aziz
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08:39:08 am on June 12, 2008 | # | |
Are Samurai a role model for devout muslims, substituting “the straight way” for the sword? Theorize.
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Willow 9:18 am on June 12, 2008 | #
The first thing Sheikh Gomaa said to me when I interviewed him the second time was “Shofti il film ‘Il Samurai il Akheer’? Ana il sheikh il akheer.” Have you seen the film ‘The Last Samurai’? I’m the last sheikh. It was a joke, of course, but also a bitter commentary about how the tradition of learning and mentoring is falling away in Islam.
Samurai also do not use firearms, which I like…I think bombs are technically anti-Islamic since we’re forbidden to use fire as a weapon, even against ants. (Sahih Muslim)
BK 10:27 am on June 12, 2008 | #
Bushido is a warriors’ code and not for everyone. It does encourage one to embrace death and live in the moment (as if you will live forever and you will die any moment). Hagakure is a work of the Samurai code you can check out.
Sufis say a master is the “Son of the Present Moment.” Quoshayri talks about this.
aziz 11:27 am on June 12, 2008 | #
Yes. What i am interested in is how Bushido maps onto Jihad (in a non-violent sense). For example, samurai embrace death with honor, whereas a muslim is exhorted to live with an eye on the afterlife. Samurai were not hedonists, they conserved every action, with an eye towards their eventual death, to ensure that when death came it was met with honor. Isn’t there an analogue here for how a muslim must live?
Of course drawing an analogy between samurai and muslims is going to invite comparisons with wars and terrorists but I am trying for a more transcendent analogy. In a way, the ordinary muslim who goes about his life, seeking to balance the duties of faith with the duties of life.
I am also enamoured of the symbolism of the katana for sirat al-mutstaqim.
BK 11:49 am on June 12, 2008 | #
Both Bushido and the Straight Path are consumed with principles of Intention (Niyat) and Presence. Both are passionate about the weird conundrum of mindfullness in every action while being fluid and lacking distracting self-consciousness.
One should be completely present at the moment one undertakes any task.
Embracing Death for a Samurai, I think, is more about being in the moment and focused. For a Muslim, the advice of the Holy Prophet, “mutu qabla an tamutu”, die before you die, takes the process a step further.
One should die from the small consciousness and seek to embrace the Universal Consciousness.
Lucas probably took something from Bushido and added religious mysticism to come up with the Jedi.
Willow 8:40 pm on June 12, 2008 | #
Everything seems to go back to Yoda these days…
Japanese Muslim 1:39 pm on June 18, 2008 | #
As-salaamu ‘alaykum. I am a Japanese man who converted to Islam from Shinto & Zen Buddhism. My noble ancestors were Samurai and my family has 8 katana that have been passed down throughout the generations.
Bushido was influenced by Shinto (the aspect of beauty and spirituality), Zen Buddhism (the fleeting world and transience of life), and Confucianism (loyalty and servitude to your master). The Samurai didn’t adhere to any single religion, but Zen philosophy was especially important because it allowed them to clear their mind and embrace death without fear.
I myself practiced Shinto and Zen Buddhism (many Japanese traditionally practiced both religions together) before I became a Muslim. Today Shinto is no longer a living religion - it has degenerated into a mere folk belief with superstitions, festivals, and holidays. It was destroyed after Japan was forced to surrender in WW2. Buddhism, on the other hand, is too complex and has lost much of its meaning in the modern world.
So most Japanese today aren’t religious at all. There is even a joke in Japan to illustrate how religion is taken so lightly - “Japanese are born Shintoists, marry as Christians, and die as Buddhists.”
Our nation, once the embodiment of spirituality and honour, has been transformed into a nation of materialism and pop culture. People think Japan is about anime, J-pop, video-games, and high technology but this is the exact opposite of the real Japan. Traditional Japanese culture was about honour, love, war, brutality, beauty, loyalty, sacrifice, and selflessness. Today all of our values and morals have either been lost or watered down. Life is modern Japan is so robotic and nihlistic without any purpose or meaning in life. That is why the suicide rate is so high in Japan. The entire life of a Japanese is study hard and work hard. For fun and entertainment we have pop culture, celebrity idol worship, alcohol, zina, and clubbing to distract us from reality. Some Japanese who don’t take fit into this society (but have no other alternative such as Islam) end up staying in their houses, lock themselves in their rooms, and become totally isolated and antisocial. They are called “hikikomori”. In the end, they either commit suicide or become serial killers. So these are the options a Japanese can choose from - studying, working, sex, alcohol, pop culture, or suicide. What kind of life is this? It’s meaningless.
