Intro
Chinese Muslims’ turn toward Arabo-centrism and Islamic modernism in the early 1930s
appears to have resulted from a controversy over the Ahmadiyya. Through Zhao Zhenwu’s
outreach efforts, Yuehua also came into possession of a number of Ahmadiyya publications from India, Europe, and Britain. The Ahmadiyya were a controversial Islamic movement founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian in the late nineteenth century; later, a second branch developed in Lahore. While the Ahmadiyya became highly influential for its widespread work in South Asia and Europe and its apologetic explanations of Islam, it was reviled by figures such as Rashid Rida due to its loose approach to matters of doctrine, its embrace of English and other non-Islamic languages, and above all, its founder’s claim to be a new savior figure in Islam. Most of the Ahmadiyya publications Yuehua received were indeed written in English.129 By this point, Yuehua had received relatively few publications in Arabic or from the Arab Middle East. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, a group of Beijing-based Chinese Muslims calling
themselves the “Searching Academy” (Zhuiqiu xuehui, literally “Seeking Knowledge Study
Society”) published a set of translations of Ahmadiyya works into Chinese, including M. Manzur
Ilahi’s The Muslim Catechism and Maulana Muhammad Ali’s Islam: The Religion of Peace. (See John Tseh-han Chen’s academic work on Ahmadiyya).
As a whole, the list of foreign periodicals received by Yuehua from 1931 to 1933 forces
us to reconsider the weight of the Arab world as against that of other Muslim regions in Chinese Muslim practices of textual transnationalism. A particularly conspicuous absence from that list is Rashid Rida’s al-Manar (Cairo, 1898–1935), one of the most sustained, widespread and influential voices in the history of Islamic modernism (it is also an ironic absence given Rida’s fierce polemics against the Ahmadiyya).
In other words, just as Zhao Zhenwu’s efforts to make contact with Muslim publications
outside China did not focus exclusively on Arabic publications, they also did not singlemindedly
seek out publications identifiable as Islamic modernist—this in spite of Zhao’s studies
with Wang Haoran and Da Pusheng. On the contrary: the presence of so many Ahmadiyya
publications, and the glaring absence of al-Manar, vividly illustrate that Zhao’s outreach project
was highly uneven and eclectic, and—as he admitted in Yuehua’s English-language notice—
aimed at connecting with any and all Muslim groups outside China. It was not inevitable that
Yuehua would come to espouse Islamic modernism at the expense of movements such as the
Ahmadiyya, or that it would come to place such a high value on the Arabic language.
Nevertheless, not long thereafter, a greater emphasis on Arabic language and Islamic
modernism is precisely what came about, due largely to the Ahmadiyya controversy itself. In
1932, Yuehua published an article on this controversy by the Chinese Muslim scholar Hai
Weiliang, then only twenty years old and studying at the Nadwat al-‘Ulama in Lucknow. Hai
wished to convey a “word of caution” to Chinese Muslims in China. The purpose of this
admonition was to dissuade Chinese Muslims from relying on Ahmadiyya writings, and instead
advocate greater attention to Islamic modernist thought produced in Arabic.135 Hai sympathized with Chinese Muslims’ impulse to reach “all the brethren of the world,” but criticized the Ahmadiyya’s heterodoxy nonetheless:
Muslims in our country have long maintained a closed-door policy, having little contact with Muslims outside China, and understanding little of the situation in other countries…Upon seeing that a given book has something to do with Islam, they will regard it as a priceless treasure!
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Ahmadi murrabi’s sent?
Click to access Ismael-Jul-Sep-2019-EN.pdf
Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 7, p. 201
Sufi Abdul Ghafoor Sahib was allegedly sent to China.
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1914
The ROR of Jan-1914 alleges that there are Ahmadi’s in China.
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1916
The July-1916 edition of the ROR has an article entitled, “The Ahmadiyya Movement and the British Government”. It then reproduces a letter from 1912, from Hong Kong, wherein the colonists informed the governor of the Punjab about the situation of Ahmadi’s in Hong Kong and how the Muslims of Hong Kong wouldn’t allow Ahmadi’s to be buried in their cemetery.
The ROR of Dec-1916 allegedly tells the world that they received reports positive reports from Hong Kong (whatever that means).
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1917
The ROR of June-1917 reports that Ahmadiyya Movement has an honorary missionary working in Hong Kong.
The ROR of Oct-Nov-1917 reports of an Ahmadiyya Anjuman in Hong Kong. The secretary of this Anjuman reports that the Ahmadi’s in Hong Kong are willing to pay for a murrabi to be sent from Qadian.
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1918
The ROR of June-1918 reports unrest in China and asserts that MGA predicted it.
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1920
https://www.reviewofreligions.org/21699/review-of-religions-july-1920-edition/
The July-1920 edition of the ROR claims that Mufti Muhammad Sadiq converted 6 people to Ahmadiyya, of which 5 were Chinese.
