ABOUT ISLAM IN CHINA

ABOUT ISLAM IN CHINA

The Great Mosque of Guangzhou, aslo known also as Huaisheng Mosque or also known as the Guangta Mosque (Light Tower Mosque), is considered to be the earliest surviving mosque in China. It also has the earliest freestanding minaret in China. Some sources claim that it was built by the uncle of prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Saad bin Abi Waqas.

CHINA'S ISLAMIC CONNECTION

Muslims take great pride in citing a hadith that says "seek knowledge even it it is in China." It points to the importance of seeking knowledge, even if it meant traveling as far away as China.

China, which has been close to Muslim hearts for over 1400 years, is home to millions of Muslims.

Islam's contact with China began during the caliphate of 'Uthman ibn Affan650 C.E., Eighteen years after the Prophet's death), under the leadership by Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqqaas (Allayhi Rahma), Prophet Muhammad's (Salla Allahu wa Allahai wa Sallam, pbuh) maternal uncle, inviting the Chinese emperor to embrace Islam. (Allayhi Rahma, ra), the third caliph. After triumphing over the Byzantine, Romans and the Persians, 'Uthman ibn Affan, dispatched a deputation to China in 29 AH (

The Muslim mission built China's first mosque, the magnificent Canton city mosque known to this day as the 'Memorial Mosque.' Over the years Muslim trading activity through traders and merchant naval movements led many to settle in China. One of the first Muslim settlements in China was established in port city of Cheng Aan during the era of the Tang dynasty....

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History of Islam in China

China(1998 edition), there are now 32,749 mosques in the entire People's Republic of China, with 23,000 in the province of Xinjiang. There has been an increased upsurge in Islamic expression in China,

Mosques and Muslim Population Distribution(HUI)

(according to Provinces and Major cities)

Area	No. of Mosques	Muslim(Hui) Population(1990)
Beijing City	64	200,700
Tianjin City	53	159,349
Hebei Province	578	492,022
Shanxi Province	52	51,917
Inner Mongolia Autonomous region	102	192,800
Liaoning Province	119	239,449
Jilin Province	96	122,777
Heilongjiang Province	72	139,078
Shanghai City	8	49,709
Jiangsu Province	43	121,120
Zhejiang Province	6	17,186
Anhui Province	121	280,342
Fujian Province	4	92,124
Jiangxi Province	4	9,530
Shandong Province	506	459,597
Henan Province	620	868,970
Hunan Province	45	93,205
Hubei Province	52	77,625
Guangdong Province	3	8,845
Guangxi Province	21	25,600
Hainan&nbspProvince	6	5,695
Yunnan&nbspProvince	600	522,046
Guizhou Province	85	100,058
Sichuan&nbspProvince	116	108,638
Sha'anxi &nbspProvince	118	130,899
Gansu&nbspProvince	2,800	1,094,354
Ningxia Autonomous region	2,580	1,524,448
Qinghai&nbspProvince	929	614,700
Tibet&nbspAutonomous region	3	1,783
Xinjiang&nbspAutonomous region	23,000	681,527
Taiwan	4	40,000
Hong Kong&nbspSAR	3	30,000
TOTAL	32,749	8,556,093

Muslims take great pride in citing a hadith that says "Seek knowledge even unto China." It points to the importance of seeking knowledge, even if it meant traveling as far away as China, especially as at t the time of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), China was considered the most developed civilization of the period. Islam in China began during the caliphate of 'Uthman ibn Affan (Allayhi Rahma, ra), the third caliph. After triumphing over the Byzantine, Romans and the Persians, 'Uthman ibn Affan, dispatched a deputation to China in 29 AH (650 C.E., Eighteen years after the Prophet's (pbuh) death), under the leadership by Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqqaas (Allayhi Rahma), Prophet Muhammad's (Salla Allahu wa Allahai wa Sallam, pbuh) maternal uncle, inviting the Chinese emperor to embrace Islam.

Even before this, the Arab traders during the time of the Prophet (pbuh), had already brought Islam to China, although this was not an organized effort, but merely as an offshoot of their journey along the Silk Route (land and sea route).

Even though there are only sparse records of the event in Arab history, a brief one in Chinese history, The Ancient Record of the Tang Dynasty describes the landmark visit. To Chinese Muslims, this event is considered to be the birth of Islam in China. To show his admiration for Islam, the emperor Yung Wei ordered the establishment of China's first mosque. The magnificent Canton city mosque known to this day as the 'Memorial Mosque.' still stands today, after fourteen centuries.

One of the first Muslim settlements in China was established in this port city. The Umayyads and Abbasids sent six delegations to China, all of which were warmly received by the Chinese.

The Muslims who immigrated to China eventually began to have a great economic impact and influence on the country. They virtually dominated the import/export business by the time of the Sung Dynasty (960 - 1279 CE). Indeed, the office of Director General of Shipping was consistently held by a Muslim during this period. Under the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644 CE) generally considered to be the golden age of Islam in China, Muslims gradually became fully integrated into Han society.

An interesting example of this synthesis by Chinese Muslims was the process by which their names changed. Many Muslims who married Han women simply took on the name of the wife. Others took the Chinese surnames of Mo, Mai, and Mu - names adopted by Muslims who had the names Muhammad, Mustafa, and Masoud. Still others who could find no Chinese surname similar to their own adopted the Chinese character that most closely resembled their name - Ha for Hasan, Hu for Hussein, or Sai for Said, and so on.

In addition to names, Muslim customs of dress and food also underwent a synthesis with Chinese culture. The Islamic mode of dress and dietary restrictions were consistently maintained, however, and not compromised. In time, the Muslims began to speak Han dialects and to read in Chinese. Well into the Ming era, the Muslims could not be distinguished from other Chinese other than by their unique religious customs.. In spite of the economic successes the Muslims enjoyed during these and earlier times, they were recognized as being fair, law-abiding, and self-disciplined. For this reason, once again, there was little friction between Muslim and non-Muslim Chinese.


Over the years, many Muslims established mosques, schools and madrasas attended by students from as far as Russia and India. It is reported that in the 1790's, there was as many as 30,000 Islamic students, and the city of Bukhara, - the birthplace of Imam Bukhari, one of the foremost compilers of hadith - which was then part of China, came to be known as the "Pillar of Islam."

The rise of the Ch'ing Dynasty (1644 - 1911 CE), though, changed this. The Ch'ing were Manchu (not Han) and were a minority in China. They employed tactics of divide-and- conquer to keep the Muslims, Han, Tibetans, and Mongolians in struggles against one another. In particular, they were responsible for inciting anti-Muslim sentiment throughout China, and used Han soldiers to suppress the Muslim regions of the country. When the Manchu Dynasty fell in 1911, the Republic of China was established by Sun Yat Sen, who immediately proclaimed that the country belonged equally to the Han, Hui (Muslim), Man (Manchu), Meng (Mongol), and the Tsang (Tibetan) peoples. His policies led to some improvement in relations among these groups.

