown Tokyo, another Mosque in the outskirts of
Tokyo and a childern school for Islamic education in addition to a Muslim
Graveyard.
In my previous report, I had mentioned about
the funds $750,000 that were made available by the late King Fahed of Saudi
Arabia. A part of these funds, about $100,000 were provided to another Grayeyard
which is still under constrution, as reported earlier. Probably the balance
of these funds were used for the purchase of the Graveyard at Yawara under the
Japan Islamic Trust (Otsuka Mosque
committee).
These Funds were made available more than a
decade ago and all Muslims in Japan were in search of some Graveyard land that
could be purchased. But due to the difficulties to get a land for Muslim-style
burial in a country like Japan, where graveyard permission is usually awarded to
such landowners who burn dead bodies as per Buddhist or Shinto religious
rituals. During this intense search by all Muslims, brothers Aquil Siddiqi
and Haroon Qureshi of Japan Islamic Trust
(Otsuka Mosque Committee) succeeded in getting a land for about 400
graves with permission for Muslim-style burials.
Please note this "The graves are available to Muslims Free of cost. Muslims
have to bear Yen 120,000 ($1,200)/grave for digging, burrial services and
maintenance of graveyard. "
Also please note that
Japan Muslim Association, managed by Japanese Muslim brothers owns a huge land
as graveyard with permission for Muslim-style burials. It was also purchased
about 40 years ago totally by Saudi Arabian funds. I had also accompanied to
Enzan city with the Saudi ambassador of that time. Mayor of Enzan city had given
a lunch party to our group and informed about the permission awarded for burying
dead bodies without any compulsion to burn them on this land in the City under
his control.
But unfortunately
about $10,000 are charged for each grave these days by Japan Muslim Association,
which Muslims in Japan cannot afford. These rates for the sale of a grave
started from a humble price of about $1,000, but these are being increased time
to time and have reached to over $10,000 by now. They plead that this is an old
tradition in Japan and every Japanese purchases and reserves his grave
during his life time. These funds, they say, they use to develop their
mountain-like land, which they had purchased by Saudi funds in the
beginning, to make it flat for enabling it for the use of digging
graves.
In
the light of such a situation, Muslims were looking for a graveyard where free
burial could be allowed. Japan Islamic Trust, managed by brothers Aquil siddiqui
and Harron Qureshi have been able to find and manage a graveyard where every
Muslim can bury dead bodies without any charges to buy a grave like other
Japanese. May allah reward them for their sincere efforts. Ameen
It is also worth
mentioning here that several Buddhist convert to Islam in their old age in Hong
Kong, as they cannot afford charges to buy a grave, if they die as a Buddhist.
In case of converting to Islam, they are buried free without any
charges.
From: Aquil Siddiqui [mailto:aquil0715@gmail.com ]
Sent:
Monday, June 02, 2014 2:05 PM
To: 786@mail.towardsquran.com
Cc: JIT;
Haroon Qureshi
Subject: PROBLEMS OF MUSLIM
GRAVEYARD
Assalam
Alaikum,
I am not fully aware of the Graveyard Project of MGIJ.
However, I would like you to know that Japan Islamic Trust has purchased a
Graveyard for Muslims in Yawara, Ibaragi Prefecture. It was purchased from
the funds donated by H.R.H late King Fahad of Saudi Arabia. The graves are
available to Muslims Free of cost. Muslims have to bear Yen 120,000/grave for
digging, burrial services and maintenance of graveyard. Details are given
at Web site of Japan Islamic Trust.
Wassalam
Aquil Siddiqui
----------------------------------------------------------
TOEI TRADING CO.,
LTD
5-39-15,
Higashi-Ikebukuro,
Toshima-ku, Tokyo, Japan 170-0013
Tel. 813-5992-7281 Fax.
