TOKYO, JAPAN —-— Amid the hustle and bustle of Japan, there is a Filipino migrant worker named Rosa Cleta. Rosa has lived in Japan for over 30 years. In addition to working, Rosa also serves as an evangelist in the Filipino Christian community in Japan.
Together with Dai Cordofa (Corps Dai Dompet Dhuafa) Japan, Mohammad Ikhwanuddin, who served as the Dompet Dhuafa Dai Ambassador during Ramadan 1447H, Rosa shared her story. Rosa has a sibling who works as a migrant worker in Saudi Arabia alongside her husband. After several years, Rosa’s sibling eventually converted to Islam.
Rosa is an evangelist, in addition to working at a company in Japan. As an evangelist, Rosa felt sad and cried when she learned that her sister had converted to Islam. When Rosa’s parents heard this news, they were also saddened and contacted Rosa to persuade her sister to return to Christianity.
After discussing the matter and obtaining permission from church leaders in Japan, Rosa finally left for the Philippines to meet her parents. This coincided with the arrival of Rosa’s sibling from Saudi Arabia.
Rosa never stopped urging her sibling to return to Christianity. Even after returning to Japan, Rosa kept calling to check in and continued to urge her sibling to return to Christianity.
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A New Muslim Who Was About to Criticize Islam
“I then bought a Japanese translation of the Quran, and once I started reading it seriously, I couldn’t stop. I was about to criticize Islam, yet at the same time I was amazed by the Quran,” recalled Rosa as she began her intellectual journey into Islam.
Rosa began to realize that the teachings of goodness in Christianity she knew actually shared similarities with Islamic values. Rosa explained that the teachings on fasting and the prohibition against eating pork became the common ground where she began to understand these Islamic teachings.
“I don’t eat pork because that’s a teaching in the Bible. Though today many Christians no longer practice that teaching. Including the teaching on fasting,” she emphasized.
The peak of Rosa’s interest in Islam came when she realized the teachings of compassion in Islam through her sibling. One time, when her father and mother were ill, it was Rosa’s sibling who cared for them wholeheartedly. Rosa’s sibling served their parents with all their heart and steadfastly performed their religious duties as a Muslim.
That is what touched Rosa’s heart. The religious difference between Rosa’s sibling and her parents did not cause her sibling to distance herself from them. Rather, it was this practice of compassion, coupled with Rosa’s growing knowledge of Islam, that led her to choose to convert to Islam by reciting the shahada at Tokyo Jami Mosque, one of Tokyo’s historic and renowned mosques.
Everyone Became Muslim
According to Rosa, when her parents learned that she had embraced Islam, and witnessing her siblings’ loving care for their parents before they passed away, both of Rosa’s parents eventually converted to Islam and recited the shahadah.
“My Islamic name is now Aisyah, Ustaz,” Rosa told Mohammad Ikhwanuddin, the Dompet Dhuafa 2026 Dai Ambassador assigned to Japan.
Rosa is now actively participating in Islamic studies and has joined the Muslim community in Japan, specifically the Ainul Yaqeen Foundation. Located in Yanaka, Adachi-ku, Tokyo, Japan, this foundation is an association of the Indonesian Muslim community in Tokyo, Japan, pioneered by Gina Farida Yazid, an Indonesian expatriate who has lived in Japan since 1983.
Text and photos: Mohammad Ikhwanuddin, Dompet Dhuafa 2026 Dai Ambassador on assignment in Japan.
Editor: Taufan YN