Increasing knowledge of the Quran seen as essential in keeping followers on right track

Islamic leaders are finding it hard to cope with the increasing demands of followers in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region who can be susceptible to manipulation by extremists trying to achieve political goals, according to the head of the Xinjiang Islamic Institute.

Making religious leaders in Xinjiang learn more about Islam so they can convince followers of the validity of their Islamic teaching is the fundamental solution to curbing the spread of religious extremism, which is behind the growing number of terrorist attacks in China, said Adudulrekep Tumniaz, head of Xinjiang Islamic Institute and deputy director of Xinjiang Islamic Association.

"If the religious leaders compete with the extremists on Islamic knowledge, I cannot guarantee that they could win. That's what worries me," he said. "The extremists often start by teaching people about the parts of the Quran - Islam's holy book - that have never been mentioned by their Imams and then inject violent thoughts in people by misinterpreting the doctrines. They also use multimedia tools to attract young people who believe their local Imam's teachings are dull and lack new content."

Campus project

Xinjiang has the most mosques in China, more than 24,000. About 50 percent of the 28,000 religious leaders in the mosques have at most only a primary school education. What's more, 72 percent learned the Quran on their own, Adudulrekep said.

"We have a shortage of high-level, respected religious leaders, and we must do something about it. The region has a Muslim population of 12 million, about half of China's Muslim population," he said.

Since the Xinjiang Islamic Institute was founded 28 years ago in Urumqi, the regional capital, it has produced about 700 graduates, most of whom have religious roles in the region's mosques.

"The extremists won't come near the mosques where our students are because they know they their misinterpretation of the Quran would easily be rejected," he said.

To meet the demand for religious leaders knowledgeable of Islam, the institute invested 300 million yuan ($48 million) in 2014 to launch an expansion project. The new campus will be three times larger than the old one and be able to teach 1,000 students when it is completed in 2017. More than 200 students will graduate each year with a bachelor's degree. The institute will also provide two-and three-year training courses for religious leaders in Xinjiang.

"When herding their sheep, shepherds rely on the head sheep to lead the flock. They know where the grass and water are, and when they lead, other sheep follow. Our institute aims to prepare respectful, knowledgeable religious leaders who can lead the Muslims of Xinjiang in the right direction," Adudulrekep said.

"If we lack such religious leaders, extremists could distort the Quran and incite Muslims to be hateful and violent, which threatens social stability," he added. "In Xinjiang, improving people's livelihoods also means improving their religious life," he said.

Unfortunately, respected religious leaders have also become the targets of extremists in recent years. In July 2014, the well-known Imam of the Id Kah Mosque, Juma Tayir, was assassinated in front the mosque in Kashgar.

The incident shocked the region's religious leaders and many were concerned about their personal safety. Xinjiang authorities reacted by stepping up measures to protect religious leaders, such as having police officers accompany them from their home to their mosques.

Hearts and minds

Besides distorting the Quran, extremists have extended the definition of "halal" from food to almost everything in order to cast their shadow on people's lives, said Abulet Asan, an official in the regional Religious Affairs Bureau.

"In fact, the pan-halal trend became so strong in past two years that people even refused to drive Chevrolet cars because its logo is shaped like a cross," he said.

Labels marking "halal" on daily necessities other than food have all been removed in southern Xinjiang in an effort to eliminate the pan-halal trend. Religious extremism had a wide and severe influence in rural areas of Xinjiang, especially on farmers who have little education.

"The first task is to let them know the laws and real Islamic doctrine," Abulet said.

The region has conducted many training classes in its prefectures to teach law, regulations, policies and religious knowledge.

By early March, Shanshan county, in the eastern Turpan prefecture, had run 14 sessions of closed training classes, with about 100 trainees for each session.

"Each class lasted a week, with different lecturers in accordance to the needs of different trainees," said Abulikem Abudurem, counselor of the classes.

Abudurehman Memet, 47, a farmer from the Lukqun township, is a devout Muslim. "I learned about illegal religion at the class and also religious policies I never knew about before," he said.

Township officials determined who needed training and the type of training. People with extremist religious thoughts were trained one-on-one.

"When we visited them at home, we were always accompanied by religious personnel who explained the Quran and answered their questions about the religion," said Sayit Yusup, a Turpan official working in Lukqun's Amanxia village. "We found young people and the less-educated were more easily influenced by religious extremism."

The extremism did not originate here and was introduced by the migrant population, said Simayi Matniyaz, 62, Party chief of the village, which has a population of nearly 4,700.

"The extremists come and go, but they leave the seeds of extremism to grow in people's minds," he said.

"The management of videos showing terrorism, brought in by outsiders, has become one of our priorities. We cannot let more people from the village have contact with such material any more," he added.

Three people from Amanxia, which was heavily influenced by religious extremism, were shot dead after their involvement in the terrorist attack in Lukqun on June 26, 2013. Twenty-four innocent people were killed in the attack.

A police investigation showed that before the attack, the attackers had been indoctrinated by religious extremism spread by foreigners, carried out secretive and illegal religious activities, watched terrorist video footage, purchased criminal tools and familiarized themselves with the environment surrounding the targets.

Simayi said he has to try his best to serve the villagers around the clock. "If I didn't serve them well and solve their difficulties in time, they might have complaints against us, or the Party, which would be dangerous," he said.

Ahmet Ablimit, Party chief of the neighboring village, agreed. "Villagers may imitate each other, and if we fail to persuade them to stand with us, they may be drawn to the other side," he said.

Zhang Wenquan, Party chief of Turpan prefecture, likened the education of villagers to dripping irrigation directed at the roots of crops.

"Nearly 97 percent of those affected by extremism have pulled back," Zhang said. "We must help them stay on the right track and not be drawn back again by evil forces.

"The measures we took to eliminate religious extremism have been effective so far. However, it is a tough and complicated job, which may last for a long period," said Abulet from the Religious Affairs Bureau. "The expressions of religious extremism are easy to get rid of, but it is difficult to tell if people have given it up in their hearts."

Contact the writers at cuijia@chinadaily.com.cn and gaobo@chinadaily.com.cn