With only 60,000 believers in Taiwan, Islam is a minor religion here. Muslims quietly endure the stereotypes and distorted views others have about them, rarely striking back. But they persevere with their beliefs, passing them on from generation to generation.
Of the world's main religions, probably none is as poorly understood as Islam.
"The Qur'an in one hand, a sword in the other." Warlike. Supportive of terrorism. Discriminatory against women, backward, obscure, antagonistic to non-believers. . . . The many stereotypes people have of Islam often leave Taiwan's small community of Muslims feeling wronged.
Here comes that Muslim kid!
Shen Hsia-huai (whose Islamic name is Hamad Abdullah Shen), an engineer at Taipower, produced the first vernacular translation of the Qur'an aimed at reaching the general public in Taiwan (it was published just at the beginning of this year). He recalls that when he was a child in school in Nanjing, his classmates called him "that Muslim kid." That was not so bad. But in middle school in Taiwan his classmates were even worse. Sometimes they snuck pork into his lunchbox, and insulted Islam by playing on the similarity between the Mandarin word for Muslim and a lewd expression in Taiwanese. Even now he feels sad when he recalls that period.
The meaning of the word "Islam" is "obedience." It is an extension from the Arabic word "Salam," which means "peace." It suggests: "If mankind were to obey the guidance of the Creator Allah, we would become one harmonious society and achieve world peace." Its name reveals a strict doctrine: Obedience to the one true God. The name of the religion derives from its fundamental spirit, rather than (as with, say, Christianity) from the name of its founder.
After coming to China and being sinicized, Islam was translated into Chinese as "Qingzhen" (qing meaning "clear, pure," zhen meaning "true"). It indicates purity and simplicity, and comes from an ancient text that reads: "If you are pure and true and without desires, nothing can change you." This term is one that derives directly from the Muslim lifestyle. Mosques are called "pure and true temples" in Chinese, while Muslim eateries are known as "pure and true restaurants."
For a long time historians have seen West Asia as being the cradle of monotheistic religions. The three major monotheistic religions originated there, with Islam being the most recent. As Pope John Paul II has stated, "Because of monotheism, we are actually very close to believers in Allah." Shen Hsia-huai goes further, seeing Islam, Judaism, and Christianity as three brothers, though it is sad that they are not very compatible brothers.
"Stop, thief!"
In the mainly Christian West, the media often equates Muslims with "fundamentalists" or "terrorists." Many Muslims are perturbed at this.
"It's like a thief shouting 'stop, thief!'," says Shen Hsia-huai, whose new translation of the Qur'an is called Pure and True River. For example, he says, just look at the Christian invasion of the Holy Land in the Middle Ages-tellingly known as "Crusades" in the West-when Christian "holy warriors" set out to eradicate their version of the "evil empire." Yet these days it is always the Muslims who are portrayed as warlike.
Flip through a history of the growth of the Islamic empire: While Muslims conquerors certainly sought land and resources, they were tolerant toward the religious beliefs of their new subjects. Rather than compelling their new subjects to become Muslims, they just offered incentives instead. For example, tax preferences were given to induce residents of newly conquered areas to accept Islam.
It is true that the initial spread of Islam occurred in the wake of conquering armies, with virtually everyone in the areas taken by Muslim rulers, including Central and West Asia, converting to the faith. (Today, in countries like Pakistan and Indonesia, over 90% of the population are Muslims.) However, though many people may originally have converted out of convenience, argues Lin Chang-kuan, an historian specializing in the development of Islam in China, Islam has remained attractive to people by virtue of the clean and well-regulated lifestyle, its emphasis on family and on equality, and its moral code, which is not connected to superstitious beliefs.
The key point is that Islam is not inherently aggressive toward non-believers. "Mohammed certainly did not teach people to act with a sword in one hand and the Qur'an in the other, or say that those who obeyed would prosper while those who didn't would die," says Haj Ishag Ma Shiao-chi, a staff member at the CMA who spent ten years in Libya studying sociology. Mohammed once said, in fact, "Whoever mistreats those who do not believe in Islam mistreats me!"