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1921
The Moslem Sunrise of July-1921alleges that Ahmadiyya has spread to China and has a branch therein and names Mr. Ghulam Mujtaba as their missionary.
The Moslem Sunrise of Oct-1921 alleges that Ahmadiyya has spread to China and has a branch therein and names Mr. Ghulam Mujtaba as their missionary.
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1922
The Moslem Sunrise of Jan-1922 alleges that Ahmadiyya has spread to China and has a branch therein and names Mr. Ghulam Mujtaba as their missionary.
The Moslem Sunrise (April-1922) alleges that Ahmadiyya has spread to China and has a branch therein and names Mr. Ghulam Mujtaba as their missionary.
The Moslem Sunrise (July-1922) alleges that Ahmadiyya has spread to China and has a branch therein and names Mr. Ghulam Mujtaba as their missionary.
The Al Fazl of 2 October 1922 reports that Ahmadiyya has spread to China.
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1923
The Moslem Sunrise of Apr. & July 1923 alleges that Ahmadiyya has spread to China and has a branch therein and names Mr. Ghulam Mujtaba as their missionary.
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1924
The Moslem Sunrise of Jan-1924 alleges that Ahmadiyya has spread to Hong Kong and names Mr. Ghulam Mujtaba as their missionary.
The Moslem Sunrise of Apr-1924 alleges that Ahmadiyya has spread to Hong Kong and names Mr. Ghulam Mujtaba as their missionary.
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1926
In the August edition of the ROR, on the cover, a chinese man’s photo is given, his name is alleged to be Mr. T. Sakuma, and it is listed that he is the Director of the International Moslem Association, and editor of the “Light of Islam”, Shanghai, China.
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In an official document presented to the Governor General of India, the Ahmadiyya Movement and the 2nd Khalifa claim to have many local converts to Ahmadiyya (See ROR of April-1934).
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1935
The ROR of Nov-1935 has an essay from a correspondant in China.
Ahmadiyya sources allege that part of the Tehrik-e-Jadid fund (See page 20), a missionary named, is sent to China. Sufi Abdul Ghafoor, who was sent to China (Tarikh-e-Ahmadiyyat, Vol. 7, p. 201). 2 years later, he was sent to Japan, it seems that the missionary work in China failed.
The ROR of Jan-1936 alleges that Ahmadiyya has centers in many countries of the world, these were all represented at the 1935 Jalsa at Qadian. They are as follows: England, America, Japan, China, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Java and Sumatra, Nigeria, Nairobi (Modern day Kenya), Afghanistan and Persia.
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1936
The ROR of Jan-1936 alleges that Ahmadiyya has centers in many countries of the world, these were all represented at the 1935 Jalsa at Qadian. They are as follows: England, America, Japan, China, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Java and Sumatra, Nigeria, Nairobi (Modern day Kenya), Afghanistan and Persia.
At the 1936 Jalsa at Qadian (See ROR of Jan-1937), the 2nd Khalifa alleged that new missionary centers had been setup in China.
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1937
The ROR of Oct-1937 alleges that S. Abdul Ghafur founded the mission in 1935, and currently Sh, Abdul Wahid was working as a missionary in the country.
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1939
The ROR of Dec-1939 claims that the 2nd Khalifa is known from Chicago to Hong Kong.
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1943
The ROR of Dec-1943 has a letter from J.D. Shams to a Christian missionary. This letter was written some time ago and allegedly addressed to a female Christian missionary in China.
Sufi Muti-ur-Rahman Bengali has an essay in the ROR of March-1943 entitled, “The Ahmadiyya Movement”. From Chicago! He also alleges that Ahmadiyya has spread around the world in countries/continents like England, North and South America (Trinidad and Suriname), various parts of Africa (mostly, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya), Italy, Palestine, Dutch East Indies (aka Indonesia), Straight Settlements (aka Malaysia), China, Japan and Mauritius.
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1945
Moslems in China are discussed in the ROR of Jan-1945, this seems to be from the Moslem World magazine.
The ROR of March-1945 alleges that there is an active mission in China.
The ROR of Nov-1945 alleges that there is an active Qadiani-Ahmadi mission in Hong Kong.
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1946
The ROR of Nov-1946 alleges that a successful mission center has been setup by the Qadiani’s in Indo-China, that seems odd because Indo-China normally refers to Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia.
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1949
In 1949, Mohammad Chong from Beijing, Osman Chau from Anhwei, two of the four Chinese students heading to Pakistan, for religious missionary training, 1949. The most famous Chinese Ahmadi is ended up being Usman Chini sahab aka Osman Chau from Anhwei, the other Mohammad Chong seems to have went missing in Ahmadiyya history. However, per this academic study of 2018,
There are no known organized Ahmadi communities in China. Besides a number of refugees, students and expatriates. The Chinese section of the movement is itself based in Surrey, United Kingdom, as opposed to being based in China.
