October 2018

12
BOOKS
Book Review
China and Islam: The Prophet, the Party, and Law
By Matthew S Erie. New York: Cambridge University Press. 2016. 447pp.
‘In China, state law
severs religion from
religious law, yet
following Islamic law
is central to Muslim minorities’
ideas of good life, defined
such values as authenticity,
piety, orthodoxy and purity. ]
This book is a study about how
Hui [Muslims] exercise this
capacity when the Party-State,
backed by its monopoly on
force, mobilises considerable
institutional and discursive
resources to make Islam
conform to Chinese socialism
and nationalism.’
Matthew S Erie, an
anthropologist-lawyer, has
written a pioneering study
based on extensive primary
sources and 18 months of
field-work in Linxia (formerly
Hezhou), known as “Little
Mecca,” an important Islamic
centre in Gansu Province.
This is the first ethnography
of Islamic law in China with a
focus on the substantive and
procedural conflicts between
the Shari’ah and Chinese state
law.
China’s Islamic law revival is
part of an Islamic renaissance
in the country, one that is
particularly visible among Hui
communities.
Erie finds that both Hui and the
Party-State invoke, interpret,
and make arguments based
on Islamic law, a minjian
(unofficial) law in China, to
pursue their respective visions
of ‘the good’.
This study follows Hui ulama,
youthful translators on the
‘New Silk Road’, female
educators who reform
traditional madrasas, and Party
cadres as they reconcile Islamic
and socialist laws in the course
of the everyday.
Erie places his study within the
established field of “law and
society,” carefully elucidating
the categories used in China –
such as jiaofa (religious law)
and xiguanfa (customary law),
and the changing relationship
between state and non-state
legal systems under Qing,
Republican, and Communist
rule. ‘My use of “law” is
shorthand for what would
otherwise be an enumeration
(ie, “law” plus “ethics” plus
“morals” plus “customs”)’.
The substantive chapters of
China and Islam focus on areas
of potential contradiction
and disorder, narrating both
structural, institutional
histories and personal tales of
community life and conflict
resolution.
China has more than 23 million
Muslims. The Party-State
identified ten distinct Muslim
ethnic groups as part of its
nation-building efforts in the
1950s. In contemporary China,
the largest group is Hui, of
whom there are over 10 million,
(10,586,087) followed by
Uyghurs, (10,069,346). Unlike
Uyghurs, Hui are geographically
dispersed throughout China. Hui
identify as the descendants of
the Persian and Arab merchants,
migrants, and envoys who
entered China beginning in Tang
Dynasty (618-907 CE).
However, they are concentrated
in Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai and
eastern Xinjiang. Even though
Hui have a much longer history
of interaction and intermarriage
with the majority Han Chinese,
they face considerable
discrimination and confined to
a second-class citizenship in
China.
Hui Muslims have adopted a
‘flexible and tolerant form
of Islamic law in regard to
interactions with the Han
majority. From their daily
prayer obligations to disposing
of real property and marrying in
accordance with scripture, Hui
work through and around both
the rules of the Party and those
of the state.’
Erie has not focused on the
Turkic-speaking Muslims
(Uyghurs) of Xinjiang, maybe
because of the sensitivity of
the region which has been
suppressed by the Government.
However, even to Muslims
across other parts of the
country, ‘to be Muslim in post-
2009 China is to be a suspect
class. Such adaptability has
enabled them to integrate
into China’s markets and state
bureaucracies. ’
The book is very well
researched and insightful
account of Hui Muslims and
challenges they face practising
Islam and Islamic law in China.
Reviewed by Abdul Adil and
this article first appeared
online on:
www.MuslimNews.co.uk
Book Launch
‘Step Up Embrace The Leader Within’
Brisbane
Sisters Support Services had the pleasure
of hosting Kathryn Jones at the launch of her
recently published book ‘ Step Up Embrace The
Leader Within,’ on Tuesday the 25th of September
at Michael’s Oriental. Kathryn greeted and
personally signed each book for all the attendees of
the evening.
At Sisters Support Services we are very big on
empowering women and jumped at the chance
to coordinate this event with Kathryn due to her
extensive experience and background. She is the
founder of the ‘Beautiful Muslimah Academy’,
the annual ‘Me First Summit’ and she is known
internationally as the ‘Peaceful Parenting Coach’ as
well as being a Business Performance Coach.
Kathryn’s focus is on supporting Muslim women to
step us and embrace the leader within themselves,
so they can take charge of their lives, rather than
have life take charge of them. This evening,
Kathryn inspired all the sisters in the room to
embrace the leader within and to have the
confidence to make the right decisions to benefit
themselves and those around them whether they
are a home maker, community leader or working
within in a professional role.
I highly recommend the book. I particularly liked
the fact that it is referenced with Quran and
authentic hadith, which is great evidence and back
up to incorporate and implement into our everyday
lives, to use as a tool to benefit ourselves as
empowered women in Islam and those around us.
If anyone would like a copy of the book, we have
some available to purchase for only $20.
Please contact us on 0404 921 620 or email on
contact@sisterssupportservices.org.au
Aliyah (Alison Berger)
Sisters Support Services Inc
الوسط ¿ 94 صفَ‏ ر 1440 ه ¿ تشرين األول AL WASAT 94 ¿ Safar 1440 ¿ October 2018