Prof Hassan Ko Nakata
(Cendekiawan Jepang)
Namanya mencuat di Indonesia ketika ada Konferensi Khilafah Internasional (KKI) di Stadion Utama Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta, Agustus 2007. Ia adalah salah satu pembicara kegiatan akbar yang menghentak dunia pada saat itu. Sebelumnya kaum Muslim di Indonesia tak banyak tahu ada seorang cendekiawan Jepang yang begitu besar perhatiannya terhadap dakwah Islam.
Prof. Hassan Ko Nakata (49) adalah satu dari sedikit kaum intelektual di negeri matahari terbit yang tertarik pada Islam. Ia mengaku masuk Islam pada tahun 1983. Itu pun dilakukannya setelah 15 tahun mempelajari Islam. Cukup lama untuk sebuah keputusan yang buat kebanyakan orang di Indonesia adalah hal biasa, tapi tidak untuk orang Jepang karena agama bagi orang Jepang sudah out of mind (berada di luar semesta pemikiran). Kebanyakan orang Jepang tak lagi memerhatikan agama.
Presiden Asosiasi Muslim Jepang ini masuk Islam ketika menjadi mahasiswa di tahun ketiga di Fakultas Studi Islam di Tokyo University. Sebelumnya ia sangat familiar dengan agama Kristen. Tak heran ketika awal kuliah di Tokyo University, ia mengikuti kelompok kajian Bibel. Di situlah ada kajian tentang perbandingan agama.
Di sana ada perbandingan agama Kristen, Yahudi, Shinto, Budha, dan Islam. Ketika menimbang dan membanding selama sekitar setahun ia merasa ajaran Islamlah yang paling menyeluruh. “Saya menemukan bahwa Islamlah sistem hidup yang paling komprehensif, paling rasional dan konsisten, dan akhirnya atas rahmat Allah SWT saya memutuskan untuk masuk Islam,” tuturnya. Ia pun menambahkan Hassan di depan nama aslinya. Ia pernah mendalami tarekat Naqshabandiyah dan Syaziliah. “Namun saya bukan murid yang baik,” ujarnya.
Usai bergelar sarjana, Hassan ingin lebih memperdalam Islam. Namun belum ada program master Kajian Islam di universitas Jepang. Buku-buku Islam berhuruf kanji pun masih sulit didapat. Untunglah tak lama kemudian Universitas Tokyo membuka program master Kajian Islam. ”Saya menjadi mahasiswa Muslim pertama dan terakhir di jurusan Islamic Studies Universitas Tokyo selama 25 tahun ini,” ujar Profesor ini.
Setelah menyelesaikan masternya di Tokyo University, ia melanjutkan studi doktornya di Universitas Kairo. Disertasianya tentang Pemikiran Politik Ibn Taymiyah (al-Fikratu al-Siyasatu ‘inda Ibni Taymiya). Dalam disertasi itu ia menjelaskan keunikan pemikiran politik Ibnu Taymiyah dalam sejarah pemikiran politik dan pengaruhnya terhadap gerakan politik kontemporer, termasuk terhadap Hizbut Tahrir. Setelah lulus doktor, Hassan sempat menjadi peneliti Kedutaan Jepang di Saudi Arabia (1992-1995). Tak heran ia sangat fasih berbahasa Arab.
Kiprahnya dalam dakwah di Negeri Sakura ini tergolong menonjol. Karakteristik orang Jepang sekarang cuek terhadap agama memacunya mencari jalan untuk bisa mendakwahkan Islam. Terlebih lagi sangat sedikit dai yang berkualitas.
Satu-satunya jalan terbaik untuk menyebarkan Islam di Jepang, menurutnya, adalah melalui pengaruh personal dari pelaku dakwah yang memiliki pengetahuan yang luas dan mendalam tentang Islam dengan kepribadian yang baik serta memahami budaya Jepang.