In the year 1949, four Ahmadi Muslim Chinese students, from various parts of China, sailed via Singapore on SS Shirala, for Rabwah, Pakistan, in order to undergo a five-year course at the Pakistani branch of the Ahmadiyya University of Theology and Languages. The students, all in their twenties, were Mohammad Chong from Beijing, Osman Chau from Anhwei, Idris Wong and Ibrahim Ma, both from Shandong. While Chong previously studied at an Islamic school in the capital, the rest were students of Nanjing University.[2]
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1952-1953
S.E. Brush was told by Ahmadi’s at Rabwah at China had severed all ties with Ahmadiyya.
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1953-1956
Jamia Ahmadiyya Students sitting in the front row. The photo was taken between 1953 – 1956. Sheikh Amri Abedi (Tanzania) is sitting with his legs crossed in the front row third from the left. Abdul Wahab Adam (Ghana) is sitting with his legs crossed in the front row seventh from the left or 1st from the right. Osman Chou (chinese Ahmadi) can also be seen, first row, second to right. Zafrullah Khan can be seen too.
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1966
In 1966 Muhammad Osman Chou, an Ahmadi Muslim missionary who grew up in Anhui, China, was transferred to Singapore in April 1966. During his term, which lasted 3 years, he translated a number of Ahmadiyya books into Mandarin, including, The Philosophy of the Teachings of Islam and Ahmadiyyat, the True Islam.[5]
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1976
The Muslim Sunrise of July-1976 was edited/published by Mian Muhammad Ibrahim (a Qadiani-Ahmadi Maulvi) and from Dayton, Ohio. Imam M.S. Shahid (Missionary-in-Charge, USA) is the consulting editor and Dr. Khalil Ahmad Nasir is the contributing editor. The arrival of Mirza Nasir Ahmad is announced, he seems to have already arrived (he landed on July-20-1976) before the publishing of this edition. It is claimed that there are 10 million Ahmadi’s in the world. It is alleged that the attendance at the 1975 Jalsa Salana at Rabwah was the highest ever. Imam M.S. Shahid (Missionary-in-Charge, USA) has an essay. The Ahmadiyya Movement alleges to have 10 million members worldwide and alleges to be an International Organization. They allege to be operating in Ghana, the Gambia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Canada, Guyana, Trinidad, the USA, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Yemen, Argentina, Australia, Burma, Bukhara (Uzbekistan), Egypt, Borneo (Brunei?), France, Gulf states (maybe Qatar or the U.A.E.), Hong Kong (China), Iran, Italy, Thailand, Lebanon, Muscat (Oman), Yugoslavia, Iraq, Turkey and Malaysia. It is alleged that in the USA there are 26 jamaats, 300 mosques in Ghana and over 100 mosques in Indonesia. A new mosque in Sweden is mentioned, the Fazl mosque in London is declared as the oldest mosque in Europe (a lie, the Woking is the oldest), 1 mosque in Holland (Netherlands) and 1 mosque in Switzerland, and 2 in West Germany (Frankfurt and Hamburg). The Ahmadiyya Movement then shows its 5 temple-mosques in the USA, St. Louis, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Ny and Dayton. The Dowie prophecy is mentioned. Dr. Khalil Ahmad Nasir has an essay on world peace. There is also a photo of all of the Jamaat Presidents from Feb-1976. A list of 27 jamaats in the USA are mentioned, my uncle Sharif Ahmad Shah is mentioned at 2001 Newton Way, Concord, Ca 94518, 415-687-0133.
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1987-2000
Hassan Bin Mahmood Odeh says that as he worked as a Qadiani-Ahmadi missionary, he only knew of one Ahmadi who was Chinese, and that was Usman, his wife and children.
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2011
By 2011, there were approximately 60 Ahmadi Muslim refugees living on the outskirts of Beijing.[5] In particular, 34 Ahmadi Muslim refugees were residing in Yanjiao, east of Beijing; whilst in Langfang, south of the capital, there were about 20 Ahmadi Muslim refugees. The Ahmadis constituted the largest share of all refugees in North China.[6]
In April 2012, the head of the Ahmadiyya movement of Israel, Muhammad Sharif Odeh visited Yinchuan, the provincial capital of Ningxia. Odeh held a meeting with Li Rui, the vice chairman of the autonomous province, taking the opportunity to introduce the peaceful and humanitarian activities of the Ahmadiyya movement around the world. He led a delegation to participate at the China-Arab Economic Trade Forum held in September of the same year.[7][8] Ningxia is one of the two Chinese provinces with a large proportion of the population following the Islamic faith. Approximately 33% are estimated to be Muslim in the province, while almost 60% are estimated to follow the religion in Xinjiang.[9]
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Links and Related Essay’s
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmadiyya_in_China
file:///C:/Users/xobas/Downloads/Chen_columbia_0054D_14557.pdf
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#ahmadiyyainchina #china
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Mohammad Chong from Beijing, Osman Chau from Anhwei, two of the four Chinese students heading to Pakistan, for religious missionary training, 1949.
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