I continue to uphold the philosophy of Bushido which is about honour, loyalty, and servitude to your superior. This is the only remaining link that I have between me, my ancestors, and the authentic Japanese culture. The Samurai were very spiritual and close to Islam because of their fitrah. The only difference is they served their human masters, while we Muslims serve God.
In the end, I embraced Islam after studying it and reading the Qur’an with an open mind. All praise is due to Allah for guiding me to the Straight Path. Fi aman Allah.
Willow 1:52 pm on June 18, 2008 | #
Salaamu alaykum. Welcome.
aziz 2:37 pm on June 18, 2008 | #
Japanese Muslim, I am shamed to some extent, because what I know of Bushido is from my dalliance with the same cultural things you list (anime, etc). Your comment reminds me that Japan’s history is a living one and not just a source of material to fuel my entertainment. I did have the privelege of visiting Kyoto some years back, and spent much time walking the city to try and understand something of the deeper, ancient tradition. However, a single comment from you is far more illuminating by far. I would like to know more about your perspectives as a muslim in Japan, and invite you to contact me via email at apoonawa-blog at yahoo dot com, so that we may discuss further.
muse 2:44 pm on June 18, 2008 | #
A very informative comment, thank you for your insight. I think an analogy can be made to many of the Gulf countries awash with money that’s sucking the soul out of the indigenous cultures.
Haibane.info » Blog Archive » a japanese muslim speaks 5:02 pm on June 18, 2008 | #
[...] at Talk Islam, I started a somewhat speculative discussion thread about parallels to the samurai code and islamic values. To be perfectly frank, the idea came to me [...]
Steven Den Beste 1:16 am on June 19, 2008 | #
Beware of nostalgia. Nothing was as we like to remember it as being. I thought that Japanese Muslim’s comments were interesting, but his comments about the Bushido are more nostalgia than truth.
For one thing, the Bushido didn’t die abruptly at the end of WWII. It died gradually in the 18th century, done in by apathy. But the corpse of it was still jerking when Commodore Perry sailed into Tokyo harbor.
At that point, being samurai didn’t mean embracing death, or any of the other things Japanese Muslim refers to. At best it meant giving lip service to those things. Rather, it meant that you were automatically a vassal of the Shogun, and for that you received a stipend. There were duties, but they weren’t all that onerous.
Then, as now and as always, there were people who said that it had been better in the good old days, and that people of the “present” (1865) were immoral, decadent, and soft. With the Shogun having been disgraced by his encounter with the Americans, the traditionalists rose in revolution and that led to the Meiji Restoration in 1870.
But it didn’t really quite lead to a restoration of the Bushido. For one thing, the Bushido traditionally only applied to the Samurai class. For another thing, the Bushido was an artifact of feudalism, and intimately tied to it.
One of the goals of those in charge after the Restoration was to turn Japan into a modern industrialized nation which could challenge, even win against, the Europeans and Americans. It was clear that feudalism wasn’t compatible with mercantilism and industrialization. So they copied from the best: they based their new government on that of the British. The Emperor based his “rule” on that of Queen Victoria, who reigned but didn’t rule.
They needed something to bring the nation together, something to instill discipline, something to make people commit to the whole. With feudalism gone, what would it be? They took the Bushido and redesigned it; left pieces of it out, grafted new things in, and decided it applied to everyone, not just to the Samurai. Instead of a commitment to honor and higher principles and your immediate liege lord, the new focus was on obedience to the Emperor, or rather to his government. Under the Bushido, nothing was more important than to act with honor. Under this new system, nothing was more important than following orders. (I’m simplifying things a bit.)
If you can find a copy of it, I urge you to read the book “Soldiers of the Sun“.
The purpose of the book is to try to explain how it is that the land of Bushido eventually became the land whose soldiers committed the Rape of Nanking and similar atrocities, things which would have been considered profoundly repugnant to true followers of the Bushido. It all began with that stitch-up job in the early 1870’s, which took the corpse of the Bushido and turned it into a Frankenstein’s Monster.
