Abstract
The purpose of this study is to explore the intellectual basis and features of the Japanese understanding of Islam during the Meiji period, as identified in previous studies, by examining the reference materials in the major biographies of Muhammad and his commentaries.
As a result of the study, it became clear that there are two types of originality of the Japanese authors regarding Muhammad and Islam during the Meiji period. The first is that the originality of each author was based on a selection of specific elements and sections of existing material in his work. The writings on Muhammad and Islam during the Meiji period were essentially compiled from translations and abridgments of Western material. One could argue that the quality of a work depends on the extent of the material it refers to. Second, Japanese authors also showed originality in their critique of the medieval Christian perspective on Muhammad, while also using Western texts similar to Thomas Carlyle. In conclusion, the unique understanding of Muhammad and Islam that emerged in Japan during the Meiji period was, in a sense, Western material reconstructed by Japanese biographers from different perspectives born in the West.
