As many as 20,000 Muslims enter this Chinese mosque for Friday prayers. | MCT Campus
University of Hawaii at Manua professor James D. Frankel visited San Diego State on Tuesday to lecture about a special topic: Chinese Islam.
While many might think it uncommon to use the words “Chinese” and “Islam” together, Frankel is considered an expert in the subject.
“When people find out that there are Muslims in China they wonder how many, and the answer could be 20 million to 200 million,” Frankel said laughingly. “This is a controversial figure because it’s hard to count.”
Although counting the number of Muslims is difficult in a country such as China, which has a population of 1.4 billion, experts suspect there may be more than 100 million Muslims in China, according to Frankel.
The lecture explained the history of how the Hui people, one of many Chinese Muslim groups, have historically adapted to Chinese and Muslim culture simultaneously.
The ancient Silk Road, which connected the Mediterranean region to China, brought Muslim traders to the heart of the Chinese Empire for economic reasons rather than religious, Frankel explained.
“The Muslims started to speak exclusively Chinese. Arab, Turkish and Persian men married Chinese women and their children were bilingual, but eventually the use of foreign Islamic languages diminished,” Frankel said.
One characteristic distinguishing the Chinese Muslims from the rest of the population the most is that many do not eat pork. This is one of the reasons why the Han people, who constitute 90 percent of the population, don’t know much about the Chinese Muslims, according to Frankel.
“The Muslims don’t eat pork and therefore cannot go to a Han Chinese home and have, for example, dinner with them because of the fear of being contaminated by the pork meat,” he said.
Frankel said the Han look down on the Chinese Muslims in a general sense because they know very little about them. The differences between the two groups causes prejudice, according to Frankel.
“When I lived in Beijing, I took a cab from a mosque and the cab driver asked, ‘What are you doing at a mosque? Why would you be interested in them they’re so weird,’” Frankel said.
The amazing thing is that the Muslims in China are like the Muslims everywhere else, i.e., attempting to force their barbaric 7th century religion upon everyone else.
To wit:
Muslims kill Buddhists in southern Thailand because they tell us that land belongs to them.
Muslims kill blacks in Sudan because they tell us that land belongs to Islam.
Muslims kill the last of the Hindus in Pakistan because they tell us that land belongs to Islam.
Muslims kill Russians in the Caucus region because they tell us that land belongs to Islam.
Muslims kill Christians and animists in Nigeria because they tell us that land belongs to Islam.
Muslims kill Jews whenver they can in Israel because they tell us that land belongs to Islam.
Muslims kill Armenians in Armenia because they tell us that land belongs to Islam.
Muslims kill Cypriots in Cyprus because they tell us that land belongs to Islam.
Muslims kill Kurds in Turkey, Iraq and Iran because the Kurds are on Islam’s land.
Muslims kill Copts and Chladeans and Assyrians and Bahias and Zoroastrians throughout the Middle East and northern Africa because these non-Muslims are on Islam’s land.
AND, Muslims kill Chinese in China because they tell us that land belongs to Islam.
Isn’t it clear as day? All lands belong to Islam and we are mere players on THEIR stage.
Hmmm! The last or only? comment on this article concerning Muslims in China is a bit strong, and from my point of view also quite strange. Firstly from a logic point of view, what is the connection with Chinese Muslims and the long list of things in the reply? The response gives no explanation nor evidence for this statement: “Muslims kill Chinese in China because they tell us that land belongs to Islam. ”
Also, who is ‘us’? Is the writer Han Chinese? Please identify yourself and then supply us with any evidence of your claims concerning Muslims in China eg not other countries. Muslims outside of Chine have very little connection to this story unless you really have some thing to convince ‘us’ – fellow Aztec readers.
I will add just one other thing for fellow Aztec readers to contemplate at this point: Many Han Chinese collect small amounts of money from the PRC government to twist and subvert certain facts that appear on the internet. Search “Wu Mao (5 cent) Army” on the web for details.
Despite the good use of English grammar, this commenter clearly has an axe to grind. I’m not sure what it is, but whatever the reason, the comments are not supported by any evidence and should be discounted accordingly.
Sorry, one final comment: It is my opinion that this posting also borders on hate speech and should be reviewed for possible removal from the ‘market place of ideas.’
Let me clarify.
What I wrote above is mostly true and certainly true to the degree that it matters.
Islamists ARE killing non-Muslims in every country I mentioned. Though they may not publicly state the reasons why they are doing it, i.e., they may not say, “It is because all lands belong to Islam.” In this regard there was certainly some literary license used in my earlier comment, but this does not mean the message was anything but the truth.
Islamists do not have to verbalize why they do these things for the Qur’an and Hadiths make it clear why, and as devout Muslims these Islamists are simply following their holy books’ instructions.
When truth becomes hate speech then we are all in for a world of hurt.
Thank you ‘Arafat’ for the partial fine tuning of your previous statements. It makes it easier to follow your opinions, and I respect your right to have your opinions with these clarifications. And I still feel the only connection to this news article hasn’t been addressed:
The response gives no explanation nor evidence for this statement: “Muslims kill Chinese in China because they tell us that land belongs to Islam. ”
I will now point out that I currently live in China and have a long history with this country that goes back to 1983. It is an incredibly complex part of the world that is changing faster than almost anyone can keep up with. I won’t bother even trying to give what facts I know about China’s Muslims since it will just be a drop in the bucket.
What I will say is that in all my time in China or following its changes, I have never come across any evidence to your still wide and unsubstantiated claim. In fact, one merely has to google China & Muslims to find recent & valid news stories with the complete opposite facts.
I encourage anyone to do some research on this to educate themselves.
Arafat is right.. the proof in on the news every day