The Weizhou Grand Mosque () is a
mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
in
Tongxin County
Tongxin County (, Xiao'erjing: طْوثٍ ثِيًا) is a county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Wuzhong in the central part of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, bordering Gansu province ...
,
Wuzhong City
Wuzhong (, Xiao'erjing: وُجْو شِ) is a prefecture-level city in the Ningxia autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It was known as Yinnan Prefecture (, Xiao'erjing: ءٍنًا دِٿِيُوِ) before it was upgraded to a pre ...
,
Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region
Ningxia (,; , ; alternately romanized as Ninghsia), officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR), is an autonomous region in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in 1 ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. Plans to demolish the mosque led to widespread protests in 2018 and 2019.
History
Weizhou's old mosque was constructed during the
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
in the traditional Chinese palatial style. The mosque was expanded and renovated three times during the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
and the
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
era. It was named by the American
Episcopal missionary
Charles L. Pickens, Jr.
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...
, who traveled to western China in the 1920s-1930s. He documented many places and peoples and remarked the place as "one of the most beautiful in all China." It was destroyed during the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
in the 1960s.
Plans for a reconstruction were made and began in 2015, with plans approved by local authorities. Chinese officials claim that the mosque was expanded beyond the plans approved, in an Arab rather than Chinese style. Local officials were criticized by the Commission for Discipline Inspection of Wuzhong City in May for their lack of supervision during the mosque's renovations.
Proposed demolition
Ningxia
Ningxia (,; , ; alternately romanized as Ninghsia), officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR), is an autonomous region in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in ...
officials stated on 3 August 2018 that the mosque will be forcibly demolished on Friday because it had not received the proper permits before construction.
The Weizhou Grand Mosque was built in
Tongxin County
Tongxin County (, Xiao'erjing: طْوثٍ ثِيًا) is a county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Wuzhong in the central part of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, bordering Gansu province ...
,
Wuzhong City
Wuzhong (, Xiao'erjing: وُجْو شِ) is a prefecture-level city in the Ningxia autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It was known as Yinnan Prefecture (, Xiao'erjing: ءٍنًا دِٿِيُوِ) before it was upgraded to a pre ...
with about 23 million
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
population,
Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region
Ningxia (,; , ; alternately romanized as Ninghsia), officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR), is an autonomous region in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in 1 ...
. Local government accepted the rebuilding of Weizhou Grand Mosque in 2015, and its work started the same year.
After the renovation was finished, the scale of the mosque was bigger than the standards.
A local
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 ...
document mentioned that the Weizhou Grand Mosque had to be demolished since it was carrying out illegal extensions since 2016.
Officials in the town were saying the mosque had not been given proper building permits, because it is built in the
Middle Eastern
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (European ...
architectural style.
The residents were alarmed by this and helped stopped the destruction of the mosque.
However, the idea that the Chinese government is against Arab style buildings is unfounded in facts but based on a single BBC report: "For centuries Hui Muslim mosques were built in a more Chinese style, and it appears that the new structure is viewed by the local government as an example of a growing Arabisation of Chinese Islam.
Incident
According to
Reuters news
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 ...
agency, the Ningxia officials "forcibly demolished" notice was shared online among the
ethnic 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 ...
Muslim community
' (; ar, أمة ) is an Arabic word meaning "community". It is distinguished from ' ( ), which means a nation with common ancestry or geography. Thus, it can be said to be a supra-national community with a common history.
It is a synonym for ' ...
, and in a rare demonstration against the Chinese government, thousands of ethnic Hui Muslims had gathered at the mosque location to protest its planned demolition.
Public demonstrations are rare in China, because the government quickly suppresses any "hint of dissent".
However, shared videos on social media was showing large crowds gathered outside the Grand Mosque in the town of Weizhou to protect it.
The Hui are the largest of the 10 Muslim minority groups within China, and speak a variation of
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
— the language spoken by China's majority
Han ethnic group.
According to the
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
-based South China Morning Post newspaper, the main question of protesters was: "why the authorities had not stopped construction of the mosque during its two years of construction, if it had not been granted relevant permits?"
An official from the local Islamic Association told Reuters that the mosque would not be demolished entirely; with only fixes on the building structure were to be made.
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
news agency reported, the Muslim community would not accept this proposal.
Documents show that Hui protesters grouped at the Weizhou mosque and carried Chinese
national flags
A national flag is a flag that represents and symbolizes a given nation. It is flown by the government of that nation, but usually can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanings for its colours ...
that expressed support for the Communist Party.
Reactions
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mosques were built in a more Chinese style, but the local government considered the Grand Mosque in the town of Weizhou as an example of a growing Arabic architecture between Chinese Muslim."
users in China were agreeing with the pulling down of the mosque.
lawmakers publicly asked the United States government to engage in more sanctions on Xinjiang, especially against key Chinese officials and politicians who had a role in demolishing the mosque.