Ting Wei-tzu, though without any particular religious beliefs of his own, was posted to Saudi Arabia and Jordan, and because of his deep connections has been for many years the secretary-general of the Sino-Arabian Association. He says, "The Qur'an only became available 100 years after Mohammed's death. So how could people think of Mohammed as having 'the Qur'an in one hand, a sword in the other.' People really have such a deep misunderstanding of Islam!"
I divorce thee!
Misunderstanding of Islam is not limited to history; there are many misconceptions non-Muslims have about the Islamic rules of daily life that leave Muslims amused, or even angry.
A number of years ago, a popular English-language weekly had on its cover: "I divorce thee! I divorce thee! I divorce thee!" Many people believe that every Muslim in the Arab world has four wives. It is also commonly believed that for a divorce, the husband need only say three times to his wife, "I divorce thee!" and the wife is sadly swept out the door.
Haj Ishag Ma Shiao-chi can't help but get a little annoyed: "What is this nonsense? If our Islam was really this way, would so many people believe in it? Why is it that when a Buddhist or Christian marriage hits the rocks, people just regret the fact that the marriage is in trouble, but when a Muslim wants to get a divorce, it becomes a mark against the whole religion?"
According to informal statistics of the Chinese Muslim Association, which has been established for 60 years, the divorce rate among Muslims is extremely low. Divorce was virtually unknown among the older generation, and there have been very few divorces among the young.
Kerimeh Pai Mei-ling, a traditional Muslim who works in the CMA, says that traditional Islam places great emphasis on the mores of daily life. Muslims are trained from a young age in the rules governing their lives: no smoking, no alcohol, no impure foods. Muslims rarely eat outside of the home, naturally attending few social events, thus avoiding many temptations. Correspondingly, they spend more time at home with their families, so family ties remain close. Moreover, Muslim habits are conservative, so Muslims are less affected by modern trends.
As for Islam allowing four wives, this has its special background. On the Arabian peninsula, Islam had a series of conquests, with many warriors dying on the battlefield. Widows were left without any livelihood, so they were taken as wives to give them refuge. The Qur'an (4:3) states, "And if you fear that you cannot act equitably towards orphans, then marry such women as seem good to you, two and three and four." It is said that Mohammed had more than ten wives, most of them taken under these circumstances.
The current situation is very different from those times. Tien Pao-tai, secretary-general of the Asia-Pacific League for Freedom and Democracy and for many years the ROC Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, says: "Today in Saudi Arabia, though the law permits four wives, few men have actually married four spouses, and most of those that have are royalty or wealthy businessmen. In fact, few people can afford several wives." Thus the Qur'an says, "But if you fear that you will not do justice between them, then marry only one or what your right hands possess; this is more proper, that you may not deviate from the right course." Tien says that this is very pragmatic. Anything you buy for one wife must be bought for all four, with no bias permitted.
The Qur'an
Most people know that Islam was founded by the Prophet Mohammed in the seventh century. It is said that he was born in Mecca, today a holy city. At the age of forty, in a cave located not far from the city, where he often went to meditate, he received instruction directly from a messenger of God. His oral testimony of his experience has since served as the foundation of belief and the standard of behavior. It was later written down by his followers, making up the Qur'an.
At that time there was a complex variety of beliefs in the Arab world. Most people believed in religions that were idolatrous and polytheistic; there were also a small number of Christians and Jews. Mohammed's proselytizing on behalf of a strictly monotheistic faith met with strong opposition. Believers-himself, his wife, his uncle, clansmen, and a small number of poor people-spread the word around Mecca for 13 years. They were harshly repressed by the local authorities. In 622 CE, Mohammed led his followers to Medina. They arrived on a Friday, and Mohammed led them all in giving thanks to God. Thus originated the practice, passed down to today, of Friday worship. The Muslim calendar Year 1 is equivalent to the year 622 in the Christian calendar.
Because Mohammed did not designate a successor, after his death there was a succession problem. The schisms of that era have carried forward to future generations. But they did not stop the expansion of the Muslim empire. In the short space of a century, Arab kingdoms, having accepted Islam, rapidly expanded, spreading Islam to West Asia, North Africa, and parts of southern Europe.