Ia bersama minoritas Muslim Jepang melakukan berbagai upaya, di antaranya menerjemahkan sejumlah kitab klasik seperti Tafsir al-Jalalain, al-Siyasah al-Syar’iyyah of Ibn Taimiyyah, dan Zad al-Mustaqni’ al-Hujawi al-Hanbali, juga menerbitkan majalah bulanan yang disebarkan secara cuma-cuma kepada seluruh Muslim Jepang di seluruh dunia sebagai media informasi dan komunikasi.
Hassan Ko Nakata kini menjadi Presiden Asosiasi Muslim Jepang sembari mengajar Kajian Islam di Universitas Doshisha, Kyoto. Mayoritas mahasiswanya justru beragama Kristen. Selama empat tahun menjadi Guru Besar di Doshisha, Hassan berhasil memikat empat mahasiswanya yang semula atheis untuk masuk Islam.
Kontak dengan Hizbut Tahrir
Banyak orang mengira bahwa profesor ini adalah anggota Hizbut Tahrir (HT) sebab pandangan-pandangannya tentang Islam mempunyai kesamaan dengan pemikiran HT. Ternyata ia memang memiliki kontak dengan anggota HT.
Kontak itu terjadi ketika ia mengunjungi Arab Saudi. Ia bertemu dengan syabab HT di negeri itu. Syabab ini seorang dokter dan kini tinggal di Kanada. Dari dokter inilah ia mengetahui banyak soal pemikiran-pemikiran HT tentang keharusan menegakkan Khilafah.
Ia mengaku sangat terkesan dengan pertemuan itu. Menurutnya, Hizbut Tahrir adalah satu-satunya gerakan politik Islam yang memiliki teori politik yang konsisten dan terintegrasi yang disusun berdasarkan pemahaman yang mendalam terhadap syariah dan realitas Dunia Islam kontemporer.
“Saya tidak yakin bahwa kita, umat Islam, dapat menegakkan kembali Khilafah hanya dengan usaha kita semata. Tapi saya percaya bahwa satu-satunya jalan untuk menegakkan kembali Khilafah, di luar adanya keajaiban dari Allah, adalah melalui usaha dengan metodologi yang berdasar pada pemikiran politik Hizbut Tahrir. Hanya, pemikiran itu memerlukan pengembangan dan penyesuaian sesuai dengan perubahan-perubahan kontemporer yang terjadi di dunia,” kata Profesor Hassan.
Ketika berbicara di hadapan 100 ribu orang yang memadati Stadion Utama Gelora Bung Karno Agustus 2007, ia mengatakan, “Dalam konteks dunia Islam kontemporer, hanya Hizbut Tahrirlah yang bisa dikatakan sebagai “gerakan politik Islam” yang memperjuangkan terealisasinya Khilafah yang merupakan panggilan universal; tidak hanya untuk umat Islam, tetapi lebih dari itu.”
Ia mengatakan bahwa Khilafah tidak hanya dapat diterima oleh komunitas non Muslim, namun juga sangat diinginkan oleh mereka yang percaya kepada kesetaraan, keadilan, kebebasan dan kemanusiaan. Alasannya, sistem Khilafah memiliki pemerintahan “membumi” atau “bersifat keduniaan” yang menjamin otonomi komunitas beragama dalam konteks sosial yang sangat beragam. Sistem Khilafah ini juga berfungsi sebagai sarana pembebasan untuk mengentaskan sistem negara bangsa yang eksplotitatif yang memenjarakan dalam penjara “negara bangsa”.
Ia menyebutkan dua peran ganda Hizbut Tahrir, yakni mencerahkan umat Islam akan kewajiban mereka dalam mendirikan kembali Khilafah sesuai dengan hukum syariah dan menjelaskan misi Islam universal dari sistem Khilafah kepada dunia Barat dengan sudut pandang ilmu sosial negara Barat.
