Muslims in
A Travelogue for the History of Religions
Produced by Karl W. Luckert
with the help of Li Shujiang
Script by Karl W. Luckert
Copyright VHS 1993, DVD 2004
Introduction
According to
official estimates almost eighteen million Muslims live in
Areas visited
for the production of this program are
During the
Seventh Century, Arabs and Persian merchants sailed up the
Of the first Islamic merchants no continuous Islamic tradition has survived. The foothold of seafarers is often temporary. But it is still possible to find traces of their architectural style. The minaret of the oldest mosque in this city has the form of a light tower. Some faithful Muslims will tell you that in the beginning this minaret has actually been a light tower that was built to summon Muslim seamen into the hall of prayer.
Faithful
Muslims also come to
Xinjiang
The
overwhelming majority of Muslims in
We are in
Kashgar, at the Heydikar Mosque, for
Occasionally one sees women who practice purda. They cover themselves when they venture outside among strangers. This is the street of furriers and hat makers. We have come to buy traditional Uighur caps, because today we will be guests at some formal occasion.
Professor
Ablat Umar, who teaches Uighur literature at the
At another house there is sorrow. An uncle of Professor Ablat Umar has died during his two years absence from Kashgar. Three nephews, brothers, meet for a repeat funeral ritual by which the professor is formally included. The oldest brother speaks the memorial prayer.
A memorial meal follows the prayer and the lamentation. Between the first and the second halves of the meal, the reunited relatives visit a while in the courtyard. Then the meal ends with another prayer in memory of the uncle who is no longer with them. Then follows a journey to the cemetery which culminates in a round of prayers by the grave. This cemetery is located next to the famous Abak Hodja mausoleum. The Uighur sense of national identity is intimately linked with the tombs of saints who propagated Islam. Descendants of the famous Central Asian Sufi missionary, Mahdum i-Azam, are laid to rest here, seventy-two in number. There rests the oldest descendant of the saint. And during the Eighteenth Century a girl from this lineage, named Iparhan, was given as concubine to the emperor Qianlong. The custodian is convinced that she was returned to her Uighur homeland and laid to rest back there.
Another focal
point of the Uighur national identity is a scholar’s tomb, located some
distance from Kashgar. During the Eleventh Century, Mahmud Kashgari lived and
worked on this hill to create the first dictionary of the Uighur language, with
Arabic script. This dictionary, and the Uighur literature that was generated
its wake, are what have set apart the Uighur Turkic-speaking Muslims as a
distinct nationality. The Uighur uniqueness in
Another
splendid new tomb is being built in the city of
We are leaving Kashgar with modern Uighur music ringing in our ears. It is being played to celebrate the opening of a new hotel. A donkey whoops baritone.
We are
traveling toward the rising sun. The center of the city of
The ruins of
the ancient city of
Since the Fourteenth Century Islamic architecture has taken over in this area. This mosque and minaret built in the Eighteenth Century, by the emperor Qianlong and dedicated to the memory of the Uighur leader Imin has become the best known landmark of Turfan. The mosque itself, it appears, is no longer visited regularly for prayer.
In the city
of
In the mountains north of the sedentary Uighurs live nomadic Kazakhs—herders of horses, cattle, and sheep. They live in jurts. Over the past nine centuries they have counted themselves among the world’s followers of Islam. But, because their lifestyle is mostly nomadic, and because prayer halls are not as portable a jurts, Kazakhs have not built many mosques in which to gather for formal prayers. Simple rituals in their jurts have proven to be more practical.
Over a
million Turkic-speaking Kazakh Muslims live in the Chinese
We now come
to the Hui Muslims who, for the most part, speak Mandarin Chinese. There are
eight to nine million of them in
Ali’s warriors ran out of food. Eventually Fatima, Ali’s wife, served a huge meal of porridge, after desperately having cooked sawdust and stone pebbles in a cauldron. This kitchen miracle is being celebrated here with a huge quantity of porridge made of many ingredients.
In the city
of
Ningxia-1
About one and
a quarter million Hui Muslims live in Ningxia. In the city of
Inside, the ahong welcomes and introduces a government representative who, then, offers friendly greetings to his fellow Muslim citizens.
