On the early morning of Wednesday, 30 July 2014, Juma Tahir ( ug, جۈمە تاھىر, Jüme Tahir; ), the
imam
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...
of China's largest mosque, the
Id Kah Mosque
The Id Kah Mosque ( ug, ھېيتگاھ مەسچىتى, translit=Hëytgah Meschiti, ; zh, s=艾提尕尔清真寺, t=艾提尕爾清真寺, p=Àitígǎěr Qīngzhēnsì; from Persian: عیدگاه, Eidgāh, meaning "Place of Festivities") is a ...
in northwestern
Kashgar
Kashgar ( ug, قەشقەر, Qeshqer) or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is an oasis city in the Tarim Basin region of Southern Xinjiang. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan ...
, was stabbed to death by three young male
Uyghur extremists. Religious leaders across denominations condemned the attack.
Tahir was appointed by the government and supportive of national policies in the region.
[ He had been a voice for peace in the insurgency involving the Uyghurs and the ]Han Chinese
The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...
in the region. Since the mid-1990s, the traditional methods for appointing Imams have been replaced by appointments by the state, and assassination of religious leaders have escalated.
Background
Since 1990, the Chinese government has disallowed Uighur Muslims from selecting the imam
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...
s of their mosques. All Imams are appointed and paid a salary by the government. This follows the practice in China, where clergy are considered "religious professionals" and are subject to various regulations from the government. According to ''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' in 2008, government officials and students are not allowed to observe the Ramadan fast, and passports of all Uighurs have been impounded to encourage government-run Hajj
The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...
pilgrimage trips.
Southern Xinjiang
Much of the violence in Xinjiang
Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...
takes part in southern Xinjiang
Southern Xinjiang or Nanjiang () is the southern half of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. Its historical name was Altishahr ({{zh, c=回部, p=Huíbù), which also includes some territories in modern-day Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, ...
, which has been the focus of anti-terrorism efforts by the Xinjiang Party Chief from 2010 Zhang Chunxian
Zhang Chunxian (; born 12 May 1953) is a Chinese politician best known for his term as the Communist Party Secretary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and the Political Commissar of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps from 201 ...
. According to Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences anti-terrorism researcher Ma Pinyan, unemployed, undereducated young people from rural South Xinjiang are susceptible to recruitment by Islamic extremists. Other Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang, including Hui
The Hui people ( zh, c=, p=Huízú, w=Hui2-tsu2, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Хуэйзў, ) are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the n ...
and Kazakhs
The Kazakhs (also spelled Qazaqs; Kazakh: , , , , , ; the English name is transliterated from Russian; russian: казахи) are a Turkic-speaking ethnic group native to northern parts of Central Asia, chiefly Kazakhstan, but also parts o ...
, are critical of and do not support Uyghur separatist efforts towards Xinjiang's independence. Uyghur Muslims are themselves divided by adherence or nonadherence to Sufism
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...
, differing ancestral homes, and linguistic and political cleavages.
Most Xinjiang separatist violence targets ethnic majority Han people, but increasing attacks against fellow Uyghurs attempt to sway moderate Muslims to separatists' extreme version of Islam. Recent years have seen attacks from Uyghur separatists all over China, including in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan, which killed 33 and injured 143; while the Shache attack days earlier left 96 dead.
Prior assassinations
The 1990s saw the rise of the modern meshrep around Yining
YiningThe official spelling according to (), also known as Ghulja ( ug, غۇلجا) or Qulja ( kk, قۇلجا) and formerly Ningyuan (), is a county-level city in Northwestern Xinjiang, People's Republic of China and the seat of the Ili Kazakh A ...
enforcing a stricter Islamic morality than had been traditional in Xinjiang
Uyghur exiles in Almaty
Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to ...
, Kazakhstan, issued press release
A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considere ...
s claiming responsibility for orchestrating bombings in Xinjiang via their underground terror cells. Subsequently, antigovernmental and terrorist groups were organized into several groups including the East Turkestan Islamic Movement
The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) or the Turkistan Islamic Movement (TIM), formerly known as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and other names, is a Uyghur Islamic extremist organization founded in Western China. Its stated goals ar ...
(ETIM), the East Turkistan Liberation Organization
The East Turkestan Liberation Organization (ETLO) was a secessionist Uyghur organization that advocated for an independent Uyghur state named East Turkestan in the Western Chinese province known as Xinjiang. The organization was established in ...
(ETLO), the Uyghur Liberation Organization, etc.
On 24 August 1993, two men from the East Turkestan movement stabbed and killed imam Abliz Damolla of the Great Mosque in Yecheng County
Kargilik County ( transliterated from ; ); from Mandarin Chinese Yecheng County (), is a county in southwest of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Kashgar Prefecture. It contains an area of 28,600 km ...