Since the People?s Republic of China was founded in 1949, tremendous upheavals occurred throughout China culminating in the Cultural Revolution. Muslims along with all the Chinese population suffered. After the third congress of the 11th Central committee, the government greatly liberalized its policies toward Islam and Muslims.. Since religious freedom was declared in 1978, the Chinese Muslims have not wasted time in expressing their convictions.

Under China's current leadership, in fact, Islam appears to be undergoing a modest revival. Religious leaders report more worshipers now than before the Cultural Revolution, and a reawakening of interest in religion among the young.

According to a publication on mosques in China(1998 edition), there are now 32,749 mosques in the entire People's Republic of China, with 23,000 in the province of Xinjiang. There has been an increased upsurge in Islamic expression in China, and many nationwide Islamic associations have been organized to coordinate inter-ethnic activities among Muslims. Islamic literature can be found quite easily and there are currently some eight different translations of the Qur'an in the Chinese language as well as translations in Uygur and the other Turkic languages.

Muslims have also gained a measure of toleration from other religious practices. In areas where Muslims are a majority, the breeding of pigs by non-Muslims is forbidden in deference to Islamic beliefs. Muslim communities are allowed separate cemeteries; Muslim couples may have their marriage consecrated by an imam; and Muslim workers are permitted holidays during major religious festivals. The Muslims of China have also been given almost unrestricted allowance to make the Hajj to Mecca. China's Muslims have also been active in the country's internal politics. As always, the Muslims have refused to be silenced. Islam is very much alive for China's Muslims who have managed to practice their faith, sometimes against great odds, since the seventh century.
More than 8,000 people in China's largest Muslim region pay pilgrimage to Mecca

YINCHUAN, July 7 (Xinhua) -- A total of 8,288 Muslims in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, the largest Muslim region in the country, have made the pilgrimage to Mecca, Islam's holiest site in Saudi Arabia, a religious official said. A pilgrimage to Mecca, also call the hajj, is the fifth pillar of Islam, an obligation that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so. Before 1978, only seven Muslims from Ningxia traveled to Mecca for the hajj. At that time, the cost of the trip was just 8,000 yuan, said Ma Zhanquan, an imam. Since China resumed organizing the hajj trip in 1985, the number of pilgrims from Ningxia grew from 15 in 1988 to 1,655 in 2007, which reflects a loosened religious policy and a sharp increase in per capita income of local farmers, said Hei Fuli, vice chairman of the Islamic Association of Ningxia. Ningxia is home to 2.17 million Muslims, accounting for over one third of the region's total population and more than one tenth of China's 20 million Muslim population. Currently, Ningxia has 3,760 mosques. China's growing material prosperity has had a knock-on effect in the spiritual lives of its Muslim citizens. As mud houses have given way to brick homes, as brackish water has been transformed into tap water, and as motorcycles and computers have replaced the sewing machine as the latest machines that every home seems to possess, Guo Tingjiang, 70, a farmer in Dongtasi Town, Wuzhong City, has realized his dream of going to Mecca. "I was a cowherd. I didn't go to school and never knew the Arabic language. But I went to Beijing and Mecca. It was a miracle for me," he said. Guo spent 30,000 yuan (4,323 U.S. dollars), a huge sum for people living in the poverty-stricken area, and made his trip to Mecca in 2000. The 40 days in the regional capital Yinchuan, Beijing and Mecca means his life now has no regrets. Guo's wife also became a hajj pilgrim in 2005. The pilgrimage to Mecca is not only a religious activity for the Muslims, but also broadens their vision and promotes understanding among different Muslim sects, Hei Fuli said. A total of 1,970 Muslims from Ningxia and neighboring Shaanxi Province went to Mecca last December on direct charter flights from Yinchuan. It cut the trip to eight hours and 40 minutes, saving at least 2,000 yuan for each hajj pilgrimage. More than 10,000 Muslims went to Mecca for the pilgrimage in 2007, according to the China Islamic Association. Around 1,700 Muslims in Ningxia and 13,000 in the whole country are expected to go to Mecca this year, Hei said. According to incomplete statistics, there are over 100 million followers of various religious faiths, more than 85,000 sites for religious activities, some 300,000 clergy and over 3,000 religious organizations throughout China. In addition, there are 74 religious schools and colleges run by religious organizations for training clerical personnel. "We used to pray on the goat fur in our mosque. Now we pray on woolen carpets. More and more people can afford the trip now as they get richer," said Yang Yuming, imam in Tongxin Mosque, the largest mosque in Ningxia.

Editor: Wang Hongjiang
==========================================================More people from China's major Muslim region work with Arabic

A young Muslim's marriage during the on-going Chinese Spring Festival celebrations drew great admiration from locals in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, major habitat of Chinese Muslims.
Yang Bo, the 23-year-old bridegroom of Hui nationality, said he left his hometown in 2005 to work as an Arabic interpreter in Yiwu city of the economically advanced Zhejiang Province in east China.
He can earn about 3,000 yuan (nearly 375 U.S. dollars) a month, equal to a household's yearly income in the village of Tongxin County of Wuzhong City where he is from.
The growing businesses with Arabic countries in east and south China's coastal areas require more and more Arabic interpreters, and many young Arabic interpreters come from Wuzhong City as it boasts a big Hui population with a tradition of Arabic-learning.
In the business and trade city of Yiwu alone, there are more than 2,000 Arabic interpreters coming from Ningxia, an autonomous region which accommodates over 2 million people of Hui nationality, or 33 percent of the region's total population, and there are about 2,300 mosques, almost one in every village that Muslim people reside.
25-year-old Ma Xuefu started learning Arabic at 6 and has worked in Yiwu for 5 years.
Ma now operates 4 gift shops in Yiwu in cooperation with a Spanish businessman which brought him huge profits.
With the expansion of his businesses, he introduced over 40 Arabic interpreters from his hometown to Yiwu.
Ma Hanguo, an official in charge of labor and employment of Tongxin, said more and more young people from the Hui nationality are now eager to learn Arabic so as to earn a better living.
Ningxia is now China's biggest exporter of Arabic interpreters with dozens of Arabic language schools that attract more and more young local Muslims.
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A Brief Chronology of Chinese History

Xia Dynasty			2070-1600 B.C.
Shang Dynasty			1600-1046 B.C.
Zhou Dynasty		Western Zhou	1046-771 B.C.
		Eastern Zhou Spring and Autumn Period Warring States Period	770-256 B.C. 770-476 B.C. 475-221 B.C.
Qin Dynasty			221-206 B.C.
Han Dynasty		Western Han	206 B.C.-A.D. 25
		Eastern Han	25-220
Three Kingdoms		Wei	220-265
		Shu Han	221-263
		Wu	222-280
Western Jin Dynasty			265-317
Eastern Jin Dynasty			317-420
Northern and Southern Dynasties	Southern Dynasties	Song	420-479
		Qi	479-502
		Liang	502-557
		Chen	557-589
	Northern Dynasties	Northern Wei	386-534
		Eastern Wei	534-550
		Northern Qi	550-577
		Western Wei	535-556
		Northern Zhou	557-581
Sui Dynasty			581-618
Tang Dynasty			618-907
Five Dynasties		Later Liang	907-923
		Later Tang	923-936
		Later Jin	936-947
		Later Han	947-950
		Later Zhou	951-960
Song Dynasty		Northern Song	960-1127
		Southern Song	1127-1279
Liao Dynasty			907-1125
Jin Dynasty			1115-1234
Yuan Dynasty			1206-1368
Ming Dynasty			1368-1644
Qing Dynasty			1616-1911
Republic of China			1912-1949
People's Republic of China			Founded on October 1, 1949

Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved

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China's major Muslim region has trade relations with 119 countries, regions

Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, a major region inhabited by Muslims in China, did trade with 119 countries and regions worldwide last year. Its foreign trade volume hit 967 million U.S. dollars last year, up 6.4 percent year on year.

