Turkish secularist force leaves no chance to make their attack on Islam inside the country in the name of the preservation of secularist status. Any Islamic institution seems to be a threat to the spirit of secularism. Their latest onslaught on Islam has been manifested in their attempt to sell the land of Tokyo mosque land. Tokyo mosque and its adjoining land is the heart of the Muslim community there. It is a collective asset belonging to the whole of Japanese Muslims of which the Turkish embassy gained trusteeship by an accident of history. The embassy being the representative of military-appointed secular regime in Ankara has little care for the impoverished and resource-starved Muslim minority of Japan rather they are trying to take a stand against the interest of our Muslim brothers and thus they have showed the true secularist attitude which is always adversary to the religious feelings though it appears in the Muslim world in different hypocritical guise.
Turkey has since gone through many changes of government, some sensitive to domestic and overseas problems of Muslims and others less so. Turkey's present secular government is apparently as unconcerned about Islamic sentiments and aspirations of the Muslim community in Japan as it is contemptuous to its own. However the Muslims there are determined not to allow the secularist Turkish embassy to make this heinous deathblow to the feelings of the Muslims in Japan and those of the whole Muslim world. Muslim leaders in Japan have firmly declared, "Occupation of the school land by a non-Muslim group will surely disturb prayers in the Tokyo Mosque." Sale of the land is tantamount to 'usurpation and violation of human rights' and they pointed out that the land 'donated by the Japanese people to Muslims in general, not to any particular government or group.'
The Japanese Muslims do possess the fame of living peacefully and harmoniously with their neighbors. The community traces its origin to a group of Tatar Muslims who fled the Bolshevik revolution of Russia, said to be the first Muslim immigrants to arrive in Japan in 1920. The anti-Communist Japanese government settled the 600 refugees in Tokyo, Kansai and Nagoya. The leader of the Muslim was Muhammad Abdul Hai Kurban Ali, the son of an Imam in Bashikiria. Having the unique political and diplomatic skill, he gained the patronage of the powerful officials of the imperial government for the infant Muslim community which resulted in the establishment of the office of the Turkish Muslims in an area not far from the present location of the Tokyo Mosque in 1931. Educational services were provided for the Muslim children and an Arabic printing press was set up at this site. A monthly magazine was also produced in Tatar language.
Kurban Ali was the moving spirit who oversaw the Tokyo mosque project. The construction cost was paid by donations from the Muslims and other corporate concerns like Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo and others. Kameshaburo Yamashite, a leading shipping magnate, was the chief donator. Work started in October 1937 and was completed early in May in 1938. On Maulad day, 12 may 1938, the mosque was opened in an impressive ceremony with the presence of top Japanese government officials and diplomats from the Muslim countries. Its cultural beauty drew the interest of the non-Muslim scholars and the Japanese government in Islam.
Source: Impact International, May 1998