Muslims in Western China: Uighur People - Coursework Example

Student’s Name Professor’s Name Course Name 10th November 2012 Muslims in Western China: “Uighur People” Introduction: The main focus of this assignment is on providing a critical analysis into the manner in which the Muslims in the western part of China correlate and relate with communities as well as the government at large. It should be noted that most of the Muslims in the western part of China are the Uighur’s people. Thus, this paper takes to expounding on their way of life, the challenges they face as well as the manner in which they depict their respective religion. In the initial section, the assignment provides a background history of these people. Background History of Uighur People: The history of the Uyghur people is fairer expounded in four distinctive phases which are the pre-imperial, imperial, Idiqut as well as the Mongol. In the course of AD 840, the Uighur people made a decision to relocate from Mongolia to the present land of Tarim Basin. In that case, they took to incorporating the Indo-European people who were forced out of the region by Xionghou. It should be noted that the group had originated from the Turkic where they were majorly pastoralists (MacKerras 224). These pastoralists camped in the lower valleys of Lake Baikal and along the shores of the Yenisei River. In the course of AD 840, these people experienced immense levels of famine as well as civil war which forced them out of the Turkic basin by the Kirghiz (Westerlund 197). Notwithstanding, the Uighur people had to move to the western part of china: specifically, to the region of Xinjiang which is their sovereign section of the country. Currently, there are about 6.3 million people in Ningxia with Hui and the other majority groups also constituting a larger proportion of the tabulated figure (Westerlund 197). Genetically, the Uighur people are related to both the European and Indians. Their appearance resembles people in the Eurasia region. In terms of education, the Uighur are pro-educationists and the most notable feature about them is that, unlike other Muslim communities such as the Hui, they advocate for coeducation which refers to the mixture of boys and girls in their respective education institution. However, just like their Muslim counterparts: the Hui, they restrict the manner in which their women are involved in public life. Taking a closer look at their way of life, it is safe to indicate that these people relied mainly on their traditional medicines given the fact they engaged their medicine men into finding more of the herbs which were later used in curing diseases. In the course of diagnosis, these people used old and traditional methodologies of checking up with the pulse disease symptoms as well as immediate diagnosis (Westerlund 197). vg. Religion and the Different Perceptions: The Uighur people are Muslims and together with their neighbors: Hui, they form the larger population of the religion in the western parts of China. Islam as a religion in the region was introduced by both the descendants of Arab as well as their Persian counterpart businessmen who had been attracted to the region by the ancient Silk Road business course. Upon reaching the region in the 7th century, these immigrants opted to camp and thus deepen their roots in the region. Most notably, the group brought with them Islamic principles which were later passed to the founding settlers: Hui and Uighur. It should be noted that most of the Islamic population in the region is filled with about 20 million Hui Muslims plus another substantial figure covering the Uighur Muslim population. It should also be noted that Muslims in the region had been subjected to immense levels of persecution especially in the region of Ningxia in the course of Mao Zedong’s Cultural uprising which happened in the period between 1960 and 1970 s. However, on a positive note, the religion seems to be taking deeper root in the region as it is perceived to be flourishing even more as the period progresses. Statistically, there are about 400 mosques in the region with over than 7,000 Muslim imams. Unlike their Hui counterparts, Muslims of Uighur origins are perceived as having faced immense levels of confinements as well as suppression. This is because of the friendly nature of the Hui people as compared to them. In terms of politics and religious freedom, the Hui also enjoys these benefits since their historical background depict positive relations with the surrounding ethnic majorities, which are, Han. This relation is established to be the core difference of the overall relationship created between the Uighur and the surrounding environment. Culturally, the Han and the Hui have merged effortlessly while the Uighur exhibit separation notion making it challenging for them to receive support and freedom they desire. Despite the fact that the government has tried so hard to support the Islamic in the region through establishment of religion-training seminars and workshops, the Uighur are perceived to have always forgone the initiative instead separating their activities from the rest of their Muslim colleagues. In the region, Islam plays a vital role in providing formidable grounds for positive growth and development. For instance, this region has experienced intense levels of economical hard times which have been marred with impoverishments and lack of resources. However, due to its strong Muslim base, the area has reclaimed its lost economy stand through ties created to both Arab and other Muslim countries. Ningxia has been revived to its lost glory through the help of the Hui Muslims while their counterparts Uighur reclaimed silenced introspective in that matter. Sections of the growth and positive development initiated by this relationship with the Muslim world are the increase in food production in the Halal food sector to astonishing $ 700 million revenue full-cycle in any particular year and the positive increment in the GDP of the area which attained a US $ 33 billion mark with an annual projective increase of 12 %. In that case, people living in Ningxia have been perceived to be exhibiting a positive improvement in their lifestyle as matters pertaining to discrimination and suppression are not directed to the majority of the people except the