The region registered a trade surplus of 410 million dollars last year, according to the Customs of Yinchuan, capital of this northwest China region.

The European Union was the largest trade partner of Ningxia, with bilateral trade volume topping 200 million dollars last year. The United States and Japan ranked the second and third. Australia was the largest import market of Ningxia.

Customs statistics show alumina accounted for 53.9 percent of Ningxia's total import and high-tech products contributed 200 million dollars to the region's total export volume last year.

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philanthropist Rebiya Kadeer

(born 21 January 1947) is a prominent Uyghur businesswoman and political activist from the northwest region of Xinjiang in the People's Republic of China (PRC). She has been the president of the World Uyghur Congress since November 2006.^[2]

Kadeer has been active in defending the rights of the largely Muslim Uyghur minority, who she says has been subject to systematic oppression by the Chinese government.^[3] Kadeer is currently living in exile in the United States.

Contents [hide] 1 Early life and career 2 Imprisonment 3 Release and exile 3.1 July 2009 riots 3.2 The 10 Conditions of Love 4 Works 5 Notes 5.1 References 6 External links

[edit] Early life and career

Rebiya Kadeer was born into poverty in the city of Altay, Xinjiang. She married in 1965 and moved to the city of Aksu, Xinjiang. During the Cultural Revolution, she was purged as a class enemy after a clothing business which she ran with her husband was branded as "speculation", resulting in her divorce.^{[citation needed]}

Following her divorce, Kadeer opened a laundromat in 1976. She later remarried in 1981 to Sidik Rouzi, then an associate professor, and moved to Ürümqi. In Ürümqi, Kadeer leased a market in the local business district, converting it into a department store that specialized in Uyghur ethnic costumes. In 1985, Kadeer converted the site again to a 14,000 square meter commercial building.^{[citation needed]}

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kadeer engaged in cross-border trade, accumulating assets which at their peak were worth more than 200 million yuan.^[4] She became one of the five richest people in China, and her success earned her the nickname "the millionairess". The trading company she established had businesses operating in China, Russia and Kazakhstan.^{[citation needed]} She has given birth to eleven children.^[5] The Akida Industry and Trade Co founded by Kadeer, owns a number of properties in Xinjiang. These include The Akida Trade Center, the adjacent Kadeer Trade Center and the Tuanjie, or Unity, theatre in Ürümqi.^[6]

Kadeer was an active philanthropist within the community, most notably through her foundation, 1,000 Families Mothers Project, a charity intended to help Uyghur women start their own local businesses.^[4] In 1993, Kadeer was appointed delegate to the eighth session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference,^[4] the National People's Congress and was a representative to the UN Fourth World Conference for Women in Beijing in 1995.^[7] Kadeer has also been vice chairwoman of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region Federation of Industry and Commerce, and vice chairwoman of the Xinjiang Association of Women Entrepreneurs.

In 1997, Kadeer established the "Thousand Mothers Movement", to promote job training for Uyghur women, as well as evening schools for Uyghurs who did not have chance to go to ordinary school.^[8]

[edit] Imprisonment

Having been a witness to the Ghulja Incident in 1997, Kadeer says she failed in her repeated attempts to persuade Beijing that change was needed. Feeling that she had no choice, she openly criticised the government in a speech before parliament, and was promptly removed from the National People's Consultative Conference; authorities revoked her passport.^[5] In 1999 she sent newspaper clippings to her exiled husband, Sidik Rouzi, who was living in the United States and who is active in protesting against Chinese policies towards the Uyghur people. Kadeer was detained in August 1999 while on her way to meet a US Congressional Research Service delegation investigating the situation in Xinjiang at the time,^[5] and was alleged to be in possession of a list of 10 people "suspected of having a connection with national separatist activities". She was detained by PRC authorities on charges of "leaking state secrets", and was convicted on 10 March 2000 in the Ürümqi Intermediate People's Court, of "endangering state security",^[4][9] after sending her husband newspaper clippings on the treatment of the Uyghur community.^[10]

Whilst in prison, Kadeer spent two years in solitary confinement, but was not tortured. She speculates that this was because guards were aware of her international reputation.^[5] In 2004, her sentence was reduced by a year based on citations of good behaviour where she was being held.

[edit] Release and exile

In 2004 she won the Rafto Prize for human rights.^[11] On 14 March 2005, Kadeer was released early, nominally on medical grounds, into United States' custody in advance of a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the region. The U.S., which had pressured for her release, agreed to drop a resolution against China in the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch moderated their criticism somewhat as a consequence.^[12] On 17 March, Kadeer flew to the U.S. and joined her family in Washington, D.C. In an interview with Phoenix Television before her departure to the US, she stated that she would remain a citizen of the People's Republic of China, and as a person born in the new China, she would sacrifice her own life for the integrity of China.^[13]

In April 2007, one of her sons, Ablikim, was sentenced to 9 years in prison and 3 years deprivation of political rights, reportedly after confessing to charges of "instigating and engaging in secessionist activities." In November 2006 Alim, another of her sons, was sentenced to 7 years in prison and fined $62,500. Qahar Abdurehim, yet another of her sons, was fined $12,500 for tax evasion but not jailed. In June 2006, Alim, Ablikim, and Qahar were officially charged with state security and economic crimes shortly following Kadeer' election as president of the Uighur American Association.^[14]

The Chinese government characterizes Kadeer as "an ironclad separatist colluding with terrorists and Islamic extremists."^[1] But Kadeer believes that all Uyghur organizations fight peacefully.^[15] On 5 June 2007, at a conference on democracy and security held in Prague, Kadeer met privately with President George W. Bush, who praised people like her for being "far more valuable than the weapons of their army or oil under the ground."^[16] On 17 September 2007, the United States House of Representatives passed by a voice vote House Resolution 497,^[17] demanding that the Chinese Government release the imprisoned children of Rebiya Kadeer and Canadian citizen Huseyin Celil, and change its suppressive policy towards the Uyghur people.^[18]

