The Sinification of Islam :: “爱国才是爱教最高的信仰。”

News headlines are never pleasant. What's going on in China is particularly grating to me, especially the incumbent government's treatment of religion in the country, the imprisonment of the Uyghur Muslims, as well as the long-standing persecution of Tibetan Buddhists. 

In 2018, the party line is "历史证明，坚持中国化方向，是所有中国宗教生存发展的基本趋势和规律。"

Vivian Wang's 'Behind a Rare Clash, a Fight Over Faith in China' published in The New York Times on June 8, 2023 took a look at the recent clashes in Nagu, Shadian over the forced demolition of minarets of the 13th century Najiaying Mosque. (纳家营清真寺位于中国云南省通海县纳古镇、纳家营村忠训路76号.) 

The biggest clash occurred on the morning of May 27, 2023, when construction cranes were driven into the mosque's grounds. Riot police and the residents got into a major skirmish. (Other news coverage of the clashes reported here, here and here.)

Of all the places in China, I love Yunnan and her food best. Living in multi-racial Singapore and knowing Muslim faith and its tenets allowed me to ease into the minority races' way of life and their food, making my stomach very happy. But in the recent years, what's whispered of the persecution of minority races and their religions is horrifying. China is powerful enough to close her doors to unwelcomed visitors to these regions and probably put us in detention if we try to question the policies or actions. The pandemic years were lost to us and a boon to the Chinese government enacting their internal policies and there's nothing much anyone can say about it.

Since China’s leader, Xi Jinping, rose to power more than a decade ago, the party has torn down Christian churches, razed Tibetan Buddhist enclaves and put Uyghur Muslims in internment camps in the name of political security. But it has also gone after lesser-known groups, including the Hui, who make up less than 1 percent of the population and have historically assimilated well with the ethnic Han majority. 

The party has systematically closed, demolished or forcibly redesigned mosques in Hui enclaves across the country, condemning Arabic architectural features, such as domes and minarets, as proof of unwanted foreign influence over Islam in China. Resistance has been limited, and the mosque in Nagu, along with another large one in the nearby town of Shadian, is among the last major ones with such architecture still standing in China.

I've visited both the Najiaying Mosque in Nagu and the Grand Mosque in Shadian (云南省沙甸的大清真寺), and it's beautiful. To think that it's set to be demolished into an ugly, faceless and characterless concrete building is a little heartbreaking. History is always written by winners. So is architecture. Humans seem to have this penchant for buildings to reflect the current trends and political winds.

So am I just being swayed by 'western media' and the 'western propaganda'? I doubt it. How much of these news are fake? Sure, I depend on a few platforms to filter out news, but by and large, the persecution is real, and is continued. These video clips getting out of Chinese social media accounts are pretty real. This official stance will probably be on banners everywhere and uttered by any Party member and official sorting out Islamic affairs in Chinese provinces.

坚持伊斯兰教中国化方向，必须高举爱国爱教伟大旗帜，同心同力实现中华民族伟大复兴的中国梦。

Beijing is on a literal warpath to sinicize Islam / “坚持伊斯兰教中国化方向”. In 2018, it came up with a five-year-plan, that's been extended and expanded. Wow. It's bulldozing its way through. The Chinese government seems to view all religions as bad. What's the best? Money? The cult of communism? To be patriotic?

Mr. Li insisted that officials were not interfering with religious freedom, and that the plan would proceed only with locals’ assent.

He added: “Patriotism is the highest form of religious belief.” 

Back in Nagu, the cranes still sat in the mosque courtyard several days after the clash. The demolition was likely inevitable, said Mr. Na, the Hui resident. But he hoped residents would be allowed to hold on to other freedoms that they were not willing to compromise. For him, that included the right to pass his religion onto his children. 

“If you can’t guard your bottom line, then others will see you as someone without a bottom line,” he said, “and they’ll trample over it again and again.”