Uighur. The Oppression Muslim Experienced by the Muslim Uyghur: In the western section of the Xinjiang province, the Uighur people have continued to face immense levels of suppression and discrimination from the government of China. However, this is not the case with their Hui counterpart who has been involved directly with the government religious freedom as well as initiative programs in that case. This is partly because of the assumption put forth by the government statistics portraying the Uighur people as having had a difficult time incorporating with the people close to them. Mostly, the deficit witnessed in the course of interaction of this group to their neighbors is largely because of the barriers attributed to the difference in language spoken (Aljazeera.Com 1). Their immediate neighbors: Han and Hui speak fluent Mandarin while the Uyghur speak Turkic which is considered to be their own dialect and write of Arabic. Thus, it is assumed that their persistent desire to embrace self-independence and sufficiency reflects on the manner in which the government as well as the community treats them: with suppression and discrimination in that matter. Unlike the Muslim Hans, the Uighur are perceived as having extremist’s manner of conducting their activities. This is reflected by their persistent move to defect from China and form their own country. This creates, by a larger extent, conflicting situations and thus relationship with not only the government but also the surrounding communities since the idea of secession is perceived to be an issue threatening the security of the country as a whole. In addition to this, it is considered that the government’s move to allow the Muslim Han and not the Uighur move to the west part of the country developed into a source of conflict for resurgence of the Uighur’s call for secession from the larger China (Henders 135). The fundamental fact that the government has over a substantial period of time refused permission for Uighur to practice Islam as well as overlooking their demographic needs as the cause of tension between them and their neighbors. This is because of the support Han receive from the government in terms of population growth. Statistically, the population of Han has nearly than tripled to 40 % since 1949 to reach 2.2 million people while their counterpart Muslim Uighur’s population has remained stagnant. In that case, the two groups have been in constant conflicts over scarce jobs and resources (Henders 135). Some of the aftermath of this neglect and discrimination towards the Uighur has resorted to eruption of violence. For instance, in 2009, there were riots which were reported in the Xinjiang regional headquarters: Urumqi, which left about 200 both Han and Uighur dead. This was as a result of the Chinese government crackdown on such extremists. It should be noted that the exercise continues to take place till date (Aljazeera.Com 1). It is considered to be unfair that while China’s administrative headquarters: Beijing live up with the practicing of Islam among the Uighur, Xinjiang has not taken the initiative of giving it a pass given the fact that 18 year-olds are limited from practicing Islamic principles. Statistically, there about thousand of the age-set Muslims belonging to the Uighur people who get arrested for practicing such illegal Islamic activities as reading religious texts as well as celebrating Islamic holidays in public. This is perceived as religious suppression of the rather minority group. In the course of Ramadan, Islam holy month, there were government directives put forth to discourage Muslims, particularly of the Uighur origin, from avoiding fasting and the ban was meant to cover all students as well as civil servants since it was perceived that they were prone to engage in extremists behaviors. The Future of the Muslim Uighur People: Since the Uighur people have continued to hold onto their desire to secede from China, Beijing has termed it as a terrorist group who are linked to Taliban’s sympathizers. The government has continued to conduct crackdowns on the Muslim Uighur given the fact that initiative created by the Government is termed to be acting in counter-terrorism as well as anti-separatism alerts. Nowadays, the government has taken to high-degree of oppression so that limitation is put in the course of vetting imams as well as going to the extension of closing mosques to massive executions (Gladney 195). Reports say, that the government crackdown has continued to detain people particularly of the Uighur origins on the claim that they were practicing extremist Muslim. With the large influx of the Han Chinese in Xinjiang, the move has created intense pressure given the fact that Uighur perceive it to be a threat to the marginalization of their respective interests as well as fundamental cultures. On a serious note, the government has continued to kill and detain Uighur hence leaving their respective families in an unknowing position about their relatives and close friends (Henders 135). Conclusion: To sum up, it is safe to indicate that the Uighur people have continued to experience persistent repression as well as discrimination in respect to their religion. There has been a vulnerable situation created by the idea of secession by the group which has created more tension to communities within their vicinities. In that case, the Uighur are not in a positive relationship with both the government as well as the neighboring communities since they are considered to be a threat to security. Works Cited Aljazeera.Com. The harsh reality of China’s Muslim Divide: The Muslim Hui people have Assimilated harmoniously with the Han majority, while Uighurs in the west have not, 2012, Retrieved on 7th November 2012 from http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/10/201210493210185606.html Gladney, Dru. Dislocating China: Reflections on Muslims, Minorities, and Other Subaltern Subjects. 2004, Hurst Publishers. p. 195 Henders, Susan. Democratization and Identity: Regimes and Ethnicity in East and Southeast Asia. 2006, Lexington Books. p. 135 MacKerras Colin. The Uighur Empire According to the T'ang Dynasty Histories, Australian National University, 1972, p. 224 Westerlund, Ingvar Svanberg. Islam outside the Arab World. 1999, Palgrave Macmillan. p. 197 Read More