[edit] July 2009 riots

Main article: July 2009 Ürümqi riots

While the protests that preceded the July 2009 riots were ostensibly a response to the death of two Uighur workers in Guangdong, the Chinese government catapulted Kadeer into the limelight when it claimed the WUC, which she heads, had planned the riots.^[19] That said, Taiwan denied a visa to Mrs. Kadeer in Sept 2009, alleging she had links to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, classed as a terrorist organization by the United Nations and USA.^[20]

Kadeer has denied that the riots were organised.^[21]

On 3 August, Xinhua reported that two of Rebiya Kadeer's children had written letters blaming her for orchestrating the riots. According to Xinhua, they pleaded: "We want a stable and safe life … Please think about the happiness of us and your grandchildren. Don't destroy our happy life here. Don't follow the provocation from some people in other countries."^[22] Germany-based spokesman for the WUC rejected the letters as fakes. A Human Rights Watch researcher remarked their style was "suspiciously close" to the way the Chinese authorities had described rioting in Xinjiang and the aftermath. He added that: "...it's highly irregular for [her children] to be placed on the platform of a government mouthpiece ... for wide dispersion."^[23] CCTV broadcast a video of interviews with the family members of Kadeer on 4 August.^[24]

Xinhua announced in early September 2009 that three properties owned by Kadeer's companies, including the Akida Trade Center, where more than 30 members of Kadeer's family were reportedly living, would be torn down due to "cracks in the walls and sunken footings".^[6] Local Uighurs said they saw this as an attempt to banish Kadeer's shadow; the Uighur American Association said the demolition may spark a new round of violence.^[25]

[edit] The 10 Conditions of Love

Director Jeff Daniels shot a documentary film in 2009 about Kadeer, called "The 10 Conditions of Love". It was destined to be screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival. The organisers refused a request from Chinese consulate in Melbourne for the film to be withdrawn and for Kadeer's invitation to the festival to be rescinded. Several Chinese directors pulled out of the event. The festival website was hacked and festival information replaced with the Chinese flag and anti-Kadeer slogans, and booked out all film sessions on the site; a denial-of-service attack forced it to shut down.^[26][27] Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said China was "firmly opposed to any foreign country providing her with a stage for her anti-China separatist activities". However, Daniels said it was good that "people were able to see different sides of the story" and criticised the heavy pressure from the Chinese government.^[28][29][30]

Australian Federal Labor Member of Parliament, Michael Danby, transmitted a message of support for the screening from 14th Dalai Lama, saying: "...[Kadeer] is another one of the national leaders who is a paradigm of non-violence." Danby said the Dalai Lama, "wanted to make it very clear to people that the claims of this woman being a violent person or instigating violence, is from his point of view, and with all of his authority, wrong."^[31]

The documentary was scheduled to be shown at the Kaoshiung Film Festival, Taiwan, in October 2009, but was later rescheduled to September, before the festival due to opposition from the PRC.^[32] Wang Yi of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China opposed the film, saying it "beatifies the ethnic separatists" and sends "the wrong signals about terrorism and violence".^[33] The website for the festival was also hacked.^[34][35] It was later announced that the film would be shown at the film festival as originally planned. Premier Wu Den-yih said the government would protect freedom of speech,^[36] but Kadeer's entry ban from Taiwan was extended by three years "based on security needs".^[37]

THE STORY OF THE FOUR SAGABI IN CHINA

In the Kingdom of Medina lived a prophet (shengren) by the name of Muhammad, who was born in the 1st year of the Kaihuang reign of the Sui dynasty.* On account of his divine qualities and beauty, the king employed him. Twenty years after assuming his royal post, a scripture was revealed that exhorted people to cherish good and abhor sin. He received a mandate from heaven to propagate this teaching. The hot sun would not burn him, nor would rain wet his clothes. He could enter fire without being burned, or water without drowning. Trees would come to him at his call. Over time, his law was implemented throughout the land.
Amongst his disciples were four great sages [da sheng]. In the Wude reign of the Tang dynasty (618-626), they came to China to propagate the teaching. The first sage became established in Guangzhou, the second in Yangzhou, and the third and fourth taught in Quanzhou where they passed away and were buried.
Hence, we can see that these two people were of the Tang. Light emanated from this mountain after they were buried here, and when the people noticed this sign they deemed the ground holy. The site is known as the Tomb of the Sages [sheng mu], that is, the tomb of the Western Sages. [1]
*That is, 590CE, while the conventional date for the birth of the Prophet is 570CE or fifty-two years before the flight of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina that is taken as year 1 of the Islamic calendar.

Fig.7 The "light tower" at the Huaisheng Mosque, Guangzhou. The Companion Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas is, in Ming dynasty legends, said to be buried here. The earliest stele at the Huaisheng Mosque, from the Ming dynasty, attributes the style of the tower to central Asia, and is similar to the 18th-century Imin Mazar in Turfan, eastern Xinjiang. It is likely that the tower was originally built in memory of a shaykh from central Asia who came to Guangzhou in the Yuan dynasty.

The short biography of the Prophet Muhammad presented here is clearly influenced by the interpreted life of the Chinese sage Confucius. However, while Confucius roamed in search of a king willing to employ his talents, Muhammad took his instructions directly from God and did not serve worldly rulers. The word used here for the Prophet (sheng ren) is also the same as that used the Song-dynasty lixue scholars for Confucius. Early Chinese-language accounts of Islam typically described the life of the Prophet through an implicit comparison to "Chinese" sages. This was for the simple reason that Islam was new to the Chinese written tradition, and no orthodox Chinese vocabulary had yet been developed to distinguish Islamic prophets from the inspired teachers of Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism. Only in the late-17th century, with the emergence of a corpus of Chinese-language Islamic books and a systematic Chinese vocabulary of Islamic terms, did it become possible to write a Chinese biography of the Prophet Muhammad without constant reference to other Chinese religious traditions.
In an earlier passage, the compiler of the gazetteer refers to Muslims by the standard term used from the end of the Yuan dynasty—Huihui—though his lack of familiarity with Islam is suggested by the careless manner in which he elides the Four Rightful Caliphs of the Sunni creed with the four less famous Companions who made their way to China. Perhaps because of this lack of familiarity, he appears to have taken his description of the message and miracles of the Prophet Muhammad directly from a Muslim informant. The expression "to cherish good and abhor sin" and the sequence of miracles performed by Muhammad involving hot sun and walking trees, can all be found in a famous poetic biography of the Prophet that became popular in China around the time that the Fujian Gazetteer was compiled. This is the Qasidah al-Burdah (Ode of the Cloak) by the Egyptian poet al-Busiri (d.1295), a poem that has been translated into Chinese many times and serves as a liturgical text in some Chinese Muslim communities today. The use here of nine four-character verse phrases in the middle of a prose text suggests that this passage may have been taken directly from an unknown Chinese translation of the Burdah provided by He Qiaoyuan's Muslim informant at the Ashab Mosque.
A number of Ming-dynasty stele inscriptions, as well as oral traditions recorded in the twentieth century, give the name of the first of the four "sages" (Companions) as either Waqqas or Sa'd. Both names refer to Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas. A tomb dedicated to Waqqas can be found in the courtyard of the Huaisheng Mosque in Guangzhou (Fig. 7).
The plaque in front of this saint's tomb, as recorded in a popular 19th-century guide to major Islamic tomb sites in China, reads as follows:

The story of the voyage of Waqqas
The master, who was granted the title Waqqas, hailed from Arabia, and was a maternal uncle of the Last Prophet. He was sent here on a mission to deliver the revealed scripture, and arrived in Chang'an in the 10th year (15 AH/637 CE) of the Zhenguan reign of the Tang dynasty. When the Tang emperor Taizong saw that the master was upright in his dealings with people, and demonstrated a great depth of learning, the emperor made repeated requests to retain him in the capital.
And so the emperor had a Great Mosque built, and invited the emissary to live there with his attendants. The master explained the obscure passages in each book of the Quran, and exhorted the teachings of the Quran upon all the peoples of the land. The numbers of his followers and descendents steadily grew. The Taizong emperor later had mosques built for him in Jiangning and Guangzhou.
Eventually, at the ripe old age of a hundred, the master embarked upon a ship and sailed west. [On the way home] he recalled that he had been sent out on a mission by the Prophet yet was returning without having accomplished it, and would be unable to rest at peace. So he turned around and set sail once more for the South China Sea... . [He] passed away at sea while still engaged in his mission. His transcendent body gave out the fragrance of Paradise. His tomb is outside the city wall of Guangzhou.[2]

In this story, the Prophet's disciple resembles not Confucius, but Xuanzang, the famous itinerant monk and translator who presented Buddhist scriptures from India to the Tang emperor Taizong.
In this story, an added level of complexity is introduced when Waqqas passes away at sea "while still engaged in his mission". According to this account, it was a mission of the Prophet Muhammad, and dying whilst engaged in such a mission is qualification for martyrdom. In other versions of the Waqqas legend, he departs China on a mission from the Chinese emperor to obtain a compete set of the Islamic scriptures and returns with the six thousand verses of the Quran, much as Xuanzang had obtained the Buddhist scriptures for the same Tang emperor. The changed allegiance of Waqqas from Muhammad to Taizong in this alternative narrative is important, for by delivering a correct copy of the Quran to China, Waqqas was satisfying the desire for true learning of the Chinese sovereign rather than doing the bidding of a foreign prophet.

Fig. 8 View looking west of the Qays tomb in Hami, Xinjiang.

Both these origin legends assume that Islam was brought to China by sea. An alternative set of legends emphasises overland connections between China and the Islamic homeland. One of these is found in Huihui yuanlai (The Origins of the Huihui), which was the most widely read Chinese-language account of Muslim origins in the late-imperial period. A copy of this book was presented by the Qing Kangxi emperor to one of his Muslim generals in 1697, and it was written at some time in the previous century.
In the Huihui yuanlai account, the Tang emperor Taizong again welcomes the teachings of Islam brought to China by Companions of the Prophet. However, instead of Sa'd ibn Waqqas, this time the delegation is led by Thabit ibn Qays. A tomb in honour of Qays is found in Hami (Fig. 8), on the north-western border of Ming China.

The story of the overland journey of Qays
In the evening of the 18th of the third month, in the second year of the Zhenguan reign of the Tang dynasty, the emperor dreamed that a turbaned man came running into the palace grounds, chasing after a demon. He woke up and was puzzled by the dream, for he knew not what it foretold. On the following day he assembled all the officials of the court to discuss the matter.
The diviner of dreams reported, "The turbaned man is a Huihui from the Western Region, out beyond the Jiayu Pass. The kingdom of Arabia is ruled by a Muslim king of great knowledge and virtue. His land is rich and powerful. The demon entering the palace grounds surely means that there is evil lurking, which you will only be able to dispel with the help of a Huihui."
The general reported, "The Huihui are impeccably honest in their dealings. If you meet with them peacefully, they will serve you loyally and with no care for reward. You may send an emissary to the Western Region to see the Muslim king, and request the services of an enlightened one (zhenren) to keep the portended evil at bay."
The Emperor did as was advised, and sent the senior official Shi Mingtang on a mission to present a letter to the Muslim king.
The Muslim king was delighted upon receiving the letter, and sent the senior disciples Qays, Uways and Husayn to China to offer their services. Husayn and Uways could not adapt to the new water and climate, and died en route. The sole survivor, Qays, crossed mountains and rivers, suffering great hardship, to eventually arrive in China. The Emperor received him with full honours, and asked what were the ritual and scriptural differences between his land and China. The turbaned man replied that the revealed scripture of the Western Region was called the Quran, which could be likened to the Five Classics of China. He then expounded the difference between Eastern and Western ritual and teachings.
The Emperor was delighted, and so selected 3,000 Tang soldiers to move to the Western Region, in exchange for 3,000 Muslim soldiers to accompany the turbaned elder in China. These 3,000 Muslims had countless descendants, and are the ancestors of the followers of Islam in China today.[3]

Interestingly, the first two entries of the Song dynasty Buddhist text Gao seng zhuan (Biographies of Eminent Monks) include many of the same details as those that appear in this story: the emperor's dream, the narrative sequence of the dream, and the interpretations of the ministers that the dream spoke of a prophet from the Western Region.
The Companions in this story come overland, rather than by sea as they did in the two previous stories. This overland connection with the Islamic homeland of Arabia is supported by the presence of a tomb dedicated to Qays in Hami, a city on the north-western border of the Ming empire. While some legends concerning Waqqas have him coming to China by sea (as the one recounted earlier), other versions of the Waqqas legend have him travelling by land. The route followed by the Companions in Hui legends depends partly on the geographic location of the Muslim community where the legends developed. Legends from east and south China give preference to the coastal route between China and Arabia, and those from Shaanxi and Gansu emphasise the overland route through central Asia.