That book explains why there was a concerted attempt by the American occupation after the war to exterminate the influence of that Frankenstein’s Monster on Japanese culture. For it really had become monstrous; Japan was much improved by its eradication.
Unfortunately, Shinto was part of the stitch-up job. The government in the 1870’s pretty much pulled in everything they could to convince the people to do what they were told, so this new system didn’t just make it a matter of honor to follow orders; it made it a religious duty. During the Shogunate, the imperial family was mostly ignored. It was the Shoguns who ran things; the emperor lived off money given him by the Shogun, and often it wasn’t much. After the Restoration, the reformers practically deified the Emperor. The Imperial Family can trace its ancestry back by direct male lineage to the first Emperor, who was a son of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, the top deity in Shinto. (Nowadays the first few hundred years of that are considered mythical, of course.) After the Restoration, the Emperor was made virtually a living deity, and obedience to his orders became a religious duty.
So another thing the Americans had to do after the war was to undeify the Emperor, who had been at the core of Shinto for 70 years. They forced Hirohito to publicly announce that he wasn’t really a kami after all. One consequence of all of that was pretty much to gut Shinto. It’s a pity; there’s a rich heritage there which is now nothing more than a hollow shell.
Anyway, the point of all this is that Japanese Muslim’s nostalgia for the Bushido is pretty much just as unrealistic as nostalgia is everywhere else. It wasn’t really like he imagines.
As they say, nostalgia ain’t what it used to be.
Steven Den Beste 1:52 am on June 19, 2008 | #
By the way, I hope no one will take offense at what I wrote above. I certainly mean no offense. But I also don’t believe in whitewashing history.
BK 10:32 am on June 19, 2008 | #
Steven
Your points seem to be all quite true, but who cares? We were talking about the ideal of Bushido, not the state of it in the last 150 years. Maybe you and Japanese Muslim can quibble about the date of the final death rattle of Samurai as a real social practice in Japan. Aside from that, even you two agree.
Movements rise and fall. That is always the way. The ideals remain as an influence.
Ali Eteraz 1:30 am on June 20, 2008 | #
No thanks. We need less of macho b.s.. that exalts one self and demeans everyone who doesn’t follow ‘the code’ or doesn’t a sword in one’s pants.
Let’s leave Samu’s for Kirusawa films.
luckyfatima 4:02 am on June 20, 2008 | #
That’s funny cuz as I was reading Japanese Muslim’s post the same thoughts came to my mind as Muse…you see the same thing here in the GCC. (I blame Americanization through capitalist economic infiltration under the guise of development and globalization).
I am not sure that I know anything more about Samurai than Sheikh Goma, but it is interesting to imagine that he has seen that movie.
aziz 7:54 am on June 20, 2008 | #
The main parallel that i see is what Japanese Muslim succinctly described:
Submit! that is the name of our religion, is it not?
Steven’s critique is a historical one, but the discussion here (and the gist of Japanese Muslim’s comment) was that the ideal of Bushido remains, even as the practice was corrupted.
Ali, if you think that we are talking about machoism then you’re confusing American Westerns with Samurai. Yes, The Magnificent Seven was a remake of Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, but overall the heroes in westerns were the antithesis of the archetypical samurai. A western gunslinger might sign on to a good cause, but the difference was in means, not ends. And, as JM said, a samurai is described by servitude, whereas a western hero was more of a rogue, acting out of self-interest.
Japanese Muslim 12:25 pm on June 24, 2008 | #
steven damn beast is nothing but a worthless Western imperialist. he is one of of those low-life anime lovers who support the genocide and destruction of authentic traditional Japanese culture just so he could selfishly have his artificial pop culture. Not even a single word he said is true, so there’s no need for me to argue with such a fool.
him arguing with me is like an uneducated nobody with absolutely no credentials reading a book about medicine then trying to argue with a top medical doctor who has worked professionally in this field for years. There’s just absolutely no comparison. If you were seeking a cure, who would you rather go to - a fraud or the real deal?
