When did Islam reach China?

According to Chinese Muslims’ traditional accounts, Islam was first introduced to China in 616–18 AD by the Sahaba (companions) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad: Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas, Sayid, Wahab ibn Abu Kabcha and another Sahaba. It is noted in other accounts that Wahab Abu Kabcha reached Canton by sea in 629 CE.

Where did Islam spread in Asia?

Islam initially arrived on the coast of Sumatra, and spread down and around the coast to the Malacca strait and jumped across the straight to the Malay Peninsula. In 1511, the Portuguese took over Malacca, but various other Muslim states began to grow in size and economic and political prominence.

How did Islam arrive to China?

According to the historical accounts of Chinese Muslims, Islam was first brought to China by Sa’d ibn abi Waqqas, who came to China for the third time at the head of an embassy sent by Uthman, the third Caliph, in 651, less than twenty years after the death of prophet Muhammad.

How many Muslims are in concentration camps in China?

As of 2019, it was estimated that Chinese authorities may have detained up to 1.5 million people, mostly Uyghurs but also including Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and other ethnic Turkic Muslims, Christians as well as some foreign citizens such as Kazakhstanis, who are being held in these secretive internment camps which are located …

How did Islam travel to China?

Islam came to China by two major routes: Overland, along the Silk Road, and by sea, through the Arab traders who plied the routes along the Indian Ocean between the Persian Gulf, through the Strait of Malacca, and to South China.

What religion is China mainly?

An official Chinese government statement recognizes five major religions practiced in China—Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism, and Protestantism—as well as many folk beliefs. Most ethnic Tibetans practice a distinct form of Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism.

Where are the majority of Muslims in China?

Islam has been practiced in Chinese society for 1,400 years. Currently, Muslims are a minority group in China, representing between 0.45% to 1.8% of the total population according to the latest estimates. Though Hui Muslims are the most numerous group, the greatest concentration of Muslims is in Xinjiang,…

Where was the first Muslim settlement in China?

The first major Muslim settlements in China consisted of Arab and Persian merchants. It is recorded that in 758, Muslims sacked Guangzhou; a large Muslim settlement in Guangzhou erupted in unrest and fled. The same year, Arab and Persian pirates who probably had their base in a port on the island of Hainan.

How did the religion of Islam spread to China?

Many Mongol leaders became converts and the religion spread quickly in Central Asia by Muslim conquest of the nomadic tribes and empires between Arabia and China. A new development that is spreading the knowledge and the interest in Islam is Chinese travel to Islamic countries.

Why are people interested in Islam in China?

A new development that is spreading the knowledge and the interest in Islam is Chinese travel to Islamic countries. The Hajj, or the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, is one of the pillars of Islam. In the past, especially after the Mongol Empire, land travel was often difficult or impossible due to wars and banditry.