It was in this period that Islam came to China, where the Tang dynasty was in power. Though scholars have not fixed with certainty the time when Islam was introduced to China, there is general agreement that it was around the High Tang, in the middle of the seventh century.
When Islam came to China, unlike in many other places, it did so unconnected to force of arms or territorial control. It came to the flourishing Tang capital, peacefully and naturally, in the wake of Arab traders. The Arab traders did not by any means proselytize, but merely practiced their beliefs themselves. Many settled in China and took Chinese wives, and their offspring became the first native Chinese Muslims.
To China!
Mohammed is said to have remarked: One should go anywhere in search of knowledge, even as far away as China. Scholars have been skeptical that he actually said this, but Muslims in China did in fact absorb much Confucian civilization. Though Muslims were not integrated into mainstream Chinese culture until the late Ming dynasty, the key events happened in the Yuan dynasty.
A Ming history states: "In the Yuan dynasty, the Hui [Muslims] were everywhere." It was in the Yuan dynasty, under Mongol rule, that Islam truly set roots in China and enjoyed an important social position, with the Muslims becoming an important minority people. The Mongols conquered the Muslim peoples of Central Asia even before they completed the destruction of the Song dynasty. They recruited many courageous Muslim warriors and skilled craftsmen into their armies; these were known as Hui forces. (Many were Uighurs; these people were called the Hui in Chinese.) They were very instrumental in the campaign to crush the remnant Southern Song dynasty. Meanwhile, the word Hui came to denote all Muslims in China.
The Mongol empire was huge, and a system of "resettlement garrisons" (with soldiers permanently resettled to new homes) was employed. Hui troops were often left as garrisons, and there arose many Hui villages and camps, traces of which still can be found today. Meanwhile, many Muslims came to China as they undertook seaborne trade in the Tang dynasty and after. Muslim traders concentrated themselves in cities, from Guangzhou in the south through Quan-zhou, Nanjing, Jinan, and Tianjin. A number of impressive mosques were built.
The first Muslims in Taiwan came from Quanzhou, with the earliest records dating back to the late Ming and early Qing. Muslims loyal to the Ming followed Zheng Chenggong to Taiwan, concentrating in the two main port cities, Tanshui and Lukang. It was only recently that the last remains of the Lukang mosque were torn down.
Fans of the novels of Jin Yong probably all know that in one of his books, the main force resisting Yuan tyranny is a group of Chinese said to be of the "Ming religion," which the author says comes from the Persian Gulf region. In the book, several figures, including the great general Chang Yuchun and even Zhu Yuanzhang, who later ascended the throne as the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty, were all followers of this "Ming religion," which probably refers to Islam. It was rumored in later generations that Zhu Yuanzhang and his wife, the Empress Ma, were Muslims. Whatever the truth in this, it is certain that Islam was courteously treated in the Ming dynasty, with the dynastic founder even presenting an imperial decree in praise of followers of Islam.
The Ming replaced Mongol rule, and after Han Chinese had reassumed positions of power, they began a strict program of complete "sinicization" to reassert the dominant position of Han culture.
Muslims were gradually sinified, with the imperial court using various means, such as assigning Muslims Chinese surnames, to integrate them into mainstream society. In the stable society of that time, the number of believers rose greatly.
Ting Wei-tzu, who has studied the development of Islam in China, says that the blending of Islamic and Confucian culture under the Ming was due not only to state policies which pushed in that direction, but also to the overall intellectual setting of that era.
Confucianism in its original form did not discuss matters of the spiritual world; it was, rather, a practical philosophy about patterns of life and governance. It had areas of compatibility with Islamic philosophy and theology. However, after the arrival of Buddhism in China, Confucian scholars in the Song dynasty also developed a cosmology and the theory of tai-ji. At that time discussion of abstract concepts like the laws of the cosmos, natural character, qi, and fate was widespread.
Ming scholars, on the other hand, were unimpressed by all this, and there was a critical counter-trend. One participant in this intellectual movement was the late-Ming Qur'anic scholar Wang Daiyu, a Muslim who was well-versed in the Confucian classics. He argued that Confucianism under the Song was distorted by Buddhist influence. Wang argued that more orthodox, traditional Confucianism deserved to be considered definitive. In a book that he wrote in Chinese to spread knowledge of the Qur'an, he criticized Buddhism from a perspective very similar to that of orthodox Confucianism.
