By: Jonathan Lipman
Edinburgh University Press - Jun 2016
How can people belong simultaneously to two cultures, originating in
two different places and expressed in two different languages, without
alienating themselves from either? Muslims have lived in the Chinese
culture area for 1400 years, and the intellectuals among them have long
wrestled with this problem. Unlike Persian, Turkish, Urdu, or Malay, the
Chinese language never adopted vocabulary from Arabic to enable a
precise understanding of Islam’s religious and philosophical
foundations. Islam thus had to be translated into Chinese, which lacks
words and arguments to justify monotheism, exclusivity, and other
features of this Middle Eastern religion. Even in the 21st century,
Muslims who are culturally Chinese must still justify their devotion to a
single God, avoidance of pork, and their communities’ distinctiveness,
among other things, to sceptical non-Muslim neighbours and an
increasingly intrusive state.
The essays in this collection narrate the continuing translations and
adaptations of Islam and Muslims in Chinese culture and society through
the writings of Sino-Muslim intellectuals. Progressing chronologically
and interlocking thematically, they help the reader develop a coherent
understanding of the intellectual issues at stake.
READ MORE......
