History of Islam in China

The history of Islam in China dates back over 14 centuries. As per historians, Islam was brought to China by Sa’d Ibn abhi Waqqas who was sent to China by the third Caliph Uthman. This was a few years after the death of Prophet Muhammad. China during that time was under the Tang Dynasty and emperor Gaozong. The Chinese warmly welcomed the Muslim embassy and also had a Mosque built which is known as the Memorial Mosque in Canton. After this embassy, Muslims merchants and diplomats came to China regularly and this started the interaction between Muslims and native Chinese.

The first Muslims in China were primarily Persian and Arab merchants. During the Tang era, Muslim merchants came regularly via the Silk road, and they formed the basis of the Chinese Muslim population. The Muslims brought with them their culture, cuisine and musical instruments.

Most of the Muslims that went to China went to trade, and they made a very large impact on the economy of China at that time. During the Song Era, the Muslim traders handled most of the import/export industry. The Song emperor at the time Shen-tsung sent an invitation to 5300 Muslims from Bukhara who then came and settled in China. A decade after that also in the Song Era another 10,000 Arabs migrated to China and settled in different areas. The impact of the Muslims at that time can be judged from the fact that the Chinese materia medica was republished during the Song Era, and it included around 200 medicines from the Muslims.

After the Song Era came the Yuan Era in which the Muslims further excelled. The rulers had many Muslims in administrative positions all over China. Of the 12 districts of the Yuan Dynasty 8 of those had Muslim governors and the remaining 4, Vice Governors were Muslim. The rulers encouraged the Muslim immigration and the populations of Muslims reached 4 Million.

After that came the Ming Dynasty during which the Muslims continued to increase. Yunnan and Shandong were the centers of Islamic learning. Many of the commanders of the emperor were Muslims. Also, Muslims enjoyed freedom in every way in terms of religious practice and freedom of worship.

The Muslims started to integrate into the Chinese culture and became isolated from the rest of the Islamic world. They adapted the Chinese language and clothes, also in many cases they started to keep Chinese surnames. They became so integrated that it was hard to distinguish the Muslims from the Chinese.

During the Qing Era, there were a lot of mosques in key cities in China. Many Muslims held key positions in the government and the Army. Also during this time, travelling became easy and many Chinese Muslims became the first Muslims to go to New Zealand. In the Dungun and Panthay Areas of China, the Muslims revolted against the Qing Dynasty and many were killed, but in other areas of China, there were no revolt everything remained normal, and those Muslims remain unaffected.

In 1911, the Republic of China was formed, and that eased off a little tension between the different peoples living in China. After th forming the republic, a better relationship was created between the Muslims in China and the Muslim states in the Middle East. Muslim federations established in different areas in China, and religion and cultural activities flourished for the Muslims in China. An estimate of 20 Million Muslims were in China at that time.

Around 1950, the Muslims in China faced quite a few challenges. The cultural revolution started and the government in many cases accessed the Muslims and other religions for promoting anti socialist trends. There were many cases where mosques were destroyed, and copies of the holy Quran were destroyed along with other religious institutes. Then in 1979, with Deng Xiaopeng the Chinese Government started a more liberal attitude towards the Chinese Muslims. New rules and regulations were passed by which Muslims were allowed to practice the religion freely and were also allowed to use their own spoken and written language along with their own culture and education.

Today in China, Islam is going through a revival period, and there are many mosques in China. Many Islamic organizations are set up which are helping Muslims communicate with each other and with the outside world. In most areas in China, Muslims have a lot of freedom except for some areas where there is unrest among some Muslims. The main unrest is from the Uighur Muslims which are Turkic Muslims who are constantly fighting to have a separate state of Turkistan which existed in the 1920s.

There were several positive signs for the Chinese Muslims over the years, and the government of China has shown its support to the Muslims as Muslim even though is a minority in China, but they still make an impact on the economy of the country. In 2007, CCTV which is a state run television channel ordered all the Ad agencies to not include images of pig in the advertisement to avoid conflict with the Muslims as pigs are prohibited as food in Islam.

Islam in China has a very long history, but since the start we see that Islam was very dominant in China and has a major impact on the Chinese economy and the government. A lot of Chinese medicines even today have traces of ancient Islamic medicines. Compared to an earlier time, Muslims are not that many but they still play a major role in the country. Still there are a lot of key positions that are being helped by Muslims. Relationships between the Muslims and other people in China is very healthy.

Islamic Association of China is the biggest Muslim organization in the countery. The purpose is to make sure that the Muslims in China stay in good relationship with the other people. The organization also works in making sure that Islam has spread to all parts of China.

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