Then the prayer ceremony begins. A small number of women have gathered in this corner, in the back. Qur’anic verses are recited on earth, where mortal human lips babble the eternal words of God. Eternal words from the heavenly Qur’an echo from human lips.
Meanwhile, under the stairway of the mosque, children in their innocence still perceive the occasion as an opportunity for play. By contrast, upstairs the minds of adults are being guided in the direction of more serious ritual. Unto us a girl is born who, in this exclusive world of men, seems destined to be a reformer.
The Qurban tradition is based on a story which Muslims, Jews, and Christians alike have accepted as their own: Once upon a time, the pastoralist and patriarch Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son. The ahong and his fellow Muslims participate in a moment in Near Eastern history when human sacrifices are abolished. God in his mercy has provided a substitute animal. The ahong praises God’s generosity and compassion. Allah is greatest! Allah is greatest! Praise be to Allah!
Together with the ahong we are invited to an elder’s home to celebrate Qurban with his family. Three sheep have been set aside for sacrifice.
Every culture has religious ways to justify the amount of killing which is deemed necessary for human survival. By performing this Abrahamic ritual of sanctified killing, the ahong, on behalf of his people, praises God who reigns supreme. It is God who thereby assumes responsibility for their death and provides justification for the human quest for food. A ritual which sanctions a certain amount of violence for human survival also establishes the sacred limit on such killings. Human kind remains dependent on God for substance, God remains supreme. He judges what is moderation and what is excess.
A festive meal follows this ritual of sacrifice. And for fruit and watermelon we wander off to another place.
Outside by the vinegar jar, which is protected against mishap by a traditional red flag, we bid each other farewell and Allah’s speed.
From the
The cutting edge of economic life can be felt at markets. Nevertheless, to see the vibrancy of a people’s culture, and their prospects for the future, one must look at their schools. At the Islamic high school in Tongxin, in 1988, an Arab guest has dropped in for a visit. As he improvises a lesson in Arabic, the regular teacher translates difficult words into Chinese. Two visits later, in 1992, the new Arabic school in Tongxin is completed. In the classroom Arabic lessons are taken seriously.
The heart beats of life and culture may be felt at markets and in schools, indeed, but it is in prayer halls where one gets to meet with Hui people in heart and soul. Ahong Li is head imam of the Grand Mosque in Tongxin. Today is a Friday, and the ahong has graciously invited us and our cameras into the mosque.
As we approach this venerable house of prayer, an image of the tree of life, in paradise attracts our attention. There are bicycles in this paradise. The meeting begins with a round of teaching. Communal prayers end as they begin with individualized silent meditation. After the prayer service, Ahong Li sits down with his mullahs to read from the Holy Qur’an.
The time has come to say goodbye. We contemplate once more the symbol of paradise at the entrance of this venerable hall of prayer. From here the road to paradise leads toward heaven past a resting place in the cemetery. As far as the eyes can see, these are the graves of Muslims who have already exchanged their humble dwellings on earth for better places in heaven. The former ahong of the Grand Mosque, retired and ill, has come to pray at the place where he knows his body will soon find rest.
Here is the
tomb of Hu Denzhou, who died some five centuries ago. He was an ahong from
This is the tomb of a blessed teacher who lived two or three centuries ago. His place of rest is covered with white cloth. Rosaries to the left, and the remains of incense sticks upon an altar in the back, are evidence that Qur’anic prayers are regularly recited in this tomb.
Twenty li south of Guyuan is Twenty-li Pu. Here sits the tomb of a Muslim saint. Hui as well as Han people come here on pilgrimages. This ahong told the story of how, long ago, a Han imperial officer scoffed the dead saint. He was punished with a twisted neck. For atonement he donated a sum of money to enlarge the tomb. History repeats itself. Two decades ago Red Guards have scoffed the sanctity of this tomb. Two years ago the monument was wrapped in scaffolding. The government has paid for its restoration.
Fifty kilometers to the south of Xiji, on a gravel road, lies the village Shanjiaji. Its mosque has been made famous by a visit of Mao tse Dong.
Here, in the
ahong’s quarters, next to the mosque, Mao tse Dong has slept on
At the
Then, the crowd of people closes in on us. The familiar faces of my companions disappear. I am surrounded by faces who never in their life, and at this cattle market, have seen a creature like me. It appears impossible to extricate myself from this circle of astonished curiosity. There is nothing else to do but to continue filming. Peace be with you! Saliam alaikuum! Your peace is my peace.
