Beijing is worried over China’s Muslims coming under the spell of Wahhabi Islam. So it  is trying to  “Sinicise religion”- Chinese orientation to Islam particularly in Hui Muslim heartland in the north western Ningxia Hui autonomous region. This is besides the crackdown on Islamic extremism amongst the Uyghurs Muslims living in Xinjiang that borders Pakistan.

Over the years the Chinese government has tried several methods to check the spread of Arabisation of Islam practiced in the country. Arabisation stands for Wahhabism from Saudi Arabia, which has taken deep roots in countries like Pakistan. It has ushered in a culture of extremism, and gave birth to Islamist militancy.
Beijing is naturally worried over China’s Muslims coming under the Wahhabi spell. So it is trying to give Chinese orientation to Islam particularly in Hui Muslim heartland in the north western Ningxia Hui autonomous region. This is beside the crackdown on Islamic extremism amongst the Uighurs Muslims living in Xinjiang that borders Pakistan. In essence, it translates into making Muslims practice their faith in a more Chinese way – or at least in a more Chinese place.
The government has banned new “Arab style” mosques, and plan are afoot to convert some of the existing ones to look like Chinese temples. A strict no, no for new Arab-style mosques with large onion domes.
All this is a grand campaign to “Sinicise religion,” says a report in South China Morning Post, and adds that throughout Ningxia, Islamic decor and Arabic signs are being taken off the streets as a part of the drive. Already the roadside from Yinchuan along the dusty plains of the Yellow River is littered with onion domes freshly removed from market buildings, hotels and parks.
“The whole thing started towards the end of last year … It’s making everyone here apprehensive,” a female staff member at the Nanguan mosque was quoted as saying. She watched in dismay as the dome-shaped features of her home were smashed to pieces by the authorities a few months ago.
Nectar Gan who has authored the long dispatch write: “…in Ningxia, there is growing unease among its Hui communities, who for decades have been largely left in peace to practice their faith”.
Descended from Arab and Central Asian Silk Road traders, there are more than 10 million Hui Muslims in China. Most of them speak Mandarin and even look much the same as the Hun Chinese – apart from the white caps and headscarves worn by the more traditional Hui.
Calls to prayer are now banned in Yinchuan on the grounds of noise pollution – Nanguan has replaced its melodious call with a piercing alarm. Books on Islam and copies of the Koran have been taken off the shelves in souvenir shops. Some mosques have meanwhile been ordered to cancel public Arabic classes and a number of private Arabic schools have been told to shut down, either temporarily for “rectification” or for good, says the Post story.
On the “Do not’s” list in the impoverished Tongxin county, for instance, are visits to the mosques for daily prayers and pilgrimage to Mecca “even after they retire from office”. Government workers are also banned from wearing white caps to work, according to local people.
“Sinicise religion” policy was introduced by President Xi Jinping in 2015 to bring religions into line with Chinese culture and the absolute authority of the Communist party.
“[We] should adhere to the direction of Sinicising religion in our country, and actively guide religion to adapt to a socialist society,” he said in a report to the Party Congress last autumn.
In March, Yang Faming, head of the state-run China Islamic Association called for Chinese Muslims to guard against creeping Islamisation, criticising some mosques for “blindly imitating the construction style of foreign models”. “Religious rites, culture and buildings should all reflect Chinese characteristics, style and manner,” he made it clear.
“Mosques should adapt to the circumstances of our country, reflect Chinese style and blend in with Chinese culture, instead of worshipping foreign architectural styles,” said a report on a seminar on mosque architecture organised by China Islamic Association last April.
Ningxia, Gansu and Qinghai in the northwest are the hardest hit. Only one of the seven mosques in Yinchuan’s old town was left standing. In neighbouring Gansu province, there were no mosques left in Linxia, China’s “Little Mecca”, or in the capital Lanzhou, SCMP report said quoting an academic.
The government’s tighter grip on religious practice has reportedly caused disaffection, particularly the ban on party members visiting Mecca. Known as the haj, it is one of the five pillars of Islam and all Muslims are expected to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lives if they are physically and financially able to do so.
“I told them I would quit the party after I retire [to get around the Mecca ban], but they said that wouldn’t work,” the Post-dispatch quoted one party member as saying.
David Stroup, an expert on Hui Muslims at the University of Oklahoma has an interesting take on what worries Beijing. “There is certainly a sense among [some Chinese Muslims] that the way you ought to build a mosque should mirror the styles of mosques that are being built in Saudi Arabia – that’s the truer, more real, more accurate version,” he said, citing conversations with Hui during his research in China. “In a contemporary sense, it is also a way to connect with the larger Islamic world.”
That connection is exactly what Beijing is worried about. And made it to up the ante for any sign of extremist influence among its population of 23 million Muslims – mainly Hui and Uyghurs. Already the restive Uyghur region in Xinjiang has been turned into a “massive police state”, with thousands of Uygurs deemed prone to extremist influence detained in “re-education camps”.

– YAMAARAAR