Islamic schools

(Madrasa)

Islamic college education (Jingxueyuan, madrasa) in China is sponsored by both private Islamic sources and government funding. Organized by the China Islamic Association and provincial branches of Islamic Associations, the altogether nine Jingxueyuan receive operating funds from the Chinese government, supplemented by grants from mosques and/ or individuals. The central Jingxueyuan in Beijing was established by the China Islamic Association in 1955, closed in 1966 and reopened in 1982—to male students only. Its objective is to train patriotic religious professionals who will occupy authoritative positions after graduation. In the course of the 1980s, several regional Islamic colleges were set up in Urumqi, Yinchuan, Lanzhou, Zhengzhou, Xining, Kunming, Shenyang, and a second Jingxueyuan in Beijing. College curricula, apart from teaching the scriptures and the history of Islam, also contain Arabic language, Chinese language as well as politics, Chinese history and world history.

Islamic education, sponsored by mosques or by individuals, can be divided into three categories. Traditional Islamic education (jingtang jiaoyu) was started in the sixteenth century for training male and female ahong (religious leaders) and continues into the present. Since the 1980s, educational reform has led to an ‘Arabic-based curriculum’ (ayuxuexiao) or a ‘mixed Chinese—Arabic curriculum’ (zhongaxuexiao), registered with government education departments.

The content of study is closely modelled on that of Islamic colleges. Such schools are located within mosques or adjacent sites, less commonly in privately built schools. Part-time religious education is thought most suitable to address the needs of women, children and the elderly.

See also: Islam and women

Further reading

Wang, J.P. (1996). Concord and Conflict. Stockholm: Lund Studies in Africa and Asian Religions.

Jaschok, M. and Shui, J.J. (2000). The History of Women’s Mosques in Chinese Islam. Richmond: Curzon.

SHUI JINGJUN AND MARIA JASCHOK