We are on the road again. This is an ideal homestead to visit. From the high road we can see that the people are home and are working. They are building a barn for some of their animals, it seems. We are welcomed into the main courtyard and into the kitchen. Steam bread is being baked.
In another room the master of the house lights three incense sticks—a custom which this Muslim traces to Buddhist ancestors. He also demonstrates to us his Buddhist and his Islamic-inherited gestures of prayer.
Near
This is the
ancient imperial city of
For every old
voice that falls silent a younger voice gains confidence and strength. We are
at the Grand Mosque in Xian, one of
We have
arrived on
This is the
last place on earth where one would expect to meet Muslims from
Beyond
This is the entrance to the Westside-Mosque Worship-Center that lies behind a row of store fronts. Behind these stores one finds a Red Crescent health care center—where an outsider may be encouraged to use his video camera. There are some vestiges of a commune system, revitalized and combined here with the religious idealism of an Islamic mission station. These people operate a distribution and trucking business.
School
children have reasons to be happy, and to dance. The children’s education at
the playground comes with a worldview that knows where, on the face of Planet
Earth,
All this
communal enthusiasm comes enveloped in the Straight Path of Islamic
devotion—with prayers five times a day. Figuratively speaking, the ahong’s
mantle of authority lies spread out along the hillside behind the mosque. Here
are the tombs that vouch for the leader’s lineage. Many Islamic centers in this
land have been validated by an indigenous Chinese culture that venerates
ancestors. Indeed, Allah has blessed this
While the city of Hezhou, China’s little Mecca, basks unabashedly in the light of Islam, the number of mosques and other Islamic institutions that one finds in this Chinese city is indeed astounding. This is the New Magnificent Mosque. It belongs to a Sufi denomination.
We notice a group of young men hurry down the street toward the cemetery, carrying a corpse. This is the market avenue in Linxia. Beyond the next row of houses a store keeper washes his hands. He agrees to demonstrate the remainder of his Islamic washing rite, minus the feet-washing which, in the open street, would seem somewhat inappropriate. Then the man invites us into his house to meet his family. During the second half of the Fifteenth Century the Sunni Muslims in Linxia built their Magnificent Mosque which, nowadays, is distinguished from the newer mosque by that name as the Old Magnificent Mosque. From the top of its minaret we look down on the city. Far over there, near the edge of the city, we can see our next point of interest.
When, toward the end of the Seventeenth Century Hodja abd-Allah, a twenty-ninth generation descendant of Muhammad, came to this city, Qi Jingyi became his student. The elder Qi Jingyi had many devout followers who, when he died, built this huge magnificent tomb over his grave. Subsequently he became known as the founder of the “Great Tomb” denomination. A steady trickle of faithful followers come here to pray. An ahong in this Gedalinye denomination may not marry. Mullahs are expected to move into the Great Tomb Mosque by the time they are ten years old. The position of the top leader of this denomination is not hereditary; he is elected for a limited term.
Near the Great Tomb of the founder has been built a smaller state tomb for someone who belonged to the same denomination. The occupant of this tomb, Cheng Mingyi, is credited with having saved the life of the Ching emperor Kangxi. In appreciation the emperor had this tomb built for him. Inasmuch as the edifice now exists, some faithful pilgrims who come to the Great Tomb next door also come here to pray.
Cheng
Mingyi’s wish for a state tomb may have been judged “less than humble” by his
contemporaries. Nevertheless, the enduring presence of a state-built Gedalinye
tomb helped stake down the claim for the denomination’s legitimacy in the
greater
In a suburb
of Linxia, along the main road to
We are in
The Sufi
Nagshbandiyya Jahriyya or Zhecharenya saintly lineage began in 1744 after the
enthusiastic Ma Mingxin had finished his apprenticeship under a Sufi sheikh in
On the other side of the river sits the tomb of Salima, the ceremonially named daughter of Ma Mingxin. She is remembered for having led the women’s resistance corps during Ma Mingxi’s rebellion. The resident ahong explains these circumstances.
