Why Did They Become Muslims

the Japanese people, who have had to work and exert themselves
ceaselessly, have not had time for spiritual interests and activities,
and consequently they have become like machines. The Japanese
are now imitators of Europeans in their sheer materialistic
pursuits. They have completely stripped themselves of all sorts of
religious belief, and they are thoroughly devoid of spirituality.
Today’s Japanese people are entirely satiated materialistically.
Their pockets are full of money. Yet their souls are becoming
poorer and poorer, emptier and emptier. What could be the value
of materialistic richness despite spiritual poverty? What benefit
could the world reap from people clad in decorated garments but
emptied of spiritual values?
In my opinion, this is the most propitious time for Islamic
propaganda. For the Japanese, having reached perfection with
respect to material well-being, are very much aware of the
excrutiating abyss in their soul and are therefore urgently questing
for a guide. There is only the Islamic religion to rescue them from
this spiritual bankruptcy. For Islam will be their guide in this life as
well. I am sure that a qualified Islamic propagation carried on by a
serious and orderly organization in Japan would take no more
than a couple of generations for the entire Japanese nation to
become Muslims. And this, in turn, means an honorable far-east
source wherefrom the entire humanity will benefit.
35
ALÎ MUHAMMAD MORI
(Japanese)
Exactly eighteen years ago [1] , in 1929 that is, I was in
Manchuria. Japan had reached one of the apices of its history.
During one of the journeys I took around Manchuria, I met a
Muslim in a desert in the vicinity of Pieching. They were leading a
very plain and pious life. I admire their life-styles, their trust in
Allâhu ta’âlâ, the hospitality they showed to strangers, and their
sense of faith. As I moved further inland in Manchuria, I met many
other Muslims, observed the same pure and beautiful quality in all
of them, and consequently began to feel growing sympathy for
them.
It was no earlier than 1946 that I managed to go back to Japan.
[1] Sixty-eight years ago, as of today.
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