Muslims in China have lived throughout their history in their own communities, where they gathered around their mosques and practiced their religious and worldly worship and activities. At the beginning of the twentieth century, China witnessed social, political and cultural transformations; as a result of which many scientific, cultural and political institutions emerged, and Chinese Muslims were not far from these transformations. Associations emerged among them whose goal was to unify the word of Muslims and focus on education and support the social and economic activities of the Muslim community. The most famous of these associations were: the Islamic Progress Association in Yunnan, southern China, the Muslim Students Association in Beijing, and the Association of the Muslim Community in Nanjing, eastern China. These associations and others had commendable activity and commendable efforts during the first half of the twentieth century.
Prominent Figures
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1358 AH / 1949 AD, a number of prominent Islamic figures took the initiative to address a general appeal to Muslims throughout China, in order to unify Islamic institutions and establish an Islamic organization at the national level, under the auspices of the Chinese central government. They achieved what they wanted, as the first national conference of representatives of Chinese Muslim nationalities was held on May 11, 1953, in Beijing, which officially announced the establishment of the Chinese Islamic Association, headquartered in Beijing. Burhanuddin Shahidi Bao Arhan was elected as its president, and it was thus the first unified national association of Chinese Muslims before the new government and before the countries of the world. Under its leadership, sub-organizations were established at the provincial, city, and county levels in response to the religious and worldly needs of Muslims across the country. The Islamic Association has a number of work departments, such as:
- Education Department: Responsible for religious education nationwide, and also organizes Quran recitation and preaching competitions.
- International Relations Department: Responsible for conducting friendly contacts and cultural exchanges with Muslims around the world.
- Islamic Culture Study Department: Specialized in deepening the study of Chinese Islamic culture, exploring Chinese Islamic heritage, and writing religious books.
- Editorial Board of Chinese Muslim Magazine: Responsible for editing and publishing the Chinese Muslim magazine in both Chinese and Uyghur.
- The Association Office: It is responsible for handling the administrative and internal affairs of the Association.
Various Activities
Since its inception, the Chinese Islamic Association has assumed its mission as a bridge between the Muslim masses and the government. The association has been interested in presenting their demands and suggestions to the relevant government agencies and has worked to coordinate cooperative relations between Muslims and non-Muslims in all fields. In order to disseminate Islamic knowledge, the association has issued many important religious publications in Chinese and Arabic, including the Holy Quran, the Prophet’s Hadith, and others. The association also supervises the printing and publishing of the “Chinese Muslim” magazine in Chinese and Uyghur, in addition to books and albums that reflect the lives of Muslims from various Chinese ethnic groups. Preparing a large number of competent specialists who understand the vast religious knowledge and the high level of Arabic and Chinese was an urgent task for the association, so it paid great attention to managing the Chinese Institute of Islamic Studies in the best possible way. In addition to accepting regular students, the institute has held training courses at various levels for imams working in mosques across the country. The institute has also provided various assistance to open local Islamic schools in places where Muslims gather in large numbers. Raising the level of self-education
At the same time, the association urged the teachers working in the institute to raise their level of self-education by collecting and organizing Islamic information, publications and heritage from all over the country, so that they could conduct in-depth studies on the authentic religious laws and history of Islam in China. Another routine work of the association is to organize the Hajj activities of Chinese Muslims. The association has set up a special department to handle all the work related to Chinese Hajj delegations, such as diplomatic contacts with the authorities in Saudi Arabia, receiving the applications of Muslims wishing to perform Hajj and guiding them before their travel. In order to provide guarantees for Muslims to perform their religious duty and their safety abroad, the association annually sends a leadership team to Mecca during the Hajj season to aid and care for Chinese pilgrims there.
External Communications
In terms of external communication and cultural exchange with Muslim brothers in other countries, the Islamic Association of China has shown great enthusiasm for establishing friendly relations with all Islamic organizations in the world. The Association has actively participated in international conferences, discussions and seminars on Islamic sciences. On religious occasions and important events in Islamic countries, the Islamic Association of China always announces its clear position, expressing the voice of Chinese Muslims. Through its contacts with foreign Islamic circles, the Association sends Muslim students to famous Islamic universities abroad to deepen their religious studies there. This has become an important means of preparing qualified specialists in Chinese Islamic circles. As the highest authority for Islamic affairs in China, the Association is responsible for receiving foreign Muslim guests who visit the Association’s headquarters in Beijing during their visit to China and inspect its spacious prayer hall and its affiliated Islamic Science Institute, which includes a large library containing many valuable religious books. As for Muslims in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and Chinese Muslims living abroad, the Association works to strengthen contacts with them and establish brotherly relations with them. National Conference
Since the establishment of the Chinese Islamic Association, the National Conference has been held seven times, in which 6 prominent figures were elected to assume the presidency of the association, namely: Burhanuddin Bao Arhan, then Muhammad Ali Tang Ji, then Elias Shen Shiashi, then Saleh Anshi, then Hilaluddin Chen Guang Yuan, and the current president is Yusuf Yang Fa Ming, who was previously the president of the Chinese Islamic Association in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.
Location of the Chinese Islamic Association
The building of the Islamic Association is located in the Niujie District of Beijing. It is built in a purely Arab style, topped with green domes. Visitors to Beijing can distinguish it from the rest of the buildings in that famous district, which is the largest Islamic district in the Chinese capital. It includes the headquarters of the Islamic Association, the Chinese Institute of Islamic Sciences, the ancient Niujie Mosque, schools for the children of Muslims, in addition to Islamic shops and restaurants, and is inhabited by a large number of Muslims.