THE IDENTITY OF THE COMPANIONS

Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqqas is one of the most famous Companions of the Prophet. He was from the same tribe as the mother of the Prophet Muhammad, was one of the first to follow his teachings and, at the high point of his illustrious military career, led the Islamic conquest of the Persian Sassanid empire. The details of his life are found in the canonical Sunni collections of hadith (traditions of the Prophet Muhammad) and histories that were compiled in the third Islamic century. From these same texts we also learn that Waqqas retreated from public life after the conquest of Persia, and passed away in Medina at the age of eighty.
Medina is a much more credible resting place for Waqqas than Guangzhou. Judging by historical sources, it is unlikely that Waqqas travelled much further east than Hamidan in western Iran. Nevertheless, Waqqas is a natural choice for Sunni legendary accounts of the transmission of Islam to China. He was one of the favourite Companions of the Prophet, and was best known for taking Islam into the eastern lands of Persia, an important step in the journey of Islam to China.
The other Companions who embarked on missions to China are also unlikely to have made the journey. Like Waqqas, the historical details of their lives made them appropriate choices for characters in legendary accounts of the transmission of Islam to China, or candidates to be patron saints of the Muslim community in China. Thabit ibn Qays, like Sa'd ibn Waqqas, was one of the select group of Companions whose place in Paradise was foretold by the Prophet Muhammad. He was the first resident of Medina to declare his loyalty to the Prophet after the Prophet's flight from Mecca, and became the Prophet's orator. Qays led the Ansar ("Helpers")—the people of Medina who swore allegiance to Muhammad after the flight from Mecca—at the battle of Najd. There, he was martyred and was buried where he fell on the battlefield. A favourite Companion of the Prophet who helped introduce Islam to a new community in Medina and who had no established tomb site, the story of Qays could be readily attached to an old tomb site by the Muslim community of Hami.
According to the story recounted above, the second Companion who accompanied Qays on his overland journey to China, is Uways al-Qarani, the famous Yemeni aesthete whose fragrance was carried by the southerly wind to the Prophet in Medina. There is no evidence of there being any tomb dedicated to Uways in China, but he is the reputed founder of a number of the popular Sufi organisations in central Asia and north-western China today.
The third Companion is probably Husayn, the grandson of the Prophet, the second son of Ali and Muhammad's daughter Fatimah, and the third Imam of the Shi'i line. The presence of a revered figure of the Shi'i tradition in a Sunni origin legend may seem a little odd, but his appearance alongside Uways provides a link with the Sufi tradition of Central Asia. Most of the Sufi spiritual lineages, such as the Naqshbandiyya, that have been popular in Central Asia since the 16th century, follow Sunni creed but acknowledge two separate lines of transmission for their esoteric knowledge, one through Abu Bakr (the first of the Four Rightful Caliphs) and another through Ali (the last of the Four Rightful Caliphs). The Naqshbandiyya and other related Sufi organisations were pre-eminent amongst the Muslim communities of north-western China from the beginning of the Qing dynasty, when Huihui yuanlai was compiled. Within this tradition, Uways and Husayn were amongst the greatest of the martyred Companions of the Prophet, and their biographies are included in The Garden of the Martyrs (Rawzat al-Shuhada) by Husayn Kashifi (d.1505), a Persian collection of stories of the martyrdom of the Shi'i imams and other early martyrs of Islam that was popular amongst the Sunni communities of north-western China during the Qing dynasty.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUI ORIGIN LEGENDS

Most of the extant Hui origin legends regarding the transmission of Islam to China achieved their present form in the late-Ming or early-Qing dynasty. They can be dated by reference to steles in Chinese mosques and early Chinese Muslim printed texts that recount origin legends. Evidence of their age can also be inferred from the language of the earliest of these legends, which employ an orthodox Chinese vocabulary of Islamic terms that was not developed until the seventeenth century. However, legends are the material of oral literature, and the earliest written accounts represent only the endpoint of a long process of oral narrative development.
The earliest of the written origin legends is carved on a stele commemorating the re-establishment of a mosque in Dingzhou, Hebei. In this 900-character text, a brief mention is made of Waqqas:

In the Kaihuang reign [581-600] of the Sui, our Companion Sa'd Waqqas first brought the teaching to China.[4]

The date given here is similar to the date given in the Fujian Gazetteer for the first revelation of Muhammad but, unlike the gazetteer account, no claim is made that Waqqas was buried on Chinese soil. This is possible evidence that in eastern China during the late-Yuan dynasty, the legends concerning journeys to China by Companions of the Prophet were not associated with any tomb cults.
There is also important evidence regarding the age of the origin legends in the names of Ashab Mosque in Quanzhou and the Huaisheng Mosque in Guangzhou, the leading mosques in their respective cities during the Yuan dynasty and the only surviving examples of Islamic stone architecture from this period in eastern China. The name "Ashab Mosque", which translates as Mosque of the Companions (of the Prophet), is found in a large Arabic inscription on the inside of the main entrance of the mosque. The full inscription translates as follows:

This was the first mosque of the people of this land. This auspicious mosque is named the Mosque of The Ancient and The Old, is called the Mosque of the Congregation and the Street, and is titled the Mosque of the Companions. It was built in the year 400 AH (Song dynasty; 1009CE). Three centuries later, Ahmad bin Muhammad Quds, the renowned Hajji, the "Foundation", of Shiraz, built this soaring dome, widened the entrance, redecorated the doors and renovated the windows, completing the works in the Hijra year 710 AH (Yuan dynasty; 1310CE). May the Almighty God be pleased by this act, and grant him mercy, and have mercy upon (the Prophet) Muhammad and his family.[5]

This inscription tells us that the name "Mosque of the Companions" dates back at least to the beginning of the 14th century, and possibly to the beginning of the 11th century. There is no mention of there being a tomb of one of the Companions in the vicinity. Further, it is plain from this inscription that the Muslims who renovated the mosque in 1310 believed that an Islamic community was not established in Quanzhou until several centuries after the time of the Companions. Moreover, despite the name of the mosque, no direct connection is made between any of the Companions and China. Its title is simply a reflection of the Sunni affiliation of its congregation, an affiliation that is borne out in the two less formal names for the mosque and in the place of origin of its renovator, Shiraz, which in the 13th century was a Sunni town.
The Chinese name of the Yuan dynasty mosque in Guangzhou, huaisheng, can be understood as "devoted to the Prophet", or else "devoted to the sage" who is supposedly buried there. This is how the name is usually explained in texts from the Ming dynasty. However, the name may have originally been a direct translation of the Arabic word for "Companions of the Prophet" (huai "to cherish" for the Arabic "sahabah"). Muslims in Yuan dynasty China used Arabic and Persian as their written language. This mosque would have mainly been known by its Arabic name during the Yuan, and this may have been identical to that of the main Sunni mosque in Quanzhou, the "Ashab Mosque" or "Mosque of the Companions."
This is an appropriate title for the leading mosque of a Muslim community of the Sunni creed. Sunni Muslims hold in high esteem the Companions of the Prophet, whom they regard as having shared in the special qualities of the Muhammad, rather than the line of Imams (descendents of the Prophet through Ali) regarded by Shi'i Muslims as having passed on these qualities for many generations after Muhammad's death. The Hui origin legends that developed in the Ming dynasty, such as the stories of the Four Sages and of the journey of Waqqas, provided a new explanation for the name of Sunni mosques built during the Yuan dynasty in honour of the Companions. [AHG]

THREE STORIES

Fig.6 The main entrance of the Ashab Mosque, Quanzhou. The surviving walls were built in 1310. Two Companions of the Prophet are said to be buried at Ling Shan, a short distance to the east.

