Sitting around the table, the Wong (not their real name) family
laughs and talks, teasing each other as their elderly mother brings a dish of
noodles from the kitchen.
Chopsticks then fly, diving into the steaming hot bowl.
Sitting around the table, the Wong (not their real name) family
laughs and talks, teasing each other as their elderly mother brings a dish of
noodles from the kitchen.
Chopsticks then fly, diving into the steaming hot bowl.
Off to the side sits the father of the house, smiling and reveling
in the joy of children and grandchildren. He listens to the chatter as he strokes
his long, gray beard.
He is blessed to have such a family. All three of his daughters
are married, as well as his three sons. All have jobs – hard to come by
in this part of China.
The rotund father glances at the clock and rises. He nudges
his eldest son and then disappears. The son grabs his hat and rushes out the
door.
A few doors away, a young Chinese man steps up to a microphone.
He belts out a guttural song much different than the karaoke his peers perform
just down the street. This song is not Chinese hip-hop, but an Arabic call to
prayer.
The freshly-scrubbed father appears and turns west with the
other old men, facing the very distant city of Mecca. As the last notes of the
song disappear, the eldest son enters the mosque to lead hundreds of men in
the third prayer of the day.
From all appearances, the Wong family looks like millions of
other families in China. But peel back the Chinese appearance, and one finds
the same Muslim devotion expressed in other parts of the world.
More than 22 million Muslims live in China. The religion came
to this large country more than a thousand years ago, through Mongolia, Arabia,
Persia and Turkey, along the famous Silk Road and spice route. Amazingly, Islam
is a recognized religion by the Chinese communist government.
Most Chinese practice Islam in a more relaxed manner than adherents
in the Middle East. The Quran is their holy book, but most cannot read the Arabic
in which it is written. And in several mosques, men and women are allowed to
pray together in the same prayer hall.
However, despite the lax approach to a usually rigid religion,
there is a strong cultural tie to Islam among the Chinese people. Indeed, Christian
researchers say this bond is the main barrier keeping Chinese Muslims from coming
to Christ.
Many bear traditional Muslim names. Young people marry only
within the Muslim community, keeping the family ties to the religion strong.
Even the communist governments approach helps strengthen the bond. No
one wants to betray his or her religion or minority group.
According to Chinese Muslim culture, true religion is left
mainly to the old men and women of the community. Young families first must
earn a living.
Normally, adults in their 40s, 50s and 60s spend their time
praying and following the other rigors of Islam. They learn the Quran at special
adult night schools. Most were unable to study Islam as youngsters. Now, children
learn the ways of Islam in a six-week course during their summer break from
school.
Wong smiles as his son-in-law speaks of being young and his
responsibilities. He remembers the years he worked in a factory to provide for
his children. Now, he spends his time working on eternity. Five times a day
he shuffles from his home to pray in the mosque with the other old men, all
in hopes of making up for lost time and pleasing Allah.
At home, he pores over books about Islam in his eldest sons
– Mohammed (not his real name) – library. The 42-year-old son is an
imam at the local mosque. He studied Islam at a university in the Middle East.
All he has known is the ways of Islam, and he wants to help others know the
way to Allah.
Mohammed served as a Muslim missionary in Southeast Asia for
several years before settling back home with his parents. He now spends his
days translating Arabic books into Chinese. Very few speak Arabic, and those
who can are highly revered. He is working on his sixth book.
“My father first took me to prayers when I was 10 years
old,” Mohammed says. “My father taught me about Islam as his father
taught him, and my grandfathers father taught him.
“We are Chinese, but we are Muslim first,” the imam
says, reaching into his fathers desk for a dusty, old book. The rice-paper
pages crack and pop ever so slightly as he turns them.
“Here, this is the Quran handed down from generation to generation in
my family,” he says proudly. “It is handwritten and more than 500
years old. See? We have been and will always be Muslim.”