Islam
Islam in China has a rich heritage. China has some of the oldest Muslim history, dating back to as early as 650, when the uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Sa`ad ibn Abi Waqqas, was sent as an official envoy to Emperor Gaozong. Throughout the history of Islam in China, Chinese Muslims have influenced the course of Chinese history.
Islam was founded in the early 7th century by the Arab prophet, Muhammad. It is the world's youngest and fastest-growing universal faith, and the second largest with almost a billion adherents. Eight words in Arabic sum up the central belief of Islam: There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah. Five times a day, this Shahada (confession of faith) is recited by the devotee the world over as muezzins summon them to worship God. The word Islam means submission and the true Moslem is supposed to submit his life to the divine will of the God. All Moslems accept the Koran as God’s eternal word. To a Muslim, Koran represents the unique words of Allah and is without comparison and beyond question. Muslims follow the Five Pillars of Islam which are believed to be the basic spiritual duties of Muslims, which are accepting the Shahada, the daily prayers to God while facing Mecca, charitable giving, fasting during the daylight hours of holy month of Ramadan, and making the hajj to Mecca at least once.
Islam reached China in 651ADduring the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty. Throughout the Tang and Song dynasties, the Arabs maintained contact with China over land and by sea. Over land they left Arabia, passed across Persia and Afghanistan and finally reached China's northwest. Meanwhile they sailed from the Arabia Sea, passed through the Bay of Bengal and the Strait of Malacca and come to China's Guangzhou, Quanzhou, Hangzhou and Yangzhou. Their offspring became Chinese Moslems. During the 13th century, when Genghis Khan conquered vast expanses of land stretching from Central Asia to Eastern Europe, large numbers of the Moslems there were conscribed and later moved to China. The were all referred to as “Hui” in the History of the Yuan Dynasty. These Hui soldiers joined Kublai Khan in his war for the unification of China. As these Huis stationed as important soldiers and farmers across China, Islam became a wide-spread religion among Chinese people. In the Yuan Dynasty, many Moslems held positions both in the military and civilian organs of the country. And a lot of Moslems took part in Zhuyuanzhang’s uprising in the early 14the century and made great contributions to the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, all the emperors of the Ming Dynasty ordered to protect Islam, and to set up mosques in praise of the Moslems for their feats.in the early 16th century, Islam predominated Xinjiang and spread its influence to Gansu, Ningxia and Qinghai. Today Islam has a large following among ten of China’s minority nationalities.
Most of the mosques in China are constructed in palace style. In Xinjiang and other places, there are mosques built in the traditional Islamic style. China has many mosques noted either for their magnificence and spacious yards or for their long history. For instance, the Guangta Pagoda Mosque in Guangzhou and the Qingjing Mosque in Quanzhou were built by Persian and Arab merchants during the Tang and Song dynasties. The Great Mosque at Huajue Lane in Xi'an is one of the earliest built on a comparatively large scale, and well preserved in China.
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