I’m just going to make this clear - never ever insult Japanese history and traditions in front of a Japanese man. Never ever insult a Japanese man’s ancestors. Trust me, that’s the greatest mistake you can ever make. We may not say it out loud but we Japanese absolutely abhor people of your kind, we absolutely hate you. We are just too polite to say it because our culture is built upon respecting others. I have many dear friends including Europeans who deeply admire the Samurai. I respect them and their culture greatly as well. But I have no respect for uncivilised, uncultured, barbaric yankees like steve. Go ahead and keep on reading whitewashed history books and making colonialist hollywood movies, because what you believe in is nothing but fantasy.
Yamato Damashii is purely a Japanese thing. A foreigner can never understand it, so why waste your time trying to? the yankee is nothing but a coward. they can never understand honour or sacrifice. You can teach a monkey how to talk, but it will still remain a monkey. You can put king’s clothing on an ass, but it still it will remain an ass. You baptize a devil in holy water, but still it will remain a devil. Only people who come from similar warrior cultures can understand the Way of the Samurai.
I believe in Reality and I practice Bushido which has been upheld by my family for more than 50 generations and more than 1500 years. People like steven can read a 100 books about Bushido, but he’ll never understand even 1 thing. The poet said: “He who tastes, knows.” This yankee doesn’t even have a drop of Japanese blood or Samurai ancestry. So how can he even dare speak against my fatherland and my noble ancestors? Go back to your books full of lies, because we’re I’m from we burn those kind of books. I have nothing more to say to you.
Japanese Muslim 12:58 pm on June 24, 2008 | #
What eteraz said is totally incorrect as well. A person should keep silent if he has no knowledge of something. The poet said: “The fool bubbles and splashes like a fountain, while the wise remains as silent and as serene as a river.” The Samurai never exalted themselves, as a matter of fact they were very humble. A true Samurai was the epitome of selflessness, just as a true Believer is. Japanese society even today still has a group mentality. We don’t believe in individualism, we believe in working as a team. That’s why we were able to rebuild after lost everything during the Pacific War. We rebuilt our entire country from the ashes and transformed it into the 2nd most powerful economy in the world. This is because of our great minds, our team effort, our loyalty, and our selflessness that Allah has blessed us with.
Even today we are still a very polite and clean people. You can go to China but you won’t find such politeness and respect like you find in Japan. Chinese have the worst of manners and their cities are polluted and dirty, while we Japanese have the best of manners and our cities are clean and tidy. If you do service with a Chinaman, it’s guaranteed that he will cheat you and steal from you. If you do service with a Japanese, it’s guaranteed that he will be honest and give you only the best.
Every Japanese, no matter how far away they are from our true culture, still have respect and love for our fatherland. Therefore you should never insult Japan in front of a Japanese person - no matter how westernized they are - because it will deeply offend them beyond words. We aren’t nationalists who think we’re superior to the rest of the world. No, no not at all. Rather we’re patriots who are loyal to our homeland but at the same time deeply respect other countries as well.
Every Japanese has the true Japanese Spirit inside them. It’s just dormant like a volcano, all they have to do is realize it. Soon enough the Rising Sun of Islam shall spread its Divine Rays throughout Japan and awaken the Japanese Spirit - insha’Allah.
Japanese Muslim 2:38 pm on June 24, 2008 | #
Willow - Thank you for the welcome, my sister. Wa ‘alaykum as-salaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
Muse - You’re welcome. I agree with you and your comparison between the Khaleeji countries and Japan. The good thing is that Arabs are traditionally Muslim, so it’s easier for them to return to the Truth. The majority of us Japanese aren’t Muslim, but we are ready for mass conversion. May Allah guide my people to the Straight Path.
Lucky Fatima - Thank you. This is the fitnah that the Prophet (sallahu ‘alayhi was-salaam) spoke of. He said it would enter every Arab household. I am glad to see that the Arabs are starting to wake up though. They are seeing how people are embracing Islam all over the world and this inspires them to become better Muslims.
BK - What you’ve said about the Samurai embracing death and living in the moment is true. The Samurai didn’t live in the past or the future, they lived only in the present prepared at any time to selflessly serve their master.
Aziz - Thank you, my brother. Please don’t be ashamed, you can’t be blamed. What you’ve said is true and I like how you said the katana is symbolic of the Straight Path.
