BEIJING Green-domed mosques still dominate the skyline of Chinas Little Mecca, but they have undergone a profound change no longer do boys flit through their stone courtyards en route to classes and prayers.
In what locals said they fear is a deliberate move to eradicate Islam, the atheist ruling Communist Party has banned children under 16 from religious activity or study in Linxia, a deeply Islamic region in western Chinas Gansu province that had offered a haven of comparative religious freedom for the ethnic Hui Muslims there.
China governs Xinjiang, another majority Muslim region in its far west, with an iron fist to weed out what it calls religious extremism and separatism in the wake of deadly unrest, throwing ethnic Uygurs into shadowy re-education camps without due process for minor infractions such as owning a Koran or even growing a beard.
Now, Hui Muslims fear similar surveillance and repression.
The winds have shifted in the past year, said a senior imam who requested anonymity. Frankly, Im very afraid theyre going to implement the Xinjiang model here.
Local authorities have severely curtailed the number of people over 16 officially allowed to study in each mosque and limited certification processes for new imams.
They have also instructed mosques to display national flags and stop sounding the call to prayer to reduce noise pollution with loudspeakers removed entirely from all 355 mosques in a neighbouring county.
They want to secularise Muslims, to cut off Islam at the roots, the imam said, shaking with barely restrained emotion. These days, children are not allowed to believe in religion: only in communism and the party.
More than 1,000 boys used to attend his mid-sized mosque to study Koranic basics during summer and winter school holidays but now they are banned from even entering the premises.
His classrooms are still full of huge Arabic books from Saudi Arabia, browned with age and bound in heavy leather. But only 20 officially registered pupils over the age of 16 are now allowed to use them.
Parents were told the ban on extracurricular Koranic study was for their childrens own good, so they could rest and focus on secular coursework. But most are utterly panicked.
Were scared, very scared. If it goes on like this, after a generation or two, our traditions will be gone, said Ma Lan, a 45-year-old caretaker, tears dripping quietly into her uneaten bowl of beef noodle soup.
Inspectors checked her local mosque every few days during the last school holiday to ensure none of the 70 or so village boys were present.
Their imam initially tried holding lessons in secret before sunrise but soon gave up, fearing repercussions.
Instead of studying five hours a day at the mosque, her 10-year-old son stayed home watching television. She said he dreamed of being an imam, but his schoolteachers had encouraged him to make money and become a communist cadre.
The Hui number nearly 10 million, half the countrys Muslim population, according to 2012 government statistics.
In Linxia, they have historically been well integrated with the ethnic Han majority, able to openly express their devotion and centre their lives around their faith.
Women in headscarves dish out boiled lamb in mirror-panelled halal eateries while streams of white-hatted men meander into mosques for afternoon prayers, passing shops hawking rugs, incense and eight treasure tea, a local speciality including dates and dried chrysanthemum buds.
But in January, local officials signed a decree pledging to ensure that no individual or organisation would support, permit, organise or guide minors towards entering mosques for Koranic study or religious activities, or push them towards religious beliefs.
I cannot act contrary to my beliefs. Islam requires education from cradle to grave. As soon as children are able to speak we should begin to teach them our truths, he said.
It feels like we are slowly moving back towards the repression of the Cultural Revolution, he said, referring to a nationwide purge from 1966 until 1976 when local mosques were dismantled or turned into donkey sheds.
Other imams complained authorities were issuing fewer certificates required to practise or teach and now only to graduates of state-sanctioned institutions.
For now, there are enough of us, but I fear for the future. Even if there are still students, there wont be anyone of quality to teach them, one imam said.
Local authorities failed to answer repeated calls seeking comment but Linxias youth ban comes as China rolls out its newly revised Religious Affairs Regulations.
The rules have intensified punishments for unsanctioned religious activities across all faiths and regions.
Beijing was targeting minors as a way to ensure that faith traditions die out while also maintaining the governments control over ideological affairs, said William Nee, a China researcher at Amnesty International.
Another imam said the tense situation in Xinjiang was at the root of changes in Linxia.
The government believed that religious piety fosters fanaticism, which spawns extremism, which leads to terrorist acts so they want to secularise us, he said.
But many Hui are quick to distinguish themselves from Uygurs.
They believe in Islam too, but theyre violent and bloodthirsty. Were nothing like that, said Muslim hairdresser Ma Jiancai, 40, drawing on common stereotypes.
Sitting under the elegant eaves of a Sufi shrine complex, a young scholar from Xinjiang said his family had sent him alone aged five to Linxia to study the Koran with a freedom not possible in his hometown.
Things are very different here, he said with knitted brows. I hope to stay.
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
