''Menhuan'' ( zh, s=门宦, t=門宦, p=Ménhuàn) is a term used by the
Hui and
Uyghur Muslim populations of China to indicate a
Chinese Ṣūfī ''
ṭarīḳa'' ("order" or "saintly lineage"). The leaders of a ''menhuan'', which usually are
Ṣūfī Muslim ''
murs̲h̲id'' ("masters") or ''
walī
The term ''wali'' is most commonly used by Muslims to refer to a saint, or literally a "friend of God".John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008); John ...
'' ("saints"), form a chain of spiritual successors over the ages, known in Arabic as ''
silsilah
''Silsila'' () is an Arabic word meaning ''chain'', ''link'', ''connection'' often used in various senses of lineage. In particular, it may be translated as "spiritual genealogy" where one Sufi Master transfers his ''khilafat'' to his '' ...
'', which goes back to the order's founder in China (e.g.,
Ma Laichi or
Ma Mingxin
Ma Mingxin (1719–1781) () was a Chinese Sufi master, the founder of the Jahriyya ''menhuan'' (Naqshbandi Sufi order).