. In 1996, Uyghur separatists shot assistant imam Hakimsidiq Haji of Aksu Prefecture
Aksu PrefectureThe official spelling according to is located in mid-Western Xinjiang, People's Republic of China. It has an area of and 2.37 million inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 535,657 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made up of A ...
on 22 March and attacked senior imam Aronghan Haji of the Id Kah Mosque with cleavers, who survived with cuts on his head, hands, back and legs. Mullah Aronghan Haji's attacker, Nurmamat, had absorbed Pan-Islamic
Pan-Islamism ( ar, الوحدة الإسلامية) is a political movement advocating the unity of Muslims under one Islamic country or state – often a caliphate – or an international organization with Islamic principles. Pan-Islamism was ...
and Pan-Turkic
Pan-Turkism is a political movement that emerged during the 1880s among Turkic intellectuals who lived in the Russian region of Kazan (Tatarstan), Caucasus (modern-day Azerbaijan) and the Ottoman Empire (modern-day Turkey), with its aim bei ...
ideas from being sent to an illegal madrassah
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
by his parents since the age of 5. On 6 November 1997, a member of a Xinjiang separatist group, Muhammat Tursun, fatally shot imam Yunus Sidiq Damolla at his mosque in Baicheng County. A Uyghur separatist exile shot imam Abliz Haji of Yecheng County
Kargilik County ( transliterated from ; ); from Mandarin Chinese Yecheng County (), is a county in southwest of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Kashgar Prefecture. It contains an area of 28,600 km ...
dead on 27 January 1998. In September 2002, Uyghur nationalists assassinated at least six Uyghur officials. On 15 August 2013, the 74-year-old imam Abdurehim Damaolla of Kazihan Mosque in Turfan
Turpan (also known as Turfan or Tulufan, , ug, تۇرپان) is a prefecture-level city located in the east of the autonomous region of Xinjiang, China. It has an area of and a population of 632,000 (2015).
Geonyms
The original name of the cit ...
was stabbed to death in front of his home by parties sympathetic to the separatist Shanshan rioters.
Imam Juma Tahir
Imam Juma Tahir, born October 1940 in Kashgar
Kashgar ( ug, قەشقەر, Qeshqer) or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is an oasis city in the Tarim Basin region of Southern Xinjiang. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan ...
, was 62 at the time of his death. In 2003, he had been appointed as head imam of the 600-year-old mosque by the Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
in 2003.
A Uyghur speaker, Tahir served as a member of the National People's Congress
The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPC; ), or simply the National People's Congress, is constitutionally the supreme state authority and the national legislature of the People's Republic of China.
With 2, ...
from 2008 to 2013, during which he was often supported the Communist Party. He served a term as vice-president of the Islamic Association of China
The Islamic Association of China () is the official government supervisory organ for Islam in the People's Republic of China. The association is overseen by the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) following the S ...
.
As the leading Islamic Imam, he was frequently quoted by state media "praising the communist party and condemning Uighur separatists". BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
reported that he was "said to have been unpopular with some Uighurs due to a pro-Beijing stance". Omer Kanat of the US-based World Uyghur Congress
The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) is an international organization of exiled Uyghur groups that claims to "represent the collective interest of the Uyghur people" both inside and outside of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's R ...
, told ''The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' on Friday that the imam had a reputation as a "tool for the government."
Tahir consistently condemned political violence in the name of Islam, despite receiving threatening letters for doing so. Tahir had urged calm after the July 2009 Ürümqi riots
The July 2009 Ürümqi riots were a series of violent riots over several days that broke out on 5 July 2009 in Ürümqi, the capital city of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), in northwestern China. The first day's rioting, which ...
which killed 200 people, telling followers not to fall "into traps set by exiled separatists". He promoted moderate, traditionally Uyghur Islamic practices against a very recent trend of strict Islamic practices, like the donning of full-face veils.
While ''The Telegraph
''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include:
Australia
* ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
'' reported that he had no shortage of enemies in the local Uighur community, he was often described him as a "popular imam" and a "patriotic religious person".
Assassination
During the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr
, nickname = Festival of Breaking the Fast, Lesser Eid, Sweet Eid, Sugar Feast
, observedby = Muslims
, type = Islamic
, longtype = Islamic
, significance = Commemoration to mark the end of fasting in Ramadan
, dat ...
in July 2014, it was rumored that a family of five were killed in a quarrel with the police. This led to widespread rioting in which dozens of Uyghurs were shot dead by the Chinese police. The news was suppressed for about a week, but it emerged that nearly a hundred people had died.
