Chinese Muslims to Get First Hajj Service

Chinese Muslims to Get First Hajj Service

BEIJING, May 13, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The Islamic
Association of China (IAC) will set up a special office to assist Chinese
Muslims making pilgrimages to Makkah, Saudi Arabia.

"This is the first time China has set up a special pilgrimage service for
the country's 20 million Muslims," IAC Vice-Chairman Yang Zhibo told Chinese
news agency Xinhua Saturday, May 13.

Yang estimated that more than 8,000 Chinese would make a pilgrimage in 2007.

The number of Chinese making the spiritual journey has been rising steadily.

This year it was 7,000. Since 1985, nearly 100,000 Chinese Muslims have
completed the pilgrimage.

One of the five pillars of Islam, hajj consists of several ceremonies, which
are meant to symbolize the essential concepts of the Islamic faith, and to
commemorate the trials of Prophet Abraham and his family.

Every able-bodied adult Muslim -- who can financially afford the trip --
must perform hajj once in their lifetime.

According to official data, China has 20 million Muslims, most of them are
concentrated in Xinjiang, Ningxia, Gansu, and Qinghai regions and provinces.
Smaller Muslim communities can also be found throughout interior China.

Islam came to China via Muslim businessman during the era of the Tang
Dynasty. There have also been reports of companions of the Prophet Muhammad
(peace and blessings be upon him) coming to China.

Service Improved

Yang said that the IAC will introduce more facilities to the faithful to
make the journey much easier.

"Our service has also improved," Yang said.

He noted that pilgrims could leave the country now through four cities:
Beijing, Lanzhou, Urumqi and Kunming.

A fifth exit port was planned in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, home of
most of the Hui ethnic minority, China's second largest Muslim minority
group.

Local branches of the IAC offered training programs for first-time pilgrims,
Yang said.

"To better serve Muslims, we will add English, international travel tips and
emergency treatment to our programs," he noted.

He also said the IAC would help pilgrims outside peak times, starting in
August and September this year.

Sources with Air China told Xinhua that chartered flights would now carry
pilgrims direct to Makkah.

Chinese Muslims have been complaining about government marginalization and
heavy-handed police treatment.

International human rights organizations have chided the Chinese government
in several reports for its poor human rights record in predominantly Muslim
regions, particularly Xinjiang.

Human Rights Watch has said in a recent report that Chinese policy in
Xinjiang "denies Uighurs religious freedom, and by extension freedom of
association, assembly, and expression."

The Uighurs are a Turkish-speaking minority of eight million whose
traditional homeland lies in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in
north-west China.

Chinese Muslim leaders have charged that China was using the US-championed
"war on terror" to justify its crushing campaign of religious oppression and
rights abuses.

http://islamonline.net/English/News/2006-05/13/article03.shtml


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