Japanese Muslim scholar Umar Mita holds a unique place in history as the first Muslim to produce a complete and authoritative Japanese translation of the Holy Quran. Born in 1892,
Japanese Muslim scholar Umar Mita holds a unique place in history as the first Muslim to produce a complete and authoritative Japanese translation of the Holy Quran. Born in 1892, Ryoichi Mita embraced Islam in 1941 and adopted the Islamic name Umar. Before his work, all existing Japanese translations of the Holy Quran had been produced by non-Muslim Japanese researchers and linguists. Umar Mita devoted more than a decade of tireless effort to translating the original Arabic text of the Holy Quran into Japanese. His sincere efforts resulted in a translation that received official verification and approval from the Muslim World League in Makkah. This historic work was first published in 1972.
At the age of 60, he dedicated himself to learning Arabic and translating the Holy Quran. After 12 years of continuous work in collaboration with the Japan Muslim Association, the first complete Japanese translation of the Quran by a Muslim was published on June 10, 1972. At the time of its publication, Mita was 80 years old.
Umar Mita passed away in 1976 at the age of 82.
