Implementing Policy on Religion and Restoring Religious Organizations
After the policy of opening up to the outside world was put into practice in 1978, China entered a new era, and the Chinese Islamic cause was resumed and developed comprehensively as well.
After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Party Central committee was held, the Central committee of the communist Party, the State Council, and the Party committees and governments at all levels began to bring order out of the chaos which resulted from the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), andthe wrong charges and persecution of Islamic persons of note and common Muslims in all previous political movements were redressed and their reputation rehabilitated.
Restoring and opening religious sites was a very important link in carrying out the policy of religious freedom. When mosques and simple religious sites were opened in succession, the government allocated certain sums of special funds to facilitate maintaining some well-known ancient mosques and other Islamic relics and historic sites. Among the mosques that had been opened 64 were in Beijing, 53 were in Tianjin (including a Hui service center), 6 were in Shanghai. By the end of the1980"s, there were 2,800 mosques, 80 mausoleums, 5 Khanqas (shrine of Menhuan) and 2,900 Imams in Gansu; 118 mosques in Shaanxi; 2,700 mosques and 3,600 Imams in Ningxia; 867
Mosques and 3,562 Imams in Qinghai; and over 20,000 mosques and spots in Xinjiang. According to statistics of nationwide religious sites registration conducted from 1994 to 1996, there were altogether 34,014 registered mosques in the entire country by 1996, among which 23,331 were in Xinjiang; 2,610 were in Gansu; 2,984 were in Ningxia; 817 were in Henan, 728 were in Yunnan; 397 were in Hebei and 409 were in Shandong. At present, the total number of mosques in the entire country is equal to this.
The China Islamic Association resumed activities. In April of 1980, the 4th National Representative Assembly of the China Islamic Association was held in Beijing, 256 representatives of10 Muslim minority groups from all over the country attended. It was a conference that was held 17 years after 1963, symbolizing the fact that the China Islamic Association had resumed its activities. Islamic organizations at provincial, regional and municipal levels were restored or reestablished successively. By the end of 1995, 25 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government had set up Islamic associations. The number of Islamic associations at cityand county levels reached 420, and the number of Imams andMullahs reached 45,000.
The China Islamic Association has held 7 representative assemblies up to now. The 7th Representative assembly was held on January 27-30 2000, with 324 representatives attending. It was a milestone of the development of the Chinese Islamic cause. The Assembly heard the work report by Wan Yaobin, vice president of the China Islamic Association, entitled “To unite together and make progress, carry forward the cause and forge ahead into the future” and subtitled “Strive for the Chinese Islamic cause in the new century”? He reviewed the successes and failures that Chinese Islam had experienced in the last century, especiallythe last 20 years, pointing out that in the past 6 years, the China Islamic Association had efficiently and creatively done many things focusing on domestic Islamic work, and made useful exploration in certain respects as to how to guide Islam to adapt itself to socialist society. The mosques‘ democratic administration standard and the consciousness of legal religious activities had been promoted a great deal. And the “Two competitions and One Appraisal” (namely the Holy Qur"an recitation competition and preaching competition, and model mosque appraisal) in particular hadeffectively motivated the work of the Islamic associations in all places. The report also set the objectives and the directions for the development of Chinese Islam in the new century, pointing out that in thecircumstances of thenew era, the China
Islamic Association would further clear up its own position and situation, give full play to its own advantages, actively participate in the great cause of the development of western regions, motivate Islam to adapt itself to socialist society, strengthen ethnic unity, vigorously call for united efforts on Islamic work, strongly oppose ethic separatism and religious extremism, maintain social stability and do its bit for the reunification of the motherland.
