Ma Zhu (馬注) (1640 – after 1710) was a Chinese
Hanafi-
Maturidi scholar. Ma was noted for his combining of
Confucian and
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
ic values in his philosophy.
Biography
Ma was born in
Yongchang Fu in
Yunnan Province during the reign of the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
. His father died when Ma was young. He is claimed to be a descendant of
Ajall Shams al-Din Omar, a Muslim Mongol general, and of
Muhammad
Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
.
[''Three eminent Chinese ‘Ulama’ of Yunnan''
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02666959008716154?journalCode=cjmm19]
Philosophy
Ma Zhu's philosophy focused heavily on social relations and interactions between the sexes. He theorized that, per Confucian and Islamic values, an ideal society would be one in which men dominated public affairs while women would serve in a subservient role as domestic helpmates.
The philosopher opposed women performing roles outside of the home, stating "even a talented woman should not take care of non-domestic affairs". Ma took inspiration for his ideal role for women from the story of
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...
, in which
Allah
Allah ( ; , ) is an Arabic term for God, specifically the God in Abrahamic religions, God of Abraham. Outside of the Middle East, it is principally associated with God in Islam, Islam (in which it is also considered the proper name), althoug ...
created Eve from the flesh of Adam.
This indicated to Ma that men and women were not intended to be of equal standing in society. Ma wrote:
Ma's philosophy also denoted the distinctions between the traditional Chinese paired forces of ''
ming'' () and ''
xing'' (), and
''yin'' and ''yang''. According to Ma, ''ming'' represented what was preordained by Allah, while ''xing'' represented by what was acquirable though social conditioning and exposure to earthly human existence.
Similarly, in Ma's view ''yin'' represented the earthly acquired and ''yang'' represented the divinely innate. Parts from both were required to form any human. Ma also believed that women should strive to be similar to famous women in Islam, he mentioned Moleyan (
Maryam),
Khadiyah, and
Fatima as examples to follow.
Ma also advocated for both men and women to pursue an
Islamic education.
See also
*
Wang Daiyu
*
Yusuf Ma Dexin
*
Liu Zhi (scholar)
*
List of Hanafis
*
List of Ash'aris and Maturidis
*
List of Muslim theologians
References
{{Authority control
17th-century Chinese writers
Qing dynasty Muslims
Hanafis
Maturidis
17th-century Muslim theologians
Shaykh al-Islāms
Sunni imams
Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
1640 births
1711 deaths
18th-century Muslim theologians
17th-century Chinese translators