chinese moslemism

the name of islam is derived from the word”salam” with the connotation of”peace which comes by surrendering to god”. islam was founded by the arab prophet, mohammed. for people of islamic faith, there is only one god, allah. the name derives from joining “al”, which means”god”.

islam was officially introduced into china in 651 a.d. by arabian envoys to emperor gao zong of the tang dynasty. throughout the tang(618-907) and song(960-1279) dynasties, many arab and persian merchants of islamic faith came over land to northern china by way of the “silk road” and by sea to quanzhou and other ports on southeast china. some mosques were built in china by these merchants.

moslems pray five times daily: at dawn, at noon, in the afternoon, in the evening, and at nightfall. a crier, or muezzin, announces the prayer time. the worshipers ceremonially wash their faces, hands, and feet in the bath area immediately before praying. the prayers generally consist of reciting passages from the koran and other phrases of praise to god.

the islamic festivals observed in china are, mainly, those od lesser bairam, korban bairam and mohammed’s birthday. lesser bairam, held on the first day of the tenth month of the moslem calendar immediately after the month of fasting, is a highly festive day with sumptuous meals because no islamite is allowed to eat between dawn and sunset during the precios month of fasting called ramdam. korban bairam has its origins in ancient arabic mythology as a day of sacrifice. the prophet abaham was told by allah on the tenth say of the twelfth month of the islamic calendar to kill his son ishmael. he was going to execute this order when he was moslems offer a sacrifice of sheep. mohammed’s bithday is also his death anniversary, for he is believed to have died on the twelfth day of the third month in the islamic calendar.

chinese moslems live mostly in the areas of the xinjiang uygur autonomouse region, ningxia hui autonomouse region and four autonomous prefectures and thirteen autonomous counties in other parts of china.