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China Mulsims have been present in this vast country for many hundreds of years. They have managed to erect the first mosque long ago, during the Tang Dynasty, and this mosque was made in an exotic way. The truth is that many mosques in China have something exotic about them. And it’s not surprising, because we know that everything the Chinese do, they do it in their own particular style. Even if sometimes they welcome the influences of other cultures, they transform everything according to their own style. For instance, there is a large number of female imams in China, which is not a common thing.
Islam in China became a reality when the first Arab Muslim traders came there. They told the Chinese what is Mecca and what it stands for, and for this reason, since the 1860s, the first Muslims from China were seen making the pilgrimage to Mecca. And the have continued to do it continuously, except a period in the 1970s, when, due to the cultural revolution, Muslims were not allowed to travel to Mecca for Hajj. Fortunately, this policy changed in 1979.
Nowadays thousands of Muslims from China make their journey to Mecca. The Muslims in China are only 1 or 2 percent of the entire country’s population, but for China this means about 20 million Muslims in China. They and the Chinese Muslims that live abroad have their interests defended by the Islamic Association of China, which appeared in 1953.
This association is all about spreading the teachings of the Koran and preventing the peril of religious extremism in the country. They try to help imams better themselves, and also spread inspirational speeches about Islam across the country.
Here are some of the features of Muslims in China, upheld by the association:
- All Muslim communities are allowed separate cemeteries.
- All Muslim workers may follow their religious festivals, and need not work on these days.
- Muslim couples are allowed to have their marriage in the presence of an imam.
More than that, they try to offer special opportunities to Chinese Muslims regarding education, and since twenty years ago, they succeeded. Today there are mosque schools, and also a fair number of state and private Islamic colleges. Obviously, some young students don’t just stop here, making their way abroad too to study in reputed Islamic universities.
After the 50’s, China Muslims had some problems with the government. At one point all mosques and Islamic institutions were closed in China, and many students were sent to other schools that only taught Marxism and Maoism. Of course, this didn’t bode well for the Muslims in China. The government tried to do this under the pretext of unification of national education. However, due to the fact that society was rapidly evolving, Muslims stood up for themselves and Islam now thrives in the country. Nowadays, more and more young China Muslims are enrolling in Islamic universities.
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