The Chinese Islamic Root Islamic in Arabic!

Tianfang Xingli is considered to be a classic islamic text in the Chinese language. It is divided into three parts and one of the parts is known as the Root classic. Recently I was surprised to find out that the Root Classic was translated into Arabic in 1898 by a Chinese Muslim scholar Ma Lianyuan [...]

Read Full Post »

Belated Eid Mubarak and other updates

(Image Source: Camel’s Nose Blog)
First of all a belated Eid Mubarak to everyone. I have not been posting that often in the last couple of months or so mainly because of the demands of academic work and also because of some travelling. However the good thing is that I have met other Chinese Muslims in USA [...]

Read Full Post »

Xinjiang Crackdown and Changing Perceptions of China in the Islamic World?

How the recent events in China have changed its image in some Muslim countries.
Source: http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=35370
August 5, 2009
Xinjiang Crackdown and Changing Perceptions of China in the Islamic World?
……
Views from the Muslim World
In light of the recent events in Xinjiang, observers of China’s increasingly expanding and multifaceted relationship with the Middle East and the greater Islamic [...]

Read Full Post »

Chinese Government Launches Arabic Language TV Channel

via Xinhua
China state TV broadcaster to launch 24-hour Arabic channel
BEIJING, July 24 (Xinhua) — China’s state TV broadcaster, China Central Television (CCTV), will launch its Arabic channel on Saturday, an official with the TV station said here Friday.
The channel would mainly focus on news programs but would also feature entertainment and education programs, Zhang Changming, [...]

Read Full Post »

China to allow 2,700 Muslims to visit Mecca: report

via AFP. The numbers do not add up since a couple of years ago the Chinese government allowed 10,000 pilgrims to perform hajj but this news story is saying that only 30,000 Muslims from China have performed hajj in the last 20 years. I am guessing that this is a mmisprint and they actually mean [...]

Read Full Post »

Xinjiang: Commentaries and Links

The perspective of the Chinese Government

Woman behind Xinjiang riot caught self-contradictory via Xinhua
Uygur official condemns riot, calls for healing in Xinjiang Xinhua
Islamic college thanked for sheltering civilians in Urumqi riot Xinhua

The perspective of the International Media

Behind the Violence in Xinjiang New York Times Open Ed (USA)
Xinjiang: one of Asia’s great prizes Telegraph (UK)
Deadly riots in [...]

Read Full Post »

Why so silent – Uyghurs in China

Many people have complained in the past that one thing that is conspicuously missing from this blog is any discussion of the Uyghur people in China. Uyghur are predominantly Muslims and make up about half of all the Muslims in China. Some people have even left rather negative comments about this blog that the blog [...]

Read Full Post »

Impressions of a British Missionary in China in 1845

Here  is an interesting story on the Language Log blog about the impressions of a British Missionary in China in 1845 with respect to Chinese Muslims and their language.
On July 23, 1845, a British missionary named George Smith visited a mosque in the city of Ningbo, which is a major commercial city on the coast [...]

Read Full Post »

Chinese Muslim Scholar on Teachings of Islam

“Reflecting upon this Great Learning (Islam), we see that the principle of righteousness is refined and detailed. It reaches directly to the root origin, specifically clarifying the Real One, manifesting the light of clarity of the true Tao, and stamping out the mistakes and errors of the heretics. In its quietude, it rests in the [...]

Read Full Post »

Columbia Dissertation: Confucian-Islamic harmonization of the Tianfang Dianli

Liu Zhi’s journey through ritual law to Allah’s Chinese name : conceptual antecedents and theological obstacles to the Confucian-Islamic harmonization of the Tianfang Dianli
Link: http://digitalcommons.libraries.columbia.edu/dissertations/AAI3174789/
Abstract: This dissertation places the Chinese Muslim literatus Liu Zhi (1660?–1730?) and his writings in their historical, cultural, social and religio-philosophical context. Liu Zhi was affiliated with a burgeoning network of [...]

Read Full Post »