NAQSHBANDI-JAHRIYYA

The Naqshbandi-Jahriyya is the largest Sufi tariqa in China. It was founded by Ma Mingxin in the 18th Century AD, and claims about one-tenth of the Hui people.

During the 19th Century, the Northwestern Hui Rebellion (1862-1876) was led by a Jahriyya murshid, Ma Huolong. This rebellion split China in half and made way for the 1864-1877 Uigur rebellion in Xinjiang. At the 1985 commemoration ceremony for the Jahriyya tariqa's founder, Ma Mingxin, over 20,000 people gathered for three days at his tomb outside of Lanzhou. The Naqshbandi-Jahriyya tariqa, in contrast to the majority of other Naqshbandi tariqas, emphasizes the loud dhikr over the silent dhikr.

Source: "Muslim Chinese: Ethnic Nationalism in the People's Republic," by Dru C. Gladney (Harvard University Press, 1991).

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