During my first trip to Japan at the end of the 1990s, I was keen to visit the Islamic Centre in Tokyo, as I had read some of what Professor Dr Saleh Mahdi Al Samraai, then head of the centre, had written about Islam in Japan and the relationship between them.
I was keen to meet Prof Al Samraai to get to know him, who was an expert, with good knowledge about Islam in Japan.
He has published many research and books on Islam in Japan, and I remember quoting so much from his writings in a paper I had presented on the relationship between Islam and Japan, during a conference in Bahrain.
A Turkish sheikh in his late 90s at the centre caught my attention. He had this white skin with a little redness, a white turban, a very white garment with a gown embroidered with golden threads, a pure white beard, white shoes and white socks.
The sheikh aroused the curiosity of many, especially in a crowded capital such as Tokyo, which has not much ethnic diversity.
I sat with him to get to know him and wondered about his clothing. When he started talking, I was amazed by his words, as he was dressed like that for a reason, and I still remember his look that showed high intelligence.
He started pointing at his clothes and explained to me why he wore such attire that drew public attention, as Japanese are very polite; they try not to look at others, even if they are wearing weird clothes like him.
The sheikh said he dressed that way to go to public places such as crowded metro stations to break the barrier of shyness and tell the Japanese about Islam.
He told me a funny incident that happened to him.
“I went to Germany to visit some Turkish people. They are a huge community in the country.
“When I arrived, my host accompanied me to a mosque where there was a group of people who prayed there.
“I was surprised. I told them that I did not come all the way from Japan just to talk to people who go to the mosque, so I asked them about those who do not come to the mosque.”
They told him that the rest of the Turkish community was hanging out at a bar not very far from the mosque.
The sheikh decided to go to them, despite the fact that the Germans at the mosque tried to persuade him not to.
According to him, when the Turkish people at the bar saw him in these clothes, they greeted him warmly.
He sat with them and started talking to them about Turkey, its greatness and the Ottoman conquests.
He said they were so much affected by his speech, some of them started crying.
He said to them, “You are the grandsons of these great leaders who conquered the world and reached the boundaries of Vienna”.
“To be honest, I found it a good opportunity to raise some donation for the mosque and, while laughing, I said drunk people can be so generous.
“I continued talking with them until some started crying, so I asked them to accompany me to the mosque as the bar was not the right place for the tears of regret.”
The sheikh said some men were leaning on each other’s shoulders on their way until they reached the mosque.
One of them asked, “Are drunk people allowed to enter the mosque?”
The sheikh answered, “Let the drunk stay outside until they regain sobriety.”
I was waiting for the sheikh to finish the story.
However, he said, “After so many years, I was in Makkah, sitting somewhere close to Ka’aba, and a Turkish man in a turban approached me and greeted me ardently and asked me if I knew him.
“I apologised for my old age and weak memory.”
“He said he was one of the drunken men who had waited outside the mosque.”