Two days later, Tahir was stabbed as he was returning home after morning Fajr prayer
The Fajr prayer ( ar, صلاة الفجر ', "dawn prayer") is one of the five mandatory salah (Islamic prayer), to be performed anytime starting from the moment of dawn, but not after sunrise. As an Islamic day starts at sunset, the Fajr praye ...
at 6.58 am on Wednesday, 30 July 2014. Shopkeepers spotted Tahir's body in a pool of blood and alerted Radio Free Asia
Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a United States government-funded private non-profit news service that broadcasts radio programs and publishes online news, information, and commentary for its audiences in Asia. The service, which provides editoriall ...
; a French tourist also told Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was estab ...
that he saw a body lying in a pool of blood outside of the prayer hall of the mosque, and two people with knives running away. Shortly after Tahir's death was discovered, police sealed off roads in and out of Kashgar.
On 30 July, police apprehended suspects Tuergong Tuerxun (Turghun Tursun), Maimaiti Jiangremutila (Memetjan Remutillan), and Nuermaimaiti Abidilimiti (Nurmemet Abidilimit). The gang resisted arrest with knives and axes, and the first two were shot dead in the struggle, while Abidilimiti (19), was arrested. Two days after the imam's murder, on 1 August, police arrested an 18-year-old construction worker, Aini Aishan (Gheni Hasan), who had been in hiding in Hotan
Hotan (also known as Gosthana, Gaustana, Godana, Godaniya, Khotan, Hetian, Hotien) is a major oasis town in southwestern Xinjiang, an autonomous region in Western China. The city proper of Hotan broke off from the larger Hotan County to become ...
. Aishan, who only had a middle school education, joined a religious extremist group in January 2013, consuming and distributing contraband videos and publications that advocated terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
. Aishan invited Abidilimiti to come to Hotan from Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture
Kizilsu (also as Kezilesu; ; ug, قىزىلسۇ قىرغىز ئاپتونوم ئوبلاستى; Kyrgyz: , , , ) is an autonomous prefecture of Kyrgyz people in the west of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, bordering with Kyrgyzstan and Ta ...
, to become his disciple, teaching him that to kill Tahir in "holy war" would earn both men a place in heaven. Abidilimiti confessed to orchestrating the assassinations with his two slain accomplices under the guidance of Aishan, despite the warnings of his older brother not to join illegal religious groups.
Aftermath
Tahir left 15 children behind. One of his daughters, Yimgul Juma, spoke at his funeral. Party chief Zhang Chunxian
Zhang Chunxian (; born 12 May 1953) is a Chinese politician best known for his term as the Communist Party Secretary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and the Political Commissar of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps from 201 ...
observed a moment of silence for Tahir as well as for the victims of the Shache attack. China offered a 300 million yuan bounty for tips on violent separatist activity. The Xinjiang regional Islamic association called on Muslims to be aware of the perils of terrorism and religious extremism. More than 107 religious leaders in Xinjiang gathered in Ürümqi to pray for Tahir, including Ebeydulla Mohammed, imam of a mosque in Kashgar; Fan Chenguang, vice head of the Ürümqi Christian Council
Ürümqi ( ; also spelled Ürümchi or without Umlaut (diacritic), umlauts), formerly known as Dihua (also spelled Tihwa), is the capital of the Xinjiang, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the far Northwest China, northwest of the Peopl ...
; and Yi Xuan, of the Buddhist Nanshan Faming Temple in Ürümqi County. They expressed concerns about the security of religious leaders in Xinjiang, and vowed to step up security checks and police patrols. A ''Xinhua
Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...
'' editorial announced that "the terrorists and the religious extremist forces behind them have once again trampled on basic human rights" and expressed confidence that the killers would be brought to justice for violating Chinese law.
Dilxat Raxit, spokesman of the World Uyghur Congress
The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) is an international organization of exiled Uyghur groups that claims to "represent the collective interest of the Uyghur people" both inside and outside of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's R ...
did not condemn the murder and attributed it to "Chinese policies in the area".
Analyst Jacob Zenn from the Jamestown Foundation
The Jamestown Foundation is a Washington, D.C.-based conservative defense policy think tank. Founded in 1984 as a platform to support Soviet defectors, its stated mission today is to inform and educate policy makers about events and trends, which ...
disputed the idea that religious restrictions cause terrorist attacks, although he warned that jihadists manipulate perceptions of Beijing's policy. A collective editorial from the ''South China Morning Post
The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...
'' advised the government to target economic development to poor Uyghurs to stem the "underlying causes of the unrest".
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tayir, Juma
History of Xinjiang
East Turkestan independence movement
People murdered in China
Assassinations in China
Terrorist incidents involving knife attacks
2014 murders in China
Xinjiang conflict
July 2014 events in China
Terrorist incidents in China in 2014