Thammasat University students interested in China, Islamic studies, history, law, comparative religion, sociology, ethnology, and related subjects may find it useful to participate in a free 30 April Zoom webinar on Halal or Qingzhen?: A Question of Sinicization of Islam in China.
The event, on Tuesday, 30 April 2024 at 11:30am Bangkok time, is organized by the Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, The University of Hong Kong (HKU).
The title of the presentation refers to Qingzhen in Mandarin, a local expression of halal in China.
Halal is an Arabic word that translates to ‘permissible’ in English.
The term halal is associated with Islamic dietary laws.
The TU Library collection includes many books about different aspects of Islam in China.
Students are invited to register at this link:
https://hku.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_eflaLsOYS0y3qPjCoY2LBQ#/registration
The event webpage explains:
Islam arrived in China during the 7th century as a foreign religion. Yet, once the first Muslims settled permanently there, Islamic religious and cultural traditions were gradually influenced by the norms of Chinese culture and society. This process of naturalization and localization, sometimes referred to as “Sinicization”, continued apace for nearly a millennium before historical circumstances accelerated it during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. The vicissitudes of modern Chinese history have led to varying official governmental and societal attitudes towards Islam and Muslims and concomitant adaptations of identity and expressions of religiosity by Chinese Muslims. Most recently, the government of the People’s Republic of China is pursuing its own policies of decreasing foreign religious influences in the country in the name of combatting “extremism and separatism.” These have included official regulations aimed at “sinicizing” Islam in China, leading Muslims into a new wave of adaptation for their survival.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
James D. Frankel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Cultural and Religious Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he is also the Director of the Centre for the Study of Islamic Culture.
Books by Professor Frankel are available to TU students through the TU Library Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service.
The website of Radio Free Europe reported earlier this year:
China Introduces Strict Rules In Xinjiang On Islam, Other Religions
In a move set to tighten government control over practicing religion in China’s western Xinjiang Province, the Muslim-majority region will introduce a set of regulations that — among other things — will require all new places of worship to reflect “Chinese characteristics and style.”
The sweeping legislation will come into force on February 1 as part of a broader multiyear campaign aimed at controlling religion in Xinjiang, which is home to mainly Muslim ethnic groups such as Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and Hui (aka Dungans).
As part of the new set of “regulations on religious affairs,” all new mosques, churches, and other religious buildings must reflect Chinese design elements and any renovations to extant layouts will require approval from Xinjiang’s regional authorities. Additional measures include controls on “large-scale” religious gatherings — which will require approval from the local government at least one month in advance — and that religious content posted online must be screened by the regional government.
The rules also say for the first time that interpretations of religious doctrine must “meet the requirements of contemporary China’s development and China’s outstanding traditional culture,” a move that experts warn could further cement an ongoing crackdown against Uyghur and minority rights in the region.
“The move is significant, as it’s about cutting off China’s religions from international networks and communities and keeping them socially and politically isolated under the watch of the Chinese Communist Party,” Bradley Jardine, managing director of the Oxus Society for Central Asian Affairs, told RFE/RL.
China has been accused of systemic human rights violations in Xinjiang, including launching a dragnet that sent more than 1 million Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other Muslim minorities to detention camps and prisons.
A growing body of evidence — including firsthand testimony and leaked official Chinese government documents — support the accusations, which range from forced labor to sexual abuse, forced sterilization, and erasing Uyghur cultural and religious identity, including the tearing down of mosques and other religious sites.
These actions have drawn accusations of genocide from international rights groups and several Western governments. In 2022, a UN report found China was committing “serious human rights violations” in Xinjiang that may amount to crimes against humanity.
China has denied any human rights abuses in the region and says that its policies in Xinjiang are designed to counter extremism and terrorism.
Against this backdrop, local activists are worried about the lasting effects of these policies as the new rules come into force.
“Religious rights have long been restricted in Xinjiang,” Bekzat Maksutkhan, the director of Naghyz Atazhurt, an unregistered organization in Kazakhstan focused on ethnic Kazakhs affected by the crackdown in Xinjiang, told RFE/RL. “But this law is the legalization of all those previous actions.” […]
Last year, the Voice of America website posted a report:
China Tries to Strengthen Control Over Islam By Shuttering Mosques
A new report finds that authorities in China are reducing the number of mosques in areas with large Muslim populations. Analysts and activists say the campaign aims to restrict the practice and presence of Islam there while strengthening the government’s control over religious minorities.
The report, released by Human Rights Watch on November 22, said the Chinese government has been systematically demolishing, converting, or closing down mosques across China under a campaign of “mosque consolidation” in recent years. In some cases, local authorities remove Islamic architectural features, such as domes or minarets, or demolish structures like ablution halls that are used for cleansing purposes.
“The Chinese government is not “consolidating” mosques as it claims, but closing many down,” Maya Wang, the acting China director at HRW, told VOA by phone. In her view, the demolition or repurposing of mosques in China is part of Beijing’s effort to reduce Islam’s presence in China and curb people’s participation in the religion.
“It’s not just about cosmetic changes to the mosques. It’s an overarching objective to reduce Muslims’ ability to freely practice Islam,” Wang added.
Despite concerns about the possible erasure of Islam in China, the Chinese Embassy in Washington said the government in Beijing “protects citizens’ freedom of religious belief in accordance with the law.”
“Muslims from various ethnic groups are free to practice their belief in mosques and at home according to religious doctrines, rules and traditional customs,” said embassy spokesperson, Liu Pengyu, adding that relevant parties should “respect facts, abandon prejudice and stop groundless hyping.”
According to copies of Chinese government documents, media reports, and academic studies, HRW said the campaign to repurpose mosques across China originates from Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s call in 2016 to “sinicize Islam,” a campaign that has strengthened the government’s control over religion. The term “sinicize” refers to efforts to bring something under Chinese influence.
During a visit to Xinjiang in August, Xi said the Chinese government should deepen the efforts to facilitate the “sinicization of Islam” in the region and effectively manage different kinds of “illegal religious activities.”
(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)