I recognized Shia as the true Islam and we are proud of this great happiness “Fatima Hoshimo”

 

“Fatima Hoshimo” is a new Japanese who has converted to the Shiite religion

Love and devotion to Hazrat Fatima (peace be upon her) led Atsuko Hoshimo to change her name to Fatima so that she would remember which great lady she should follow as a role model.

I was born into a family where all of them had inherited Buddhism as their main religion. It was natural for me to be introduced to and familiar with this religion in such a family. Of course, we lived in a small town in Japan; but there, as in many other countries, people in smaller towns show a special commitment and adherence to their religion.

The truth is that I was a little curious since my childhood. This curiosity was more in matters of faith and belief, for example, because my family was Buddhist, I asked a lot of questions to know what the truth of Buddha was. I looked carefully at the behaviors of the elders and asked for a reason for every behavior that had a religious or intellectual origin. Since my adolescence, I had a great interest in knowing more about Buddha.

This same sense of curiosity had led me to refer to many books and sources to get answers to my mental questions. In school, we were taught that we had the best religion, but it was this same content that surprised me about other religions. Of course, apart from books, I also went to Buddhist temples.

When I grew up, I met some Christians in Japan and learned about Christianity from them. Sometimes I even went to churches to see their religious ceremonies up close. Of course, at that time I did not really know and did not understand which religion was more complete and comprehensive, so I tried to learn more about the Creator of the universe and the prophets of God so that I could recognize the correct way to live and worship God.

There were important questions that I had to find answers to; What is Islam and who are Muslims? Why are some governments afraid of Muslims? What interests of the statesmen and the rich does Islam endanger that they avoid Islam while the oppressed people welcome it more? In which religion is there freedom of thought? These were the questions that occupied my mind a lot. I did a lot of research and read articles from websites and books that were both positive and negative.

I saw many beautiful things in Islam, that it considers man to have such dignity and status that he should not immerse himself in the filth of the world and sin, that he should elevate himself towards goodness and preserve the pure nature that God gifted him in the beginning.

I knew the pure Imams (a.s.) as Muslim men. But when I became convinced that Islam was the true religion that I had to understand and follow its commands, it became necessary for me to say the Shahadah.

The city we lived in was a small one, and since most of the people were Buddhists, there was no Islamic center there, so I searched the internet and found an Islamic center in Tokyo. I contacted the center and explained the situation to them. They guided me, and after reciting the Shahadah, I converted to Islam. After that, I studied and researched the Imams (peace be upon them) and the Shia religion for a while, and finally I converted to this religion.

I recognized Shia as the true Islam and we are proud of this great happiness.