Tombs dedicated to four of the Companions of the Prophet are found in the coastal cities of Guangzhou, Yangzhou and Quanzhou, the three main trading ports of the Yuan empire. One story of how these Companions came to be buried on Chinese soil is related in a late-Ming dynasty gazetteer titled Min shu (Fujian Gazetteer, 1619). The compiler of this gazetteer, He Qiaoyuan, describes the genesis of a holy site dedicated to two Companions of the Prophet at the foot of Ling Shan ("Auspicious Mountain"), several miles to the south of Quanzhou. This story was based on an interview with a Muslim scholar resident at the Ashab Mosque in Quanzhou (Mosque of the Companions, in Chinese: Qingjing si), the walls and entrance of which can still be seen today. (Fig. 6)

Hui Legends of The Companions of The Prophet

Fig. 1 Hui midwife, Ningxia [Tao Hong].

The origins of the Hui people have been the subject of popular legends since the Ming dynasty (1368-1643). These legends have been crucial to the formation of the Hui as a distinct Sinophone Muslim community. In a Chinese cultural environment, the presence of "foreign" religious communities provokes questions such as "How did they get here?" and "Why did they stay?".
The most popular of the Hui origin legends concern the Companions of the Prophet (members of the first Muslim community, in Arabic: Sahabah), who travelled from Arabia to China during the early years of Islam. A number of these legends begin with the Tang emperor Taizong's (r.627-650) dream-vision of the Prophet Muhammad, the literary use of a dream motif that also appears in legendary accounts of the origins of Buddhism in China. Other stories portray the Prophet Muhammad in a manner reminiscent of the portrayal in Chinese literature of Confucius. The Islamic legends typically describe the Companions of the Prophet as having been invited by the Chinese emperor, drawing a connection between the early Islamic community and the Chinese imperial cult, thereby helping to define a place for Islam and its prophetic teachings within orthodox Chinese cultural and political traditions.

Fig. 2 Sixth-generation descendents of the shaykh of the Jahriyya sufi order and Muslim uprising leader Ma Hualong, in the garden of the Nanchuan Jahriyya tomb complex, Zhangjiachuan, Gansu. [AHG]

Fig. 3 Hui children in Jiucaiping, Ningxia, outside the fortified residence of the spiritual head of the Jiucaiping Qadariyya sufi order. [AHG]

The Companions of the Prophet who, in Hui legends, overcame many hardships to bring the Arabic revelation to China, were not just minor figures from amongst the tens of thousands of Muslims that lived in the time of Muhammad. Sa'd ibn Waqqas, for example, who has a tomb built in his honour in Guangzhou, is best known for leading the Islamic conquest of Persia. Thabit ibn Qays, who has a tomb in Hami, Xinjiang, was the first of the people of Yathrib (Medina) to swear allegiance to Muhammad after the flight of the nascent Muslim community from Mecca, and later became the orator of the Prophet. Both of these Companions were amongst the select group of ten whose place in heaven was foretold by the Prophet, a list that also includes Abu Bakr and the three other Rightful Caliphs.
The Muslims of eastern China have been followers of Sunni Islam since the Ming dynasty. Legends of the Companions fall firmly within the Sunni tradition, whose followers believe in the blessedness of the community of Muslims that lived during the lifetime of Muhammad, in contrast to followers of the Shi'i tradition who revere the family and descendents of the Prophet. As well as explaining how Islam was transmitted to China, the stories of the journeys of the Companions to China also help to define the relationship between Sinophone Muslims and the larger Islamic community.

Fig. 4 Three akhunds of the Jahriyya sufi order in Wuzhong, Ningxia. Akhund Yang Wanbao (left) is one of the first group of Islamic religious professionals trained after the Cultural Revolution. His predecessor as imam of the Little North Mosque in Wuzhong (right) retired in 2005. The age difference depicted here reflects the thirty year hiatus in religious education during the Maoist years. [AHG]

Fig. 5 A picture taken at a ceremony marking the appointment of a new akhund at a mosque in Wuzhong. Older male followers of the Jahriyya sufi order shave the sides of their faces in deference to the founder of the Chinese branch of the order who, it is said, had the sides of his face shaved before being executed in 1781. [AHG]

Notes

1. See Zhang Xinglang (ed.), Zhong Xi jiaotong shiliao huibian (Historical documents on East-West relations), 4 vols, Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2003 edition, p.749.
2. Lan Xu, Tianfang zheng xue (The true learning of Arabia), Beijing: Niujie Mosque, 1925 edition (first edition 1852), juan 7; quoted in Zhang Xinglang, op. cit., p.744.
3. Zhang Xinglang, op. cit., pp. 741-42.
4. Feng Jinyuan, "Guangzhou chongjian huaishengsi ji" (A record of the reconstruction of the Huaisheng Mosque in Guangzhou), in Bai Shouyi ed., Zhongguo Huihui minzu shi (A history of the Huihui Nationality in China), Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2003, p. 520.
5. Wu Wenliang, revised by Wu Youxiong, Quanzhou zongjiao shike (Religious inscriptions of Quanzhou), Beijing: Kexue Chubanshe, 2005, plate 7.

References

Chen Dasheng, Quanzhou Yisilanjiao shike (Islamic inscriptions of Quanzhou), Yinchuan: Ningxia Renmin Chubanshe, 1984.
Feng Jinyuan (ed.), "Zhongguo Yisilanjiao beiwen xuanzhu" (A selection of Chinese Islamic stele inscriptions), in Bai Shouyi ed., Zhongguo Huihui minzu shi (A history of the Huihui Nationality in China), Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2003, pp. 461-533.
Lan Xu, Tianfang zheng xue (The true learning of Arabia), Beijing: Niujie Mosque, 1925 (1852).
Ma Kuangyuan, Huizu wenhua lunji (Essays on Hui culture), Beijing: Zhongguo Wenlian Chuban Gongsi, 1998.
Wu Wenliang, revised by Wu Youxiong, Quanzhou zongjiao shike (Religious inscriptions of Quanzhou), Beijing: Kexue Chubanshe, 2005.
Zhang Xinglang ed., Zhong-Xi jiaotong shiliao huibian (Historical documents on East-West relations), 4 vols, Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 2003.

Ackmnowledgements

My gratitude to Dr. Muhammad Deyghani of the Persian Languages and Literature Department of Tehran University for help in translating the Arabic transcription from the Ashab Mosque.

ISLAM's LASTING CONNECTION WITH CHINA

For many Muslims living in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, they head to the tomb of Thabit Ibn Qays, an ancient Islamic sage, located in the western part of urban Hami, about 600 kilometres east of Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang.

Known by the local Muslim population as "Geys' Mazars," the ancient Islamic missionary is worshipped by an increasing number of Chinese Muslims every June and July.

It is one of the few existing tombs of the ancient Islamic sages, known among Muslims as the "Companions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad."

The tomb is 22 metres long from east to west, 12 metres wide from north to south and 15 metres high.

It consists of a square base, a round arched dome - both inlaid with green glazed bricks - and surrounding corridors with wooden columns and up-turned eaves, indicating a combination of both Arabic and Chinese architectural styles.