813-5992-7280
E.Mail.
machinery@toeijapan.com
http://www.toeijapan.com
PROBLEMS OF MUSLIM GRAVEYARD IN
JAPAN
AND REPORT OF A GRAVEYARD
PROJECT UNDER CONSTRUCTION
There have been cases of some Japanese
Muslims' dead bodies being burnt by their relatives according to their
Buddhist or Shinto family traditions. Efforts of other Muslims to save their
Japanese brothers' dead bodies from being burnt failed. Sometimes the
reason was non-availability of any grave for a Muslim-style burial.
Due to the custom of burning dead bodies, it is
difficult to find a piece of land in Japan where the corpses are allowed to be
buried without being burnt. Japanese local Municipal governments and Japanese
local residents living in nearby areas around such a proposed graveyard usually
do not grant legal permission for this purpose.
The late King Fahd of Saudi Arabia had sent
$700,000 to purchase some land for a Muslim graveyard. It remained lying unused
for over a decade or two and no such land could be available. All Muslims tried
for it in and around Tokyo areas but always legal permission was refused.
During this intense search, a Pakistani Muslim,
Mr. Javed Ali Zaidi, was able to find such a graveyard with necessary
permissions. Saudi embassy also donated about $100,000 for its purchase and
required necessary constructions. Including his own big contribution Mr. Zaidi
and his committee members were able to collect and spend about $6,500.000 for
this purpose The details of this report and the problem of why this graveyard
could not start fuctioning yet will be known from the material given
below.
From: Hussain Khan, Tokyo
[mailto:786@mail.towardsquran.com]
Sent: Saturday, May 31, 2014 11:33
AM
To: 'ICL-JAPAN A.ZAIDI'
Subject: RE: MGIJ Graveyard
Report on website.
TO
The Members of MGIJ (Muslim Graveyard
Ibaraki, Japan) Committee,
Salam
Alaikum,
Thank you very much for
sending me the Account Statement without any such request from me for such a
report.
It shows your good
intentions to clear misunderstandings about the progress of this proposed Muslim
Graveyard.
Also please publish contents
of your Agreement with the Japanese Graveyard company.
Further please publish the
letter under which you have been asked to make another Line of
Graves.
First they asked you to make
boundary wall to allow burials, then they asked you to dig a Line of Graves to
allow burials, and now they are asking you to dig a 2nd line of
Graves to allow burials. Please provide some documents of all that they asked
you to do this or that to allow starting burials. What is the guarantee that
they will not raise further a new Demand or Condition again that they will not
allow burials unless you fulfill their new Demands and Conditions every day one
after the other?
Are they legally authorized
under the Agreement to put one CONDITION after another to allow beginning of
burials? Under what Clause of the Agreement are they authorized to make one
demand after another to allow burials?
Why a Legal Notice should
not be given to them for making new Demands and new Conditions every time and
not allowing you to start burials?
Why don’t you employ a
Lawyer to get a Court decision that the owner of Graveyard is not authorized to
make new demands and put new conditions every day to allow you starting
burials?
Also please publish the
emails of the committee members so that all concerned members can get in touch
with them for further information about this great Project.
Looking forward to your kind
reply to above questions to remove misgivings from the minds of all concerned
Muslims and Pakistan community members like me and to promote the smooth running
of your lofty aim to provide a stable graveyard for the Muslims in
Japan.
Copy to all Muslims in Japan
and outside for their information and cooperation to make this Project a
success.
Regards,
Hussain Khan, M. A.
Tokyo
From: ICL-JAPAN A.ZAIDI
[mailto:icljapan@hotmail.com]
Sent:
Friday, May 30, 2014 3:30 PM
To: 786@mail.towardsquran.com; hussaintokyo5@gmail.com
Subject: MGIJ
Graveyard Report on website.
A.o.Alaikum
Please se the
Links below of MGIJ Muslims Graveyard
and pass to your friends and community
members.
http://www.mgij.org/osirase.html
http://www.mgij.org/library.html
Jazakum Allaho
Khairan!
Syed Jawed ali
Zaidi
www.mgij.org
