politics

Abe hosts 'Iftar' dinner for ambassadors from Muslim nations

17 Comments

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday night hosted an Iftar dinner party for diplomats and ambassadors of Muslim nations at his residence.

Ambassadors to Japan from 35 countries and regions attended the event at which Middle Eastern dishes were served.

Abe told the gathering that "the idea that we should value each other for our differences has always been the foundation of the Islamic spirit. I cannot help but feel that this is not unlike the spirit of the Japanese, which has always been rooted in the idea of living in harmony. The nation of Japan truly wishes peace and prosperity for all countries within the Middle East, and with that, let us break this fast at this Iftar," TBS reported.

Iftar is part of the Islamic tradition of Ramadan, during which followers of the faith abstain from eating or drinking until sundown. As the sun sets, everyone gathers for the big Iftar feast.

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17 Comments
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Abe told the gathering that “the idea that we should value each other for our differences has always been the foundation of the Islamic spirit.

Completely wrong, unless you are a muslim they want to convert you and there duty is to kill the unbelievers, there is little to no tolerance so the muslims do not value our differences, they hate it. They do not like the Infidels !

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Readers, please refrain from posting inflammatory remarks like this.

Sin/God, an unbelievable dichotomy....neither is true, just hate and a self justification for the hate.

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I wonder what sort of people you are ? Dragging a diplomatic feast to a religious opinion. If you really have to say something against any religion why do not you look for a right and relevant forum. I am a muslim , without going into debate , simply , I would say all above explanations about Islam are wrong.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

I have spent a total of several months travelling in various muslim countries, including a lot of the Middle East, and no-one tried to kill me, or even convert me. I don't remember religion ever coming up as a topic of conversation. In fact they were some of the friendliest, most hospitable people I have ever met. I wonder how much time some of the above commenters have spent in muslim countries?

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StormR, I feel deeply sorry for your complete misunderstanding about Islam. Hating religions or Islam doesn't give you the right to talk wrongly and awfully about them. There are common principles among religions & I hope you read about them. You may ask those Christians, Jews or other believers who live or work in Muslim countries about the mutual respect & treatment they receive. Moreover, seeking conversion of people by guidance & teaching, as it is the principle and reality in Islam, is a good thing, and by doing so they seek goodness for the others. The word “killing” is only in your minds & has no place in the vocabulary of teaching & guiding in Islam.

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I don't like the recent coziness with religion that the Japanese government has been taking lately, its one thing I appreciate about Japan.. that religion almost never comes up.

People are free to believe what they like but it is a private matter not a public one and must never effect anyone else.

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Living in harmony? Wish that was true for the future.

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@FarmboyJUL. 17, 2014 - 03:25PM JST there duty is to kill the unbelievers I've met a lot of Muslims, and not one has tried to kill me, even when I'm annoying. Meanwhile, this was a nice idea.

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I am still alive, too. I did not know it was iftar but last year, my daughters brought me to Iftar to dine with other Southern Nevada cities' Mothers of Year from Islamic countries who adopted many orphans from their home countries. Delicious. I tried to shut up but they accepted my big mouth attitude.

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"the spirit of the Japanese, which has always been rooted in the idea of living in harmony"

Too bad the Japanese Imperial Army lost sight of that idea early in the last century.

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I haven't heard of this "iftar" event - but it sure does sound like an occasion to break out the beers and sake and party like its 1999!

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ah yeah whatever, Islams, Jews, Christians and people of all other religions welcome to Japan! Every religion has some amount of bad people with it, every religion has bad records in secular world history, but most of the people who believe in their religion believe in religion with decency and holy spirit or equivalent of it in their religion. We don't judge religion of other people and we don't compare one from another here. I'm glad my government rather respect them.

that's except aum terrorists and alike of course.

BTW now we have Ramadan and Christmas in Japan. PM Abe should also host Hanukah. The White House in the US and head office of the states of many other countries cerebrate Christmas and other religious ceremony. There is nothing wrong with Japan's doing it.  

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ah yeah whatever, Islams, Jews, Christians and people of all other religions welcome to Japan! Every religion has some amount of bad people with it, every religion has bad records in secular world history, but most of the people who believe in their religion believe in religion with decency and holy spirit or equivalent of it in their religion. We don't judge religion of other people and we don't compare one from another here. I'm glad my government rather respect them.

 islamic people will next call japan the host of the amatenratsu antichrist akihito or whatever the next emperor , they are like japanese neighborhood korea and china , and especially iraq , palestinian and Jordanian who visited hirohito when he died ,( called liar nichama ) ask any arabian about the arab secular about the religion bad side , he will tell you horrors that is more than japanese imperial army bad act

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Muslim nations are friends of Japan.

"Inshallah"

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I am a muslim girl who studying in japan now. Japanese people treat us very kindly.like when i asked if there is any alcohol or buta niku in the ingredients, they are willing to check the ingredients for us.

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@hikari13JUL. 20, 2014 - 04:18AM JST

I am a muslim girl who studying in japan now. Japanese people treat us very kindly.like when i asked if there is any alcohol or buta niku in the ingredients, they are willing to check the ingredients for us.

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I am a Japanese but never ate pork and never smoke, never smelled alcohol. Now I understand why my daughters bring me to Middle eastern themed restaurants instead of Japanese restaurants. I thought they don't like buta because they know buta means fat (they don;t know Japanese language) but you cleared my ignorance.

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