Carrying on this integration of Confucian and Islamic thought were several scholars in the early Qing dynasty, such as Ma Zhu (who declared himself to be a 45th-generation descendent of Mohammed) and Liu Zhi. Starting off with a classical Confucian education, they then turned to explicating Islamic doctrine and writings. "Using Confucianism to explicate Islam" became the mainstream in Islamic writings done in the Chinese language. Virtually all Chinese scholars of Islam came out of orthodox Confucian educations. Even in modern times many leading figures fit this pattern, including Wang Jingzhai, the earliest to translate the Qur'an into Chinese, and Ting Chung-ming, the former head of Chinese Muslims, who has many writings to his credit.
Of course, says Ting Wei-tzu, in practical terms Islam has always been a relatively weak culture in China. It's natural that Muslims would have sought out elements in common with the value system of the mainstream culture.
Confucian-Islamic mix
Chao Hsi-lin, who became the imam at the Taipei mosque in January of this year, suggests that both Confucianism and Islam offer fundamentally, a philosophy of life. The Islamic advocacy of belief in one true God and peaceful coexistence with men is similar to the Confucian precept to "respect Heaven and love mankind." Thus, it has been easy for Muslims to accept the Confucian value system.
However, despite its compatibility with Chinese civilization, Islam in China did not, as it did in so many other places in Asia and Africa, become the major belief system of the land. It has always remained small-scale, and Muslims, with their different lifestyles from Chinese, have been seen as a "marginal group." Why is this?
Shen Hsia-huai, one of the younger generation of Muslim scholars, says that the biggest reason is that Islamic culture matured too early, and was too self-satisfied. It did not actively seek contact with the outside, and there was little development of written doctrinal texts at that time. Thus those outside of Islam had few opportunities to understand it.
In China, Islam was mainly transmitted through families and clans, from generation to generation, with the main responsibility falling to the eldest son. In many respects Islam is, as Chao Hsi-lin put it, a way of life. Thus there is no need for parents to compel or nag their children. Rather, the next generation, under their mothers' warm and gentle guidance from childhood, become familiar with its lifestyle, such as which foods not to eat, the five obligations-pilgrimage, prayers, Salat (worship), fasting, and Zakat (contribution)-and marriage and funeral customs.
Islam in China is passed along naturally through each generation living the religion in daily life. Muslims rarely engage in doctrinal discussions, and very few proselytize as do many Christians, asking people to come to the mosque to hear the "good word," much less passing out leaflets to strangers on the streets to introduce "Allah, the one true God."
Repression under the Qing
Lin Chang-kuan, a professor of Arabic at National Chengchih University and author of The Development of Chinese Islam and Its Activities, argues that there is nothing innately conservative about Chinese Islam that rules out the spread of the religion among Chinese. Instead, he says, the restrained character of Islam in China is a product of severe repression in the Qing dynasty. In the late Qing, Muslims in Yunnan, Gansu, and Qinghai, unable to bear oppression by local officials, rebelled. The Qing court responded with harsh retribution, and Muslims were officially discriminated against and attacked. Naturally they dared not proselytize. They grew ever more cautious in public, even while strengthening their personal fealty to their beliefs.
After the founding of the Republic, Islamic religion and believers were protected under the constitution, and the dark clouds of the past gradually dissipated. But by this time Muslims were no longer upper class and wealthy, enjoying advantages; most were small businessmen or craftsmen with few resources and little education. So there was little chance for a revival of Islam.
After the Communist Party won the Civil War, under the official Communist dogma of atheism, all forms of religion were suppressed. Because Muslims had their own communities and few were "big capitalists," repression was relatively light. In addition, the PRC hoped to win allies among Third World nations, many of which are Muslim, so it dared not be too heavy-handed; thus many Hui villages and neighborhoods remained intact, and transmission of the religion naturally continued. But there were no opportunities for the religion to spread or develop.
Muslims who followed the ROC government to Taiwan, mainly in the military or civil service, ran into their own difficulties. Economically weak, few in number, and scattered across the island, they could not coalesce into a community. It was hard enough for them to keep observing Islamic rules, much less try to persuade others to convert.