Due to my very busy schedule, I’m unable to come online often except for the weekends. I have a Youtube website where I’ve uploaded some videos including one of Japanese Muslims:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=eisuke90210
If you have an account, please feel free to contact me there. If not, then I shall e-mail you as soon as I can - insha’Allah.
Everybody else is welcome to visit my website as well. May Allah bless the Believers and may He guide the disbelievers.
Japanese Muslim 3:34 pm on June 24, 2008 | #
As-salaamu ‘alaykum.
I don’t understand why you deleted my post which I put my precious time into despite my extremely busy schedule. I didn’t insult anybody with it.
If anything, it was those people who deeply offended me when they insulted my noble Samurai ancestors and said Islam is mere superstition. They said this even though they have no real knowledge of either Bushido or Islam. May God guide them or may He destroy them.
I won’t be returning to this site ever again, so farewell everyone.
Fi aman Allah.
aziz 5:07 pm on June 24, 2008 | #
no post has been deleted here, JM…
Ali Eteraz 5:36 pm on June 24, 2008 | #
How is anyone taking this tool seriously? This babbling brook needs to shut up. Oh wait: this must be Samuraism at play.
Supremacism:
Racism:
Out of touch with reality:
aziz 5:56 pm on June 24, 2008 | #
I was more than a little shocked at the followup comment myself.
thabet 5:56 pm on June 24, 2008 | #
JM, care to explain the Rape of Nanking? You seemed to gloss over this in your posts…
I am sorry to tell you, but you read exactly like a nationalist — you are unable to hear another story or viewpoint, no matter how false it may be, about your own national myths. You use words like “patriots” and “loyalty”, and phrases like “our culture”, “true Japanese spirit”. You talk about your people about having “the best of manners” while taking digs at the Chinese.
(One thing I would like to add though at risk of being called an ‘America-hater’: it highlights how these sorts of feelings, right or wrong, towards America, Americanisation and the current global order are not restricted to ‘Muslims’ and are more widespread than many think.)
muse 6:58 pm on June 24, 2008 | #
JM, As interesting as you initial insight was, your follow-up comments are disappointing.
This sounds suspiciously similar to Islamist propaganda about the glorious second coming of the Caliphate.
Nor do I agree with this, among many other things you wrote:
The good thing is that Arabs are traditionally Muslim, so it’s easier for them to return to the Truth.
I dont believe the Arabs have any special insight into Islam that the rest of us dont.
BK 8:23 pm on June 24, 2008 | #
One thing I would like to add though at risk of being called an ‘America-hater’: it highlights how these sorts of feelings, right or wrong, towards America, Americanisation and the current global order are not restricted to ‘Muslims’ and are more widespread than many think.
JM is “Muslim.” LOL.
Maybe his Japanese side loves America (except for the worthless western imperialist.. uncivilised, uncultured, barbaric yankees….the yankee is nothing but a coward. they can never understand honour or sacrifice…..part )
God Bless America.
We are a BAD ASS Nation of worthless uncivilized dirty devil dogs. But we can still put shit on Mars like nobody’s business.
Steven Den Beste 8:24 pm on June 24, 2008 | #
That really was quite a flameout.
I hope you folks will believe me when I say I wasn’t trying to provoke him.
Ali Eteraz 10:05 pm on June 24, 2008 | #
pWND
topazsfp 8:22 am on June 26, 2008 | #
I’m actually rather glad that Japanese Muslim started ranting, and showing his true - rather vicious - colors. Honestly, I was carefully considering his first words until he managed to shoot himself in the foot so magnificently. And then I realized that even his original argument was crusted with massive generalizations and romanticism of the past. I appreciate anyone’s desire to feel truly connected and religious, but insulting lots of other peoples and anyone who dares contradict you? - It makes him look awfully petty and vindictive. True Islam is a beautiful religion, but all I see from him is ugliness and hatred of others.
Willow 10:41 am on June 26, 2008 | #
Yes, JM’s response to Steven was extreme and silly. He painted himself right into the corner y’all set up for him. But let’s be fair–it’s bad form to lecture someone about his own history, even if you’re right and he’s wrong. We hate it when jafis come in with laundry lists of all the awful things Islam promotes and the even worse things Muslims have done historically. The setup and execution of this thread reminds me an awful lot of a game we’ve all seen from the other side: bait the Muslim by telling him his understanding of Islamic history is either hypocritical or infantile, jeer at him when he blows up, then deliver the coup de grace: “See, I told you Muslims are crazy poorly-controlled chauvanists.”
