Chinese-style minaret of the Great Mosque

Gedimu () or ''Qadim'' () is the earliest school of Islam in China. It is a

Hanafi The Hanafi school or Hanafism is the oldest and largest Madhhab, school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the Faqīh, jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (), who systemised the ...

, non-

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

school of the

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

tradition. Its supporters are centered on local mosques, which function as relatively independent units. It is numerically the largest Hui school of thought in China. Since the introduction of Islam in China, during the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

, it continued to the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

with no schisms. At the end of the Ming and early

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 ...

Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

was introduced to China. Muslims in what are now

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

, Gansu and Qinghai, began to convert to the Sufi sects, and the new sects were referred to as old teaching / New Faith / New Religion (Chinese xinpai or Xinjiao). Those who clung to the old beliefs were called members of the Gedimu (from Arabic قديم "qadim", meaning 'ancient'), or in Chinese Laojiao (the old doctrine). In the religious ideas of this school the basic Islamic principles of Tawheed are maintained. In religious practice, this requires of the faithful a strict observance of the principle of Rukun, the five basic duties of Islam. In the long period of development formed a conservative tradition. It is against unorthodox innovations and sticks to the old rules, without interference in the affairs of other denominations. Another important feature of the school is that it puts a focus on culture and education. Organised by the mosques, they send the children from their neighborhood to receive religious instruction. Usually Arabic and Persian writings are studied. Qadim has spread the longest history in China. In its development, the school has been somewhat influenced by Chinese culture and has many

Han Chinese The Han Chinese, alternatively the Han people, are an East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Greater China. With a global population of over 1.4 billion, the Han Chinese are the list of contemporary ethnic groups, world's la ...

customs and traditions included in its rites. The mosque architecture is different from that of other Muslim areas. Qadim was the result of the Sunni faith in a particular environment in the China proper. Jingtang Jiaoyu is a form of Islamic education, influenced by Chinese culture, which the Gedimu Muslims pride themselves in learning. Jingtang Jiaoyu does not closely approximate Arabic due to the limitations of the vernacular spoken Chinese, in particular, its vowels and final consonants, it produces a sinicized pronunciation of the Arabic language. Many Hui who used it said Salaam Aleikun instead of Salaam Alaikum. The Hanafi Sunni Gedimu has been somewhat influenced by Chinese customs and the Jingtang Jiaoyu method of education, refusing to pronounce Arabic in the Arab manner even when learning of the standard pronunciation. Hanfi Sunni Sunnaiti's (

Yihewani Yihewani (), or Ikhwan (), (also known as al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun, which means Muslim Brotherhood, not to be confused with the Middle Eastern Muslim Brotherhood, or Ahl al-Sunni) is an Islamic sect in China. Its adherents are called Sunnaiti. It is ...

adherents) criticize the Gedimu for practicing Islamic customs influenced by Chinese culture, including Jingtang Jiaoyu, Sunnaiti's pride themselves on speaking correct Arabic, accusing the Gedimu Muslims of practicing Han and Buddhist customs and "Chinese Arabic". One Sunnaiti Imam said of the Gedimu, "blindly followed the traditions of their ancestors". Gedimu adherents use Mosques which are built like Chinese style temples with Minarets resembling pagodas, in contrast to Yihewani members, who build their Mosques and Minarets to resemble Middle Eastern style architecture.

References

*''Cihai'' („Sea of Words“), Shanghai cishu chubanshe, Shanghai 2002,

See also

References

Further reading