Well-regulated lifestyle
How hard was it? Kerimeh Pai Mei-ling, now 50 years old, from Fengshan in Kaohsiung County, recalls that when she was in middle school, every week she had to ride her bicycle to Kaohsiung City to buy beef for her Mom. Not only are Muslims not allowed to eat pork or the meat of other artiodactyls, beef is also forbidden unless slaughtered under the blessing of an imam (this is then called halal beef).
Although the situation Pai faced has improved a great deal, there are still many places in Taiwan with neither mosque nor imam.
Pan Huai-chu, a young Muslim from Hsin-chu, has come all the way to Taipei for the Friday meeting. When you ask about inconvenience, he knows very well what you mean. The main purpose of his trip to Taipei is to buy halal beef for his wife. She is a Muslim from his father's old home, a mainly Islamic village in mainland China, whom Pan was betrothed to by arrangement. It was only with great difficulty that Pan got permission for her to come to Taiwan, but she wanted to go back to China after finding out that you couldn't get halal beef in Hsinchu. Pan thus had to come to Taipei. He cannot but be envious of how convenient everything is for Muslims back in his wife's home village! But he has no intention of giving up his faith just because of a few inconveniences. He feels that, as the oldest son, it is his duty to pass his religion to future generations. He feels this way despite the fact that, except for the restrictions to be observed in daily life, he knows little of Islamic doctrine.
Unlike Pan, Richard S.J. Ko, CEO of the Round Table Professional Conference Organizers, was not born Muslim, but he has come to know much Islamic doctrine. He originally knew nothing of Islam, but in university he majored in Arabic, after which he worked in Jordan and Saudi Arabia for four years. Later, employed in the Information and Protocol Division of the Government Information Office, he met many visitors from the Middle East. Thus he had long experience dealing with Muslims, and felt that he could identify with their lifestyles and values. Through an introduction by his then higher-up, section chief Wang Chen-tai, Ko converted to Islam. And when Ko introduced Islam to his wife, it was not long before she too followed his example.
Ko says that he became a Muslim because he was attracted by the spirit and doctrines of Islam. It has very simple ceremonies. And though the strict lifestyle is sometimes inconvenient, that's all right, because sincerity of belief is most important. Many outsiders see Islam as having many strict rules, and they assume it is highly formalized. In fact, Ko says, in his experience there are few restrictions, and attendance at the Friday meeting is completely up to the individual. However, Ko does not consider himself an especially good Muslim, because he is very busy and has little time for reflection; he hopes to be more strict with himself in the future.
Allah's faithful
It is hard not to be moved by the juma (sabbath day) meeting. It is Friday, and many people have arrived early for the 1:00 pm meeting. Men are downstairs, women upstairs. Some kneel quietly on the ground in prayer, others chat with their neighbors. The process is extremely simple: It begins with the imam chanting in praise of Allah, the one true God. Then the imam speaks briefly on matters of the faith, first making an address in Chinese and then one in Arabic (those who do not understand may consult a translation). After this everyone prostrates themselves five times in praise of Allah. Then the faithful, standing hand in hand by rows, pray. There is again praise of Allah and silent prayer, after which the ceremony is over. The imam encourages everyone who has nothing important to do to stay a while and talk with their brothers and sisters.
The mosque is the center of Islamic life, from birth, through education and maturation, to aging and death. No matter where a Muslim goes, his first act is always to find the local mosque, where all of his needs can be met.
There are currently six mosques in Taiwan, including the main mosque in Taipei, the Taipei Culture mosque, and ones in Taoyuan, Taichung, Kaohsiung, and (only recently completed) Tainan. The imams are mostly younger men with high levels of education, which is a change from the past situation in Taiwan. Many of the faithful believe that these facts suggest that there is much hope for the revival and spread of Islam in China.
Wang Chen-tai, currently director of the International Information Services Department at the GIO, is one of those who holds this view. Muslim by birth, he also spent 12 years altogether in Saudi Arabia. He feels that Islam should actively proselytize, especially in today's soulless society.
