A Letter from Japan (Part 2)

Munjuwabin Mandir

Some Buddhist elders joined us in our stay at Enzan. One of them was from Munjuwabin (Monjyuin or Monjuin), a monastery on the  Yamanashi Mountains. This Buddhist priest once sent a letter addressed to Haji Umar Mita wherein he invited the jamaat to spend the next months' 3 days at Munjuwabin. We accepted the invitation. During the course of the following month (August) we proceeded with a jamaat of twenty Muslim and non-Muslim individulas. The Buddhist priest received us at the railway station. From there we proceeded by car to Munjuwabin. Both sides of the road were covered with widely scattered grapevines. The cars were stopped at the foot of the mountain. Here the priests' followers entertained us with tea. Thereafter, we climbed the mountain on foot.

The monastery is situated on the peak of the mountain. It consists of two temples. One is a Budhist and the other a Shinto. Our host was the trustee of both. We stationed ourselves in the Shinto temple because it has no idols. The monastery is nestled in beautiful natural sceneries. In front is a mountain range which was snow-capped even in August. The crystal clear ponds of water with beautiful fish, trees laden with fruit and the soothing sound of small little waterfalls captivated the heart.

Our programmes were conducted as usual. Our host and his wife went out of their way to entertain us. They performed solah with us and participated in all the other programmes.

In Japan, "Jute" is a ceremony held to serve tea to a very special and honoured guest. The wife of our host organised one such ceremony in our honour. The details of this ceremony is a subject on its own.

The next day, during the course of our ta'lim, our elderly host expressed his desire to accept Islam. This was our first experience where a religious leader was prepared to accept Islam in his own temple. Our amir immediately engaged himself in solah. He requested me to handle the situation. We experienced mixed feelings on his desire to accept Islam. On the one hand, we were happy with his acceptance of Islam. On the other hand, we feared that it may cause a stir amongst his followers. We desired his recitation of the kalimah secretly so that nothing unpleasant develops. I told or host, "You are already a Muslim because of your conviction that Allah Ta'ala is one and Sayyidina Rasulullah sallalaahu alayhi wassalam is His final prophet. There is no haste in reciting the kalimah as a custom in front of others. It can be done at some other time."

Our host replied, "First listen to my experience. A spirit came to me exactly three months ago. It informed me that some spiritual people are coming from the Himalaya Mountains to your temple. You should honour them. See! I have noted this experience in my diary. I knew that the Himalaya Mountains are situated in the northern part of the Indo-Pak subcontinent. However, I could not understand how would these spiritual people reache here. Last month, I heard the arrival of some spiritual people in our area. I came to meet you. When I saw your group, I realised the truth of the information my spirit gave me. Your invitation affected me. Since I returned, I bagan performing solah thrice a day in the manner you performed them. I have never worshipped the idols since the day I left you." Then he pointed towards a portrait saying, "I spent many years meditating on the peak of this mountain. I have noted down all my spiritual experiences during the course of these meditations."

He then placed a bundle of manuscripts in front of Diya' Sahib. After perusing through them, Diya' Sahib acknowledged the edition of our host. Thereafter our host added, "I began performing supernatural acts when these spiritual experiences were revealed upon me." On this statement, our friend Abdullah, a professor of spiritualism, interjected saying, "Can you display any of those supernatural acts?" Our host replied, "Certainly, stand facing the wall and keep your feet firm on the ground. I am going to overturn you." Professor 'Abdullah stood in front of the wall. Our host stood at a distance of 20-30 feet behind him. He then began making signs with his hands in the air. As he made these signs, Professor 'Abdullah fell down. The Japanese applauded our host for his performance.

A young Muslim engineer got up and said to our host, "Professor 'Abdullah is an elderly person. Try to cause me to fall." Consequently, our host caused him also to fall. He then addressed the gathering in a very serious tone saying, "You have observed a mundane, worldly act devoid of nuraniyat (spiritualism). However, when these people (referring to us) recite their Heavenly Book or mention something what their prophet said, then I see nuraniyat in it. I immediately understood that this is something divine and not worldly. These people say that their Prophet was unlettered. He did not acquire knowledge from any human teacher, yet I see that he has given the people of the world such a speech wherein every letter is replete with nuraniyat (spirituality). I could not achieve this type of nuraniyat in my writings despite many years of spiritual exercises."

The truth of Islam is not in need of the testimony of any priest. Nevertheless, the host's address harmonised the situation and the superiority of Islam was established before the gathering. We desired our host to become a Muslim, but as a precautionary measure, not in public. Anyway, one of our colleagues made our host and his wife recite the kalimah in secrecy. He also taught them how to make dhikr. After accepting Islam, it became necessary upon them to bid farewell to their monastery and temples. However, they were not prepared to do so as yet. They said, "Our son is studying at university. As soon as he completes his studies, we will hand-over this monastery to him. Thereafter, we will do as you say."

We returned to Pakistan the following month. Nevertheless, Haji Umar Mita Sahib kept corresponding with our guest. On the encouragement of Haji Umar Sahib, our guest gave a beautiful portion of his monastery as a graveyard to the Muslims (Monjyuin Islamic Graveyard Yamanashi). The wife of Janab Abdul Karim Sahib was buried here. Mita Sahib has informed us that our guest and his wife have expressed their desire to perform hajj.

In our gathering, some other Buddhist also embraced Islam. Amongst them was a retired major from the army. The manner in which he accepted Islam is strange. He says, "I came to visit someone in one of the villages at the foot of the mountain. As I intended to return, I heard a voice in my ear saying, 'Don't return.' This never occured to me before. I decided to spend the night in that village. The next morning, I heard the announcement over the loudspeaker of the village hall, inviting us to come to the monastery. After spending some time here, Allah Ta'ala has guided me." Thereafter, he addressed the non-Muslims in the gathering saying, "Who is that Being who prevented me from leaving the village, caused me to come here and guided me? Will you still not believe in that Being? So after this in what messages will you believe."