vg. Religion and the Different Perceptions: The Uighur people are Muslims and together with their neighbors: Hui, they form the larger population of the religion in the western parts of China. Islam as a religion in the region was introduced by both the descendants of Arab as well as their Persian counterpart businessmen who had been attracted to the region by the ancient Silk Road business course. Upon reaching the region in the 7th century, these immigrants opted to camp and thus deepen their roots in the region.

Most notably, the group brought with them Islamic principles which were later passed to the founding settlers: Hui and Uighur. It should be noted that most of the Islamic population in the region is filled with about 20 million Hui Muslims plus another substantial figure covering the Uighur Muslim population. It should also be noted that Muslims in the region had been subjected to immense levels of persecution especially in the region of Ningxia in the course of Mao Zedong’s Cultural uprising which happened in the period between 1960 and 1970 s.

However, on a positive note, the religion seems to be taking deeper root in the region as it is perceived to be flourishing even more as the period progresses. Statistically, there are about 400 mosques in the region with over than 7,000 Muslim imams. Unlike their Hui counterparts, Muslims of Uighur origins are perceived as having faced immense levels of confinements as well as suppression. This is because of the friendly nature of the Hui people as compared to them. In terms of politics and religious freedom, the Hui also enjoys these benefits since their historical background depict positive relations with the surrounding ethnic majorities, which are, Han.

This relation is established to be the core difference of the overall relationship created between the Uighur and the surrounding environment. Culturally, the Han and the Hui have merged effortlessly while the Uighur exhibit separation notion making it challenging for them to receive support and freedom they desire. Despite the fact that the government has tried so hard to support the Islamic in the region through establishment of religion-training seminars and workshops, the Uighur are perceived to have always forgone the initiative instead separating their activities from the rest of their Muslim colleagues.

In the region, Islam plays a vital role in providing formidable grounds for positive growth and development. For instance, this region has experienced intense levels of economical hard times which have been marred with impoverishments and lack of resources. However, due to its strong Muslim base, the area has reclaimed its lost economy stand through ties created to both Arab and other Muslim countries. Ningxia has been revived to its lost glory through the help of the Hui Muslims while their counterparts Uighur reclaimed silenced introspective in that matter.

Sections of the growth and positive development initiated by this relationship with the Muslim world are the increase in food production in the Halal food sector to astonishing $ 700 million revenue full-cycle in any particular year and the positive increment in the GDP of the area which attained a US $ 33 billion mark with an annual projective increase of 12 %. In that case, people living in Ningxia have been perceived to be exhibiting a positive improvement in their lifestyle as matters pertaining to discrimination and suppression are not directed to the majority of the people except the Uighur.

The Oppression Muslim Experienced by the Muslim Uyghur: In the western section of the Xinjiang province, the Uighur people have continued to face immense levels of suppression and discrimination from the government of China. However, this is not the case with their Hui counterpart who has been involved directly with the government religious freedom as well as initiative programs in that case. This is partly because of the assumption put forth by the government statistics portraying the Uighur people as having had a difficult time incorporating with the people close to them.

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