Date: Tuesday, November 18, 2025
Time: 6:30 PM 鈥� 7:30 PM (Chicago Time)
Venue: Online via Zoom
How do Muslims in China live, worship, and sustain their traditions under a Communist one-party state?
In this talk, Dr. Michael Brose explores how Islam has taken shape within the People鈥檚 Republic of China鈥攁 state that formally guarantees 鈥渇reedom of religion鈥� while still regarding faith as 鈥渢he opiate of the people.鈥�
Dr. Brose will introduce China鈥檚 ten officially recognized Muslim ethnic groups鈥攊ncluding the Hui, Uyghur, Kazakh, Dongxiang, Salar, Tajik, Uzbek, Bonan, Tatar, and Kyrgyz鈥攁nd discuss where they live, how they differ in culture and language, and how they practice their faith in modern China.
The lecture will also consider how China鈥檚 broader project of Sinicization鈥攂uilding a unified national identity centered on Han culture鈥攕hapes religious and ethnic life. Islam, with its global connections and strong communal identity, presents a unique challenge to this effort.
Two key regions illustrate these contrasting experiences:
Xinjiang: Home to the Turkic Uyghurs, whose history, language, and Islamic identity have come under intense state control and repression. ()
Yunnan: A region where Chinese-speaking Hui Muslims maintain deep trade and cultural links with Southeast Asia, offering a different example of how Islam coexists with Chinese society. ()
By comparing these two cases, Dr. Brose sheds light on how Islamic identity and practice have evolved under Communist rule and how Muslim communities continue to navigate faith, ethnicity, and belonging in modern China.