In comparison with the recent series of financial scandals surrounding so-called "miracle-workers" and cult leaders in Taiwan, Wang points to the strengths of Islam: It opposes superstition, and does not seek miracles. It does not demand money; there are neither overt rules nor even hints that believers should donate funds; and it emphasizes helping out poor Muslims. Islam places high value on cleanliness, having daily ablutions before prayers, and discouraging eating of unhygienic food outside the home. It stresses equality, with all believers equal before Allah, regardless of race. It also stresses marriage and the family; today, many social problems trace back to the collapse of the family, but most Muslims are self-restrained and maintain harmonious family relationships. Finally-and this is something that many Muslims especially value-the Islamic burial ceremony is very simple. It is believed that men come from dust, and to dust return; the corpse is wrapped in a simple white cloth; there is no need for a coffin. Nor is there wailing, to allow the deceased to peacefully go on their way without anything dragging on them.
The one true God
These customs and beliefs are the reason that most Muslims, despite belonging to a minority religion among Chinese, are filled with faith and pride. Hung Yuan-ming, a Muslim from Taichung, says proudly that Minister of Justice Liao Cheng-hao recently sent high level judicial officers to the Taichung mosque to look into the reason why, with Taiwan's jails filled to overflowing, not one convict is a Muslim.
Wang Chen-tai notes that early on there were factional conflicts, reducing the religion's impact. Fortunately, he says, learned elders like Hsieh Sung-tao and Ting Chung-ming wrote inexhaustibly. Also, because of the importance of diplomatic ties with Islamic countries, the ROC government has strongly supported Muslims. The Taipei mosque, which has been the main spiritual and practical resource for Muslims in Taiwan for many years now, was built with government money in response to strong and far-sighted efforts by Ambassador Yeh Kung-chao. With that difficult era behind them, the new generation of Muslims in Taiwan has plenty of talented people, and the time seems right for a Muslim revival here.
Though the history of Islam in China has not been bloodstained, it has not been an easy road either. Quanzhou Muslims, the first to come to Taiwan, who later grew to total over 30,000, were suppressed by the Qing. The Japanese regime also discouraged Islam, and, in the absence of local imams, the religion withered, completely disappearing over the course of Japan's 50-year rule in Taiwan. The second wave of Muslims came with the ROC government when it fled from mainland China in 1949, so it has also been a period of nearly 50 years since then. The difference is that those with the responsibility for carrying Islam forward are now outstanding people in society, with stronger leadership than in the last generation. It seems as if there has been a return to the flourishing of Islamic culture that occurred in the Ming dynasty, allowing each generation to pass along what they have learned to the next.
The Qur'an says that people often give up hope, but Allah has never given up hope in mankind. Judging from His followers in Taiwan, that hope has not been misplaced.
p.106
Congregational prayers are held every Friday-the juma in Arabic. Although most people have to work on Fridays, devout Muslims still do their best to attend Friday Prayers. The atmosphere is movingly tranquil and solemn.
p.108
The juma meeting begins with the call to prayer. Because of time lags, the meeting starts at different times in different places. In Taipei in March the meeting began at about 1:00 in the afternoon.
p.109
At Friday Prayers men and women pray separately, with the women upstairs. Far fewer women attend than men.
p.111
Young Muslims from Middle Eastern countries generally have their own business to attend to during the week, but Friday Prayers gives them a chance to get together and talk about home.
p.112
The International Beef Shop is the largest halal beef shop in Taipei;
people come from far and wide to shop here.
Compared with Taiwan's contacts with the West, levels of commercial, cultural and tourist exchange with the Middle East are all pitifully low. But this very fact makes the contacts between the individuals involved all the closer, and the annual dinner of the Sino-Arabian Association is always a very lively event.
p.114
Islam has been in China for over a thousand years. When will the Chinese have even a basic understanding of it?
The International Beef Shop is the largest halal beef shop in Taipei; people come from far and wide to shop here.
Compared with Taiwan's contacts with the West, levels of commercial, cultural and tourist exchange with the Middle East are all pitifully low. B ut this very fact makes the contacts between the individuals involved all t he closer, and the annual dinner of the Sino-Arabian Association is always a very lively event.
Islam has been in China for over a thousand years. when will the Chinese have even a basic understanding of it?
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