Kaiji Kadir Wada: Can fasting become a question before it becomes a conviction?

Can someone try a religious practice before believing in the religion behind it? Or can a freely chosen experience reveal questions that distant observation never reaches?

Kaiji Wada described his earlier Japanese life as secular. Until 2015, he knew Islam mainly through the media. Then an exchange programme took him to Brunei. “Muslims” were no longer figures on a screen; they were people whose ordinary lives he could see. [1] [3]

In Brunei, the people he met did not fit the image he had formed through the media. [1]

A different way to meet hardship

In testimony carried by BBC News Indonesia and republished by Jakarta Islamic Centre in 2020, Wada said the Muslims he met could live happily without alcohol. He recalled finding peace and greater self-control through meeting them. [3]

Ramadan before shahadah

In 2017, before he became Muslim, Wada fasted for the whole of Ramadan. He remembered it as difficult. [1]

After conversion, he understood that earlier experience through the idea of intention. He said intention was central to religious practice, mentioning fasting, leaving alcohol, prayer and memorising the Qur’an. [1]

Wada became Muslim in October 2017. He recalled his decision in a written interview published in June 2018, when he was twenty-four. [1]

A later report places his shahadah at a mosque in Tokyo. [3]

A Muslim life outside a Muslim calendar

Japan did not begin to move to Ramadan’s rhythm around him. Wada described colleagues leaving for lunch while he remained alone in the office. Prayer during working hours, fasting and joining Friday prayer, he said, made him recognise again that he was Muslim. [1]

By 2021, another practical layer was visible. Wada said he had learned prayer from videos made for children and asked Muslim friends when he met difficulties. He noticed differences between legal schools and, while in Indonesia, followed the local congregation. [2]

Food Diversity.today described him in 2021 as running a recruitment company and working remotely during the pandemic. His meals for breaking the fast were ordinary food, rather than a special Japanese Ramadan menu; he fitted prayer and fasting around his working day. [2]

From Brunei to Makkah

In December 2019 Wada performed umrah with a group of converts. Speaking the following year about seeing the Kaaba for the first time, he connected the moment with God’s greatness and guidance. He looked back at the distance between his secular past and standing in Makkah. [3]

Learning through friendship and practice

Meeting Muslims changed Wada’s understanding of their faith. Fasting gave him questions to explore, and friends helped him continue learning. [1] [2] [3]

Sources

Photo: Volodymyr Leush / Unsplash.