Ningxia-2
The story of Ma Mingxin’s movement continues in Ningxia. Ma Hualong, the first hereditary leader within the Jahriyya lineage led the new teachings rebellion that resulted in ten million dead. He himself was killed by imperial troops here at Shijilianxi (Jinjibu) in 1871. Here his decapitated body lies buried, and here he is now being honored with a stately tomb. Even while construction is noisily under way—behind piles of building materials a faithful follower laments his supplication. He kneels in front of a makeshift altar where he has lit some incense candles.
At Banqiao
Daotang is the headquarters of that branch of Jahriyya which claims hereditary
descent from Ma Hualong. The descendants are gathering for prayer. Incense
sticks are lit at the graves of Ma Tengai, the great-grandson of Ma Hualong,
and of Ma Jinxi, the grandson—also at the grave of Ma Jinxi’s wife. Muslims
here are buried with their heads to the north and their faces turned sideways
and westward in the direction of
This prayer rite is being performed at an hour that had been arbitrarily agreed on for filming. Nobody counted on the government’s loudspeaker which, somehow, begins blaring at this time.
Amidst many
congratulatory banners and well-wishes, inside the memorial mosque, prayers are
spoken westward in the direction of
Traces of
Tibetan Buddhism are obvious everywhere in the
From
We are in
Chunke township to visit some of the four thousand Tibetan Hui Muslims who are
herders and farmers. In the dry bed of a mountain stream we see some of them dig
for gold. Today there live approximately sixteen thousand Tibetan converts to
Islam in the greater
Mixed villages in this area have a tendency to become all Muslims. In this village only two lamas can be seen. Fortunately they are as curious as their fellow Muslim citizens and approach our car and our camera.
At the mosque in Chunke Islamic education is going strong. An ahong instructs an assembly of thirty-eight mullahs. He first reads from the Qur’an in Arabic and then interprets and explains sentences with remarkable ease. But strangely, as one who insists that a Hui is not a Tibetan, he nevertheless expounds the Arabic words of God in Tibetan.
This Yishar Mosque, it is said, was first built in 1388 in Tibetan Buddhist territory. Islamic sermons are still being preached here in the Tibetan language.
In
In the year
1271 the emperor Kublai Khan sent to
Rivers in
ancient
Sai Dianchi, the Muslim, has been buried in this cemetery as a mortal man. Nevertheless, he was deified by some of his Han subjects. A statue representing him as a god has been revered in a village temple nearby clear into the nineteen-fifties.
At Kunyung, a
few hours drive from
In the hope
to tracking down a Nineteenth Century Hui leader, in
The victory massacre which the imperial army inflicted on Dali was ruthless. Only a few Hui families survived, by escaping into the surrounding Buddhist-Bai territory. Nine Muslim families escaped to Shihpang, a Bai-Buddhist village at the northern end of the Dali Plain. They adopted local Bai dress. They intermarried with their Buddhist neighbors, and by this method they gradually converted the entire village to Islam. All the people in the village, now that they are Muslims, think of themselves as Bai Muslims whose ancestors have come from elsewhere.
We climb the minaret of the mosque and look down on the village. We stroll through the village and see those who go to work in the fields. We are invited into houses and court yards to watch those who do the chores. Portions of this bear will some day be used as medicine.
By courtesy of the village government, one family was paid to cook a meal for us. This cow-tail seems especially fascinating. Its evolutionary history is obvious. Humankind domesticated cattle. Cattle attracted flies. Humans observed how cows chase away flies with cow-tails. It was cows who taught them. After the meal, the men of the village gather to pray at the mosque. Only the men go inside.
Attracted to the portico of the mosque by the presence of a foreigner, women and children gather outside. The roles of male and female, in Bai Hui society, are well displayed in these scenes.
A few last
points of information, and many handshakes, and it is time to say goodbye to
these Muslims at the
Guangxi
In this part
of the
This camel came from a faraway desert. It is one of three that together came. The two others continued walking. One remained on the bank of Li River, and the other went back to its desert home. This one enjoyed hearing nice prayers, five times a day here in the mosque. This one was attracted, and stayed.
As a matter of fact, there are many camels resting alongside this river.
In the city
of
Foreigners
who come to
We are in
We conclude
this program with a moment in
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