Muslims are a minority group in China, representing 1.6 to 2 percent of the total population (21-28 million people) according to various estimates. Though
There are about 12 million Uyghurs, mostly Muslim, living in Xinjiang, which is officially known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). The Uyghurs speak their own language, which is similar to Turkish, and see themselves as culturally and ethnically close to Central Asian nations.
The Uyghurs, alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central and East Asia. The Uyghurs are recognized as native to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwest China.
Uyghurs speak a Turkic language and practice a moderate form of Sunni Islam. The XUAR, often referred to simply as Xinjiang (pronounced “SHIN-jyahng”), is a provincial- level administrative region that comprises about one-sixth of China's total land area and borders eight countries.
In general, Uyghurs and the mostly Han government disagree on which group has greater historical claim to the Xinjiang region: Uyghurs believe their ancestors were indigenous to the area, whereas government policy considers Xinjiang to have belonged to China since around 200 BC during Han Dynasty.
Uyghur identity
Uyghurs are a Turkic ethnic group native to Xinjiang. They are distinct from the Han Chinese, the predominant ethnic group in China. Uyghurs are the second-largest predominantly Muslim ethnicity in China and Islam is an important aspect of Uyghur identity.
After the collapse of the Uyghur Khaganate in AD 840, ancient Uyghurs resettled from Mongolia to the Tarim Basin and northern parts of China. Ultimately, the Uyghurs became civil servants administering the Mongol Empire.
The Uyghurs of Xinjiang are Sunni Muslims. Large numbers of Han (ethnic Chinese) began moving into Xinjiang after the establishment of the autonomous region in the 1950s. The influx became especially pronounced after 1990, and by the late 20th century the Han constituted two-fifths of Xinjiang's total population.
Since at least 2017, the Chinese government has been accused of detaining more than a million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in internment camps in Xinjiang and conducting forceful assimilation to suppress their cultural and religious identity.
You can find mosques, halal restaurants, and Muslim-friendly facilities in some areas. However, the Chinese government has been criticized for its treatment of Muslim minorities, particularly the Uighur population in Xinjiang, where there have been reports of surveillance, discrimination, and human rights abuses.
The Uyghur or Uighur language (/ˈwiːɡʊər, -ɡər/; ئۇيغۇر تىلى, Уйғур тили, Uyghur tili, Uyƣur tili, IPA: [ujɣur tili] or ئۇيغۇرچە, Уйғурчә, Uyghurche, Uyƣurqə, IPA: [ujɣurˈtʃɛ], CTA: Uyğurçä; formerly known as Eastern Turki) is a Turkic language written in a Uyghur Perso-Arabic script with 8–13 million speakers, spoken ...
Uyghur is a Central Asian Turkic language spoken by 10–11 million Uyghurs inside of China, mainly in Xinjiang and 1-1.5 million outside of China, mainly in Central Asia. Uyghurs primarily live in Xinjiang (also known as East Turkistan/Turkestan, Eastern Turkistan/Turkestan, Uyghuristan, or Chinese Turkistan).
The Uyghur people, a minority group who make up about half the population in Xinjiang, speak their own language which comes from a completely different family than Mandarin, the official Chinese language. It is rare to hear an elderly Uyghur speak Mandarin without a heavy accent.
Other religions are growing but continue to make up a small proportion of the population. Hinduism has grown by 55.3 per cent to 684,002 people, or 2.7 per cent of the population. Islam has grown to 813,392 people, which is 3.2 per cent of the Australian population.
Islamic influence came from the various steppe peoples who assimilated into the predominant Han-Chinese culture. Muslims who were transferred to China from Persia and Central Asia to administer the empire served as administrators, generals, and in other leadership positions.
Accurate data on Chinese Christians is difficult to access. There are estimates that say Christianity is the fastest growing religion in China. There were some four million before 1949 (three million Catholics and one million Protestants).
National surveys conducted in the early 21st century estimated that some 80% of the population of China, which is more than a billion people, practice some kind of Chinese folk religion; 13–16% are Buddhists; 10% are Taoist; 2.53% are Christians; and 0.83% are Muslims.
The mosque in recent years expanded its minarets and the dome's roof and a court ruled the additions illegal. Police in China have given protesters who blocked demolitions at an ancient mosque a deadline to turn themselves in for “disrupting social order” and “criminal acts”.
Scientists say that genetically, Uyghurs are an admixture of Caucasian and East Asian blood. They say this is the reason many retain light-colored skin and hair. In terms of religion, they are primarily Sunni Muslims.
Uyghurs have developed a unique culture due to their long history and role as traders and connectors between different civilisations. They have made significant contributions to Asian literature, medicine, architecture, music, song, dance, and fine arts.
History. There is a long history of the connection between the Turkish people and the Uyghurs. Both groups speak a Turkic language and the two groups share significant ethnic and cultural bonds. With Turkey being a Turkic country, the Uyghurs have been largely able to integrate within Turkish society.
A number of Uyghurs residing in Pakistan; especially remote northwestern mountainous tribal areas have been engaged in militancy and carrying out terrorist attacks on military and civilian targets. China claimed that members of the East Turkestan Islamic Movement have taken refuge in Lahore.
They have been practising Islam for centuries, tracing their religious influence to the Karakhanid, a Turkic fiefdom that ruled Central Asia from the 9th to the 13th century. In previous centuries, Uighurs followed other religions including Zoroastrianism and Buddhism.
It has been nearly a decade since China began its systematic campaign of human rights abuses against the Uyghur population — a minority ethnic group that has been targeted by Beijing for practicing Islam — and other vulnerable minority groups in its northwest Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
The Uyghurs are a Muslim minority in China, living in Xinjiang province at a crossroads of culture and empire. Today it's estimated that more than 1 million Uyghur people have been detained in camps, camps where they have been subjected to torture, forced labor, religious restrictions, even forced sterilization.