Dalam konteks itu, ia menyimpulkan bahwa Indonesia merupakan tempat terbaik untuk menjalankan misi Islam ini karena kondisinya yang tidak ditemukan di negeri Muslim lainnya.(mediaumat.com)
This has provoked much debate about the limits of ‘free speech’ and a question mark on whether a plural society should be tolerant of far right and fascist views. Reactions from politicians towards the BBC’s decision to welcome Nick Griffin to Question time have yet again been exploited for party political broadcasts and winning hearts and minds.
“This could end up blighting the lives of many decent people in Britain just because they are not white.The BBC should be ashamed of single-handedly giving a racist, fascist party the biggest favour in its grubby history” (Peter Hain).
Ironically Justice Minister Jack Straw was one of those sharing the platform with Mr Griffin – both gaining notoriety for causing controversy and spreading anti-Muslim fervour. Such irresponsible journalism and comments by politicians have yet again placed ‘fascism and racism’ in the spotlight.
The Rise and Impact of the Far Right in Britain Far right parties have been in existence in the UK since the 1930’s.The evolution of the far right in the 60’s and 70’s became centred around white supremacy and responding to non-white and Muslim migrations from the former colonies. Specific propagators of such views included the National Front (NF). This trend has continued in the views of the British National Party (BNP).The wish of such groups was to preserve what they perceive to be British culture and actively campaigned against ‘non¬indigenous’ ethnic minorities and asylum seekers and promoted repatriation. Despite recent election gains the BNP remain a fringe party.Whether the far right parties have been central to the tensions and anti-Muslim sentiment in Britain is another question.
The rise of attacks against Muslims in Britain has been the greatest post 9/11 and while the west has been engaged in the prolonged war in Iraq,Afghanistan and Pakistan. Fringe parties such as the BNP have contributed minimally to rising tensions when compared with provocative comments from the likes of Jack Straw (Niqab), Blair, Blunkett and others.The impact of Western foreign policy on Muslim lands has been the greater contributor to anti-Muslim sentiments in Britain.
The Rise of the Far Right in Mainland Europe Post 9/11, an accelerated vocalisation of anti-Muslim fervour has plagued Europe. From the publishing of the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) infuriating the Global Muslim population to the production of Geert Wilders abhorrent ‘Fitna’ video; the subject of Islam has been a target for relentless attack. Further to this, policies in France and parts of Germany banning the Hijab in some public premises has resulted in Muslim women being denied the basic right to education, employment and healthcare facilities. Such a phenomena of hatred towards Muslims and ethnic minorities could be argued to be ingrained in the history of mainland Europe. Indeed history can testify to the lack of welcome of ‘foreigners’ by the ‘host population’ – many being unforgiving and unforgetful of past differences.Tolerance of the other has been overwritten by the overwhelming sentiment of bitterness and resentment. For instance the tensions between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, the genocide of Muslims in Bosnia by Serbs, the Nazi slaughter of Jews and Gypsies have left bitter scars in peoples’ attitudes and perceptions.Tolerance in plural societies is therefore a somewhat farfetched idea when the cause behind such wars have been lack of coexistence or acceptance of differences, and an attempt to forcefully assimilate those of other beliefs and values.
Can secular plural society harness tolerance? A pivotal element of plural society has been the idea that individuals have the right to exist in one society though they may carry differing values.This presupposes that there must be acceptance of differences in values. It also positions the debate of ‘free speech’ as pivotal for discussion in relation to its place in society. Should free speech be for all or confined to a few? A closer look at the status of societies in the west, only point to the conclusion that societies are fraught with tension particularly towards Islam and Muslims and are in no position to give up liberal values or accommodate other values conflicting with liberalism. Melanie Phillips in her cover story on how the West was lost concerning Pim Fortuyn states:
“Just like Fortuyn, the young understood that their precious free-and¬easy lifestyle was threatened by rising numbers of people who were not prepared to tolerate it. In the capital of social tolerance, the threat of such intolerance was simply intolerable. Muslims not only despise Western secular values as decadent, materialistic, corrupt and immoral.
