“If a person builds a mosque for God – even if it was as small as a bird’s nest – God will build a house for them in Paradise” – Prophet Muhammad (Sunan Ibn Majah 738).
“If a person builds a mosque for God – even if it was as small as a bird’s nest – God will build a house for them in Paradise” – Prophet Muhammad (Sunan Ibn Majah 738).
A new campaign on Launchgood is working towards raising funds to help expand a mosque in north Osaka, Japan. The Osaka Ibaraki Masjid is located just north of the populous city of Osaka, and is one of the only mosques in the area – currently catering to around 400 Muslims.
The small wooden house that serves as the mosque has only two stories, and was built to accommodate a small family of 5-6 people. The mosque currently faces issues such as people having to pray outside during Friday prayers because of the lack of space inside.
This new expansion project is hoping to be able to house up to 250 Muslim worshippers, and is hoping to be able to invest in:
- A larger prayer space for the growing number of Muslims
- Dawah and cultural activities for both Japanese Muslims and Non-Muslims
- Establishing a rich library for the Muslims and Non-Muslims
- After school for children to teach them the Quran and Sunnah
- Educational activities of Islamic science for the Muslim community as well as the persons interested in Islam
Currently, the mosque has only one entrance for both men and women, and the team from the mosque are hoping to be able to create two separate entrances for male and female worshippers. As more and more native Japanese people convert to Islam, the mosque is also hoping to be able to invest in a small library and education center for those interested in the religion as well.
According to the Imam of the mosque, he has witnessed more than 100 Japanese people convert to Islam in the past few years – the mosque also welcomes individual and group tours of the mosque for the Saturday program, which sees numerous Islamic lectures delivered by the Imam on topics such as the Quran, tajweed, hadith, and seerah.
Japan has not traditionally had a historic relationship with the religion of Islam – and Islam is only slowly growing in the public consciousness with the greater number of Muslim immigrants in recent years. But with mosques like the Osaka Ibaraki Masjid, the cultural and religious blending and learning from both sides will hopefully help foster greater understanding within Japan about both Muslims and Islam as a whole.
To learn more about the campaign, click here!
For more information about the Masjid and its activities, please visit:
Official page on Facebook
Official page on Twitter
Email: osaka.ibaraki.mosque@gmail.com
Telephone:
English, Bengali: +81-80-4015-7593
Indonesian: +81-80-2067-7706
Japanese: +81-90-6241-3831
Malaysian: +81-90-4423-9088
Urdu, English: +81-80-3804-7387
Arabic: +81-70-4156-2160
