As
I previously discussed the problem with the predominant religious
schools in Indonesia, namely, Nahdatul Ulama (NU) and the so-called
Muhammadiyyah (schools generally characterized by modernism,
liberalism, pluralism and feminism) here I shall discuss the problem
with one of the dominant religious schools in China, the Gedimu. The
name is derived from the Arabic word Qadim meaning ancient or old,
meant to signify its adherence to the old teaching and to tradition.
This school is the established one among the Hui Muslims of China.
Alhamdulillah that the overwhelming majority of Muslims in China,
across the various ethnic groups such as the Hui, Uyghurs, Kazakhs,
Dongxiang and some other Turkic populations are Sunni and Hanafi.
Muslims in China have a rich and glorious history, and today it is
estimated there are anywhere between twenty and forty million Muslims
in the country. The Gedimu are likewise adherents of the Sunni
doctrine and the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. However, their
practice of Islam is heavily tempered by Sinicism, meaning Han
Chinese culture. One of the worst problems with the Gedimu is their
pronouncing Arabic according to the jingtang jiaoyu method, in which
Arabic including Quran recitation is heavily Sinicized. A Muslim who
visits China and goes to a Gedimu Mosque for the Salah may be shocked
to discover how the Adhan, Iqamah and Quran are recited, with
undeniable distortion. The Gedimu refuse to reform their grievous
error in this regard.
It
is somewhat understandable why the practice of Islam in China,
especially among the Gedimu school adherents in the Hui community,
has suffered such deviations from normative and mainstream Sunni
Islam. Being on the periphery of the Muslim World, and often cut off
from Muslim heartland, this isolation adversely affected their
practice and understanding of Islam. The situation is made worse by
the pressure upon Muslims during the Maoist era, and at present when
the authoritarian State under Xi Jinping is fanatically dedicated to
Sinicizing the practice of all foreign religions especially Islam
which is perceived as the greatest threat. If there is any example of
religious persecution in the world today it is the persecution of
Islam in China. Yet Muslims must strive to preserve their Faith and
identity, and resist cultural assimilation. In China, one of the main
battlegrounds in the culture war is diet. Muslims are often ridiculed
about their refraining from pork and alcohol, and for fasting during
Ramadan. Pork consumption is higher in China than anywhere else in
the world, where it is a huge component of the culture. Other Islamic
practices such as veiling, gender segregation, circumcision and
ceasing work to attend the Jumu’ah worship are increasingly under
threat in China. It is feared that such a compromising and Sinophilic
school as the Gedimu is ill equipped to preach against and inspire
resistance to the State’s policy of forced assimilation of the
Muslims. Aside from the Gedimu, the Yihewani school, and the various
Sufi orders, while they are superior to the Gedimu, do not inspire
much confidence either in being the focal point of resistance to
cultural assimilation.
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