Sharia in China: Compromising Perceptions

Abstract

As a minority religion, Islam in China has adapted to the sociopolitical and cultural contours of mainstream Chinese civilization. Muslim responses to the Chinese context are diverse and multifaceted, varying from one community to another, and evolving historically. During their first millennium, China’s Muslims, like other foreign ethno-religious communities, enjoyed some autonomy in implementing religious ordinances under various dynasties. Diasporic communities often experience tension between the law of the land and ancestral customs. Chinese Muslims, caught between rival pressures to assimilate and maintain their distinct identity, would downplay aspects of Islam while emphasizing others, thus altering the “normative” view of sharia. The vicissitudes of Chinese history have influenced interpretations and implementations of sharia in China, as Chinese Muslims negotiate a simultaneously Chinese-Islamic identity.