I’m not saying anyone was running an agenda or meant to run an agenda. But we learned about the cheap take-down at the feet of the masters, which means, ironically, that we have to be twice as careful not to turn around and do the same thing.
LR 12:08 am on July 5, 2008 | #
His wording is harsh, but not far from the truth. Not all, but more often than not, the Chinese are a very rude people. That’s not racism, it’s just an honest opinion.
Crabby 1:29 am on July 6, 2008 | #
I got acquainted with japanese swordsmanship at first, through a very interesting manga. Although it is fictional literature, theres is a good delineation of spirituality and the evolving change of mindset in swordsmanship (with the coming of the modern Meiji era) made by the author.
The manga becomes much more interesting to me since the antagonists have parallels with contemporary jihadists. The antagonists talk about overthrowing their own dirty government and taking lives to recreate their own perfect sovereign state.
I recommend any muslim interested in jihadist ideology + samurais to read the manga Rurouni Kenshin.
These are some great quotes:
—
A sword is a weapon. Kenjutsu is the art of killing. Whatever pretty words you use to speak of it, this is its true nature. What Miss Kaoru says are the words of one who has never dirtied her hands. An idealistic joke….I like Miss Kaoru’s idealism better than its true nature. If one can ask so much, I want the world to accept this joke as its true nature.
—
Samurai hating samurai isn’t right! Honor, the age… you keep going on about them, but they’re just empty words. If you are a samurai, then with the life that was saved, you should think about what you can do for the new era! Kenshin has always fought to protect people. YOU ONLY RAGED PUTTING BULLETS INTO YOUR RIGHT HAND. WHAT DID THAT LEFT HAND THAT YOU HAVE LEFT OVER DO?!
—
Before we begin there’s one thing I need to say. If you do manage to learn this final technique, you will, in effect, gain a strength that will equal my own. But, don’t let it go to your head! Times have changed and you can no longer afford to put everything on your own shoulders and be the only sacrifice. Even the happiness of one person is complicated these days. If you should fall as a sacrifice, the young lady who came to Kyoto with the one wish of seeing you will, without a doubt, be devastated by that loss. Think about it! No matter how powerful you become, you’re still just a human being. Do not ever try to become something more than that.
—
Mutou: No matter what you say, I won’t change my ideals! For the true freedom and equality, I will-!
Yahiko: Such words, aren’t to be spoken with eyes full of bloodlust like yours.
Mutou: FIGHT!
Yahiko: And so, in your mouth you have pretty words like freedom and equality but in your hand you have a deadly sword. And you involve little kids and entrench yourself with hostages, trying to use to your advantage the social class of a hostage who, although belonging to nobility, does not show off her status.
Yahiko: WHERE THE HECK IS YOUR DEAR FREEDOM AND EQUALITY HERE IN THIS AFFAIR THAT YOU YOURSELF HAVE CREATED?!
BK 11:27 am on July 6, 2008 | #
The same from the page of Islamic history. No need to add a surrogate for honor in swordsmanship.
Once Ali ibn Abu Talib (AS), the son-in-law of the Holy Prophet (S), was fighting on the battlefield with one of the most powerful champions of the enemy. He finally managed to strike the warrior’s sword from his hand. As he raised his sword to take the enemy’s life, the man spat in his Ali’s face. Ali stopped and sheathed his sword. His enemy said “I don’t understand. You were about to kill me, and after I spit at you, you spare my life?”
Hazrat Ali replied: “I was going to take your life in battling for the sake of Allah, but when you spat at me, it angered me. Had I killed you then, I would have been a murderer, for I would have struck in anger. I will fight for Allah, but I will not murder for my ego.”
wangdaiyu 12:50 pm on July 6, 2008 | #
This is a really big generalization LR. There are more than a Billion Chinese people in the world. You are implying that all of them are rude. Perhaps next time try smiling at a Chinese person and you will your smile reciprocated.
aziz 8:13 pm on July 6, 2008 | #
LR, what is the matter with you?
One would think that a muslim in particular would be averse to making sweeping generalizations about a billion people.