Born in Bangladesh, Noman studied computer science in the University
of Dhaka. He knows C++ and now programs in Android Java. He has lived in Japan for 10 years and currently works in product management for a
well-known Japanese company. I met him while we were both in transit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Q: What’s been your experience being a Bangladeshi Muslim engineer
in Tokyo?
NH: Most people
[immigrants like me] come to Japan for higher education or to find work. People
with science backgrounds don’t have as many job opportunities in their own
countries, and Japan offers opportunities.
Q: You are a pious Muslim and visibly so. Have you ever
experienced discrimination in Japan?
NH: Many Japanese
don’t like people outside of Japan, and it is still a very closed society.
Nevertheless, there are over 300 mushollas [informal prayer places] in Japan. I speak Japanese, but it’s
difficult because the Japanese [people] are not direct in their communications. They don’t
like making direct demands, and their communication style is indirect. At the
same time, no one bothers anyone else because of religious or other differences. I have heard
in the USA, some people might bother you because of the way you look, but in
Japan, no one bothers you. Personally, I’m an introvert, and Japan is a good
fit for me.
I suppose the older Japanese generation is less friendly than the
younger generation. When I've sat next to senior citizens on the train, they've assumed I don’t speak Japanese [and made derogatory comments], and sometimes they've gotten up and walked to a
different seat.
Q: What do you like about Japan, as someone who’s lived
there for 10 years?
NH: It’s very
clean, and most of the people are very gentle. In general, the Japanese are very
disciplined, very honest, and good at customer service. I also like Tokyo’s
train system very much. And of course, no one bothers you if you’re different.
Q: What attracts you to Islam?
NH: I was born into
a Muslim family, and my parents would talk to me about Islam. They would talk
about the Creation. I was very impressed when I asked questions about the Creation
from scholars at several mosques, and they provided me with the answers I was
seeking. Let me try to explain. Think about the soul. The physical body passes
away or atrophies. Islam helped me understand everything is there even after
the physical body has departed, and even if we do not actively see it. That
something is the soul, which enters into a different world.
So this world is very short, and there are really two worlds:
one we live in now, and an afterlife. We humans can be remembered at most for
three or four generations, so the purpose of life, if we are humble enough to
admit it, is to act in a way that comes from true intentions. If we think of
ourselves as having a purpose of worshipping Allah, it can give us a different
perspective. For me, no other theory explained what happens when the physical
departs. This world, the one we live in now, is a time for being tested. God has
made different kinds of people, white, black, rich, poor. This is Allah’s way
of giving us an exam and finding out which souls are more obedient to Him.
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