Hui People - Hui As Nationality or As Religion

Hui As Nationality or As Religion

Some Hui clans who identify as Hui and are recognized as such by the Chinese government are Hui because of their ancestry only, and do not practice Islam as their religion. They had Muslim ancestors but they do not practice Islam anymore. Throughout history, when their ancestors first abandoned Islam as a religion, their identity has been fluid, claiming their "identity" based on what was convenient for the time. The modern definition of Hui by the Chinese government is as a nationality, and not a religion. These Hui are led to identify as Hui out of interest in their ancestry or because of Affirmative action benefits they will get from the Chinese government. These Hui are concentrated on the southeast coast of China, especially Fujian province. In 1913, a westerner noted that many people in Fujian province had Arab ancestry, but were no longer Muslim.

Some well known Hui clans around Quanzhou in Fujian, such as the Ding and the Guo families, are examples of these Hui who identify as Muslim by nationality but do not practice Islam. Due to more people of these clans identifying as Hui the population of Hui has grown. All these clans needed were only evidence of ancestry from Arab, or Persian, or other Muslim ancestors to be recognized as Hui, and they do not need to practice Islam. It was the Communist party and its policies which encouraged the definition of Hui as a nationality or ethnicity. It is taboo to offer pork to ancestors in the Ding clan family. However, the living Ding family members themselves consume pork. The Chinese Government's Historic Artifacts Bureau preserved tombs of Arabs and Persians whom Hui are descended from around Quanzhou. Many of these Hui worship village gods and do not have Islam as their religion, some are Buddhists, Daoists, followers of Chinese Folk Religions, secularlists, and Christians. Many clans with thousands of members in numerous villages across Fujian recorded their genealogies and had Muslim ancestry. These Hui clans originating in Fujian have strong sense of unity among their members, despite being scattered across a wide area in Asia, such as Fujian, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, and Philippines.

On Taiwan, there are also descendants of Hui who came with Koxinga who no longer observe Islam, the Taiwan branch of the Guo (romanized as Kuo in Taiwan) family is not Muslim, but still does not offer pork at ancestral shrines. The Chinese Muslim Association counts these people as Muslims. Also on Taiwan, one branch of this Ding (Ting) family descended from Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar resides in Taisi Township in Yunlin County. They trace their descent through him via the Quanzhou Ding family of Fujian. Even as they were pretending to be Han Chinese in Fujian, they still practiced Islam when they originally came to Taiwan 200 years ago, building a mosque, but eventually became Buddhist or Daoist. The Mosque is now the Ding families Daoist temple.

An attempt was made by the Chinese Islamic Society to reconvert the Hui of Fujian back to Islam in 1983, sending 4 Ningxia Imams to Fujian. This futile endeavour ended in 1986, when the final Ningxia Imam remaining decided to go back and leave Fujian. A similar endeavour in Taiwan also failed to meet its goals.

Before 1982, it was possible for a Han to change ethnicity to the Hui nationality just by converting, after 1982 converted Han were no longer counted as Hui, instead, they are now known as "Muslim Han". Hui people consider other Hui who do not observe Islamic practices to still be Hui, they consider it impossible to ever lose their Hui nationality, even if a Hui becomes atheist the other Muslim Hui still consider them to be Muslim, albeit a bad one.