The Revival of Japan in the Meiji Period from an Arab-Islamic Perspective: A Reading

Al- Arabawi offers a reading of Ahmed Al-Makkawi's book on the Meiji Restoration, an era which paved the way for the formation of the modern Japanese state. The Revival of Japan in the Meiji Period covers critical events and issues of interest to many researchers from an Arab-Islamic civilizational perspective, which deal with Japan's economic, social, and even cultural revival. This interest generated among scholars who were alert to the rise of Japanese power, years before its 1905 victory over Russia, and among whom were Mohammed Bayram Al-Khamis, the first Arab writer to examine Japan as a rising power, and Mohammed Rashid Rida, who, in his magazine Al Manar praised the Japanese Emperor for his role in Japanese revival, and his quest to be an equal with Western powers. This reading considers the subject of Islam in Japan and makes reference to the travels of Ali bin Ahmed al-Jarjawi, who failed in his mission of Islamic proselytization in Japan, and to the Tartar reformist and innovator Abdel Rashid Ibrahim, who made his first visit to Japan between 1908 and 1910. From an academic perspective, the author recognizes the existence of a time gap between the Arab Near East and the Maghreb in their approaches to the Japanese revival. He notes the precedence and superiority in the academic studies from the Near East, and finds the Maghreb a latecomer to interest in the Japanese experience.

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Al- Arabawi offers a reading of Ahmed Al-Makkawi's book on the Meiji Restoration, an era which paved the way for the formation of the modern Japanese state. The Revival of Japan in the Meiji Period covers critical events and issues of interest to many researchers from an Arab-Islamic civilizational perspective, which deal with Japan's economic, social, and even cultural revival. This interest generated among scholars who were alert to the rise of Japanese power, years before its 1905 victory over Russia, and among whom were Mohammed Bayram Al-Khamis, the first Arab writer to examine Japan as a rising power, and Mohammed Rashid Rida, who, in his magazine Al Manar praised the Japanese Emperor for his role in Japanese revival, and his quest to be an equal with Western powers. This reading considers the subject of Islam in Japan and makes reference to the travels of Ali bin Ahmed al-Jarjawi, who failed in his mission of Islamic proselytization in Japan, and to the Tartar reformist and innovator Abdel Rashid Ibrahim, who made his first visit to Japan between 1908 and 1910. From an academic perspective, the author recognizes the existence of a time gap between the Arab Near East and the Maghreb in their approaches to the Japanese revival. He notes the precedence and superiority in the academic studies from the Near East, and finds the Maghreb a latecomer to interest in the Japanese experience.

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