The Mosques without Men in China
China isn't the heartland of Islam, but it is the ONLY country in the world to have a long history of female imams and independent women’s mosques.
A Controversial Tradition
Women mosques developed throughout central and eastern China among ethnic Hui Muslims like Zhang, a Chinese-speaking ethnic group of 10 million often physically indistinguishable from the majority Han Chinese.
It’s a controversial phenomenon still rare in the world today — by comparison, the first women’s mosque in the United States didn’t open until January 2015. That’s because the idea of an official religious space dedicated exclusively to women, as well as the official recognition of female imams, are considered innovations that change or add to orthodox Islamic practice, and many view such innovations as haram, or forbidden.
The Historical Origin
When Muslims first came to China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), they were honored guests. But during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Chinese Muslims fell out of favor with the authorities and were subject to repression. Under this persecution, the Muslim community had to make the most of its resources to ensure its cultural survival, and hence Muslim women had to help bear the responsibility of transmitting the faith.
So as early as the middle of the 17th century, religious schools especially set up for educating female Muslims emerged. During the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), these schools developed into women-only mosques.
Where are the Women's Mosques?
There is no official data on the number of women-only mosques in China. Professor Shui Jingjun of the Henan Academy of Social Sciences wrote in her book The History of Women's Mosques In Chinese Islam that such mosques first proliferated in China's central plains which include parts of Henan, Hebei, Anhui, Shanxi and Shandong provinces. The Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region also has women-only mosques, but they have not been a traditional part of Islamic practice in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
A Renewing Phase
Students graduate from an Islamic studies course in Sangpo, Henan Province (GETTY IMAGE)
Besides serving as a platform for Muslim women to pray and learn about the religion, women-only mosques now also have a new identity - a platform to forge international communication as women from Arab countries like to visit as their countries don't have such mosques.
Liu Jun, director of the Niujie Mosque, a women’s mosque in Beijing's Xicheng district, said in a previous interview with the Global Times that the wives of ambassadors from Arab countries, including Oman, like to visit the Niujie Women's Mosque during Ramadan.
"They show a strong interest in this kind of mosque which doesn't exist in their own country," he said.
Several days before Ramadan began, the mosque received thousands of Muslim tourists from Malaysia in one week who paid special visits to the women-only mosque.
Ma also said that these days young Chinese Muslims learn about the Koran from Islamic websites and books. But she feels that it's still necessary to have women-only mosques and female imams.
"It's still too difficult for me to process the information I read online and in books by myself," she said.