Qays was believed to have died in AD 635 on his homebound trip along the Silk Road westward. He was buried by his followers in the Xingxing Valley, to the east of today's Hami.

Years earlier, Qays, along with other Islamic missionaries - the most prominent among them being Sa'ad ibn abi Waqqaas, a maternal uncle of the Holy Prophet Muhammad - paid a landmark visit to the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) capital of Chang'an (today's Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province), inviting Emperor Taizong to embrace Islam.

The remnants of the original tomb was relocated by Hami Muslims in 1946.

For over 1,300 years, the tomb has stood as a witness to the dissemination and evolution of Islamic culture in China.

Islamic culture

Islam is one of the five major religions in China. The four others are Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism and the Protestantism.

Muslims take great pride in citing a hadith that says "seek knowledge even it is in China."

It points to the importance of looking for lore, even if it meant travelling as far away as China.

Observing the Prophet's instructions, his followers sent missionaries to China one after another.

Some historians hold that, as early as the Sui Dynasty (AD 581-618) during the revelation of Islam (AD 610-632) to the Prophet, Islam had already appeared in China.

Still, many believe the visit led by Waqqaas and Qays was Islam's earliest contact with China during the caliphate of Uthman ibn Affan, the third caliph.

After triumphing over the Byzantine, Romans and Persians, Uthman ibn Affan dispatched a deputation to China in AD 650, eight years after the Prophet's death.

Waqqaas was said to have died in Canton, today's Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, where he established the Huaisheng, literally meaning "in memory of the Holy Prophet" Mosque, or Memorial Mosque, one of the first Islamic buildings in China and proof of the early communication between the two cultures.

And in AD 713, an ambassador from the Islamic Caliphate was received at the Tang court.

Since then, both overland trade along the silk route and maritime trade via the spice route to the southeastern port of Canton flourished. So did cultural and scientific exchanges.

Many Muslims came to China to trade and they began to have a great economic impact and influence on the country.

Muslims virtually dominated the import-export industry by the time of the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

Some of them later became permanent residents in such prosperous cities as Xi'an, Quanzhou in Fujian Province, Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province, Yangzhou in Jiangsu Province, Hami and Guangzhou, where they built mosques and cemeteries.

For over 500 years, Canton was known in Arabic as Zayton.

One of the most prized Chinese musical instruments, the pluck-stringed pipa, actually originated in the Islamic world and was called barbat, tanbur or mizhar in Arabic and Persian.

And the Chinese word for ball, qiu, was said to originate from the Persian word, gui, the name for the game of polo.

Chinese medicine, both the material and prescriptions, were also influenced by Persia and Arabia, as recorded by Tang Dynasty officials.

A famous Islamic physician Razi (AD 865-925) was even said to have helped Chinese pharmaceutical expert Li Xun study in Baghdad the works of ancient Roman medical master Claudius Galen.

Immigration

In the early 13th century, Genghis Khan, the Mongolian leader and founder of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), launched a large-scale westward expedition.

During the period, hundreds of thousands of Central Asian, Persian and Arabic Muslims immigrated to China, settling mainly in today's Gansu, Henan, Hebei, Shandong, Yunnan and Shaanxi provinces and the Xinjiang Uygur and Ningxia Hui autonomous regions.

Islam took shape in China in the Yuan Dynasty when mosques were erected in almost every city having new Muslim settlers.

Among the most famous ones are the Huaisheng Mosque in Guangzhou, the Niujie Mosque in southern downtown Beijing, which was built in AD 996, and the Holy Crane Mosque in Yangzhou of East China's Jiangsu Province, which was built in 1274 by Buhaddine of Mecca, and is still an important place of worship.

In 1274, Buhaddine died in Yangzhou and was buried by his followers on a foothill facing Mecca.

The place became a cemetery, known as Huihuitang (Islamic yard), for Arab Muslims who died in the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties.

Yuan Dynasty rulers allowed foreign immigrants to maintain their religious beliefs and during the dynasty, the social status of Muslims from abroad was higher than that of local Han residents.

Islamic religion and culture was allowed further growth in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

One example is that Hui Muslim Zheng He ( 1371-1435) was assigned by the Ming emperors to be the head of their powerful ocean-going fleet, the largest in the world at that time.

Zheng launched seven maritime expeditions between 1405 and 1433, starting from Taicang, in Jiangsu Province on the coast, to the South China Sea and as far away as the Persian Gulf.

After the founding of New China in 1949, the Islamic faith of the Chinese Muslim were fully respected and protected by the government.

In 1953, the Islamic Association of China was founded and now is run by 16 Islamic religious leaders. It is aimed at helping the spread of the Koran in China.

Also, many nationwide Islamic associations have been organized to co-ordinate inter-ethnic activities among Muslims.

Religious practices

Today, Islam is the dominant religion among 10 Chinese ethnic groups: the Uygur, Hui, Kazak, Kirgiz, Tajik, Tartar, Uzbek, Bao'an, Dongxiang and Salar. China has at least 20 million Muslims.

In Xinjiang, there are 9 million Muslims and 23,000 mosques in the region, two-thirds of the total number in the country.

There are at least 250,000 Muslims in Beijing, who can hold and attend religious services such as Ramadan and festivals or Islamic Eidul-Adha, in 68 mosques in the capital.

At present, there are 35,000 mosques, more than 45,000 Muslim teachers and administrators, and more than 24,000 students in Islamic theological institutes in various regions in China.

Although a number of Chinese mosques were closed during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), all had been reinstated by the early 1980s.

Chinese Muslims follow the Islamic theory and practice, embracing the five fundamentals of Islam. They differentiate between the forbidden "Haram" and the permissible "Halal."

Local Muslims have also gradually integrated into Chinese society.

One interesting example of this synthesis is the process by which Muslims change their names.

Some male Muslims married Han Chinese women and simply took the name of their wives.

But others took the Chinese surnames of Mo, Mai and Mu - names adopted by Muslims who had the surnames Muhammad, Mustafa and Masoud.

Some Muslims, who could not find a Chinese surname similar to their own, adopted Chinese characters most similar to their name - Ha for Hasan, Hu for Hussain, Sa for Said and so on.

In addition to names, Muslim customs of dress and food have also undergone a synthesis with indigenous Chinese culture.

The Islamic modes of dress and dietary rules are maintained within a Chinese cultural framework.

Many Muslims in different parts of the country learn to speak local dialects and read Chinese, which enables them to better communicate with other Chinese ethnic groups.

The author is a Hami-based, Hui ethnic scholar of local history and cultures.

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June 19, 2008 — REPORT: Muslims in Ningxia, a poor region in northern China, produce Halal meat for religious purposes and export. (S. Le Belzic)

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July 01, 2008 — REPORT: Among the 20 million Muslims living in China, approximately half belong to the Hui community, the largest ethnic minority. (S. Le Belzic).

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