They do not accept the distinction between the spiritual and the temporal, the division which in Christian societies confines religion to the margins of everyday life. Instead, for Muslims, the whole of human life must represent a submission to God.This means that they feel a duty to Islamicise the values of the surrounding culture.”
Though the ethos of plural society is acceptance of variable values, in the case of Islam, it is viewed to be threatening to western society and a recurring call for Muslims to assimilate has echoed throughout Europe and resulted in violence and tension between Muslims and non-Muslims.Western society is unable to harness a society tolerant of differences and persists on the subjects’ acceptance of western values as universal.
Free speech for some or for all? Can speech be completely free in secular society without consequence? The belief that individuals should have the right to express their views and not feel silenced or policed is a central pillar in the four freedoms upheld by secular democracies in the West. However promoting free speech has resulted in huge debates about what the limits to free speech should be. Questions like whether free speech is also a licence to insult another religion have arisen following the publication of the cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad (saw) by a Danish paper, the book ‘Jewels of Madina’ and the ‘Fitna’ video are just a few examples of the controversy and double standards that the idea of free speech has created in society. Freedom of speech has been understood as the freedom to insult and has been the cause for much tension and abuse between Muslims and non-Muslims.
The Khilafah State and Citizenship The Islamic belief does not discriminate based on colour, background or place of birth. Islamic history has a wealth of examples of how Islam managed to bond people together based on creed regardless of skin colour or background. The early companions such as Bilal from Abyssinia and Salman from Persia uniting and living in the first Islamic State in Madinah and the freeing of slaves from slavery are just a few examples of how Islam succeeded to strip the shallow compartmentalisation by the then societies in the Arabian Peninsula. In addition to this, the Islamic state was not just a state for Muslims of all backgrounds, it was a residence and safe haven for many non-Muslims who shared rights as law-abiding citizens of the Islamic State. Indeed the domain of the Islamic state was vast. People varied in language, religion, traditions and practices, but the Islamic state was able to mould such people into one entity without mass conversion by the sword. Many factors led to the successful moulding of disparate peoples into one Ummah, the most important of which are:
• Teaching of Islamic law (the law applied for all citizens)
• The mixing of Muslims with non-Muslims in their daily lives and work
• Granting of rights and good treatment to all citizens Muslim and non-Muslim
• The enforcement of shariah rules concerning relationships, transactions and penalties on every citizen – Muslim and non-Muslim alike
• Non-Muslims are not interfered with regarding their beliefs and worships and their private life unless it disrupts public order.
Because the main focus of the state is all citizens rather than the ‘indigenous people’ or the majority, it views the contract of citizenship as a relationship binding on the state and the individual regardless of religion, gender or ethnicity. In such a way it is able to ensure non-Muslims accept the Shariah as the law of the land which they adhere to because it is the law, even if under their own beliefs they do not accept that it is divine law.
A Way forward for Muslims in the West Muslims in the west, must not fall into a defensive victim mentality, but rather rise to the challenge of discussion and debate.
We should:
• Raise debate about the fundamental values of freedom in secular society and its effects on society. Show alternative viewpoints and values that we hold and how they help promote morals, ethics and chastity for individuals and society
• Raise debate about how a society should view citizenship and that having a passport does not equate to adoption of western values
• Hold firm to Islamic values without compromise and be an example of such values in our interactions
• Show the fallacy of free speech and highlight how it is a cause for lack of tolerance and increased insult upon Islam and Muslims
Such engagement will raise questions and dispel misconceptions and allow the Muslim to earn the reward of Allah (SWT) by giving this da’wah.
MOSLEMPOST 
Bagus, bila perlu HTI kirim da’i ke Jepang, dengan syarat biar sukses, belajar dulu bahasa Jepang.
salam.
OK bro! setahu saya HT ada di lebih dari 40 negara. Tapi di web resmi HT, belom ada yang bahasa Jepang!! Mungkin HT belum ada di Jepang, atau ada tapi belum louncing?.. Saya cari infonya dulu.