Islam during the Yuan dynasty

History

Political status of Muslims

Unlike the western khanates, emperors of the Yuan dynasty did not convert to Islam. However, they elevated the status of foreigners from West Asia. Peoples such as the Muslim Persians and Arabs from West Asia worked in high-ranking posts instead of native Confucian scholars. These Islamic peoples from various regions were later referred to as the Semu people, meaning "various sorts".

At the same time the Mongols imported Muslims from West Asia to serve as administrators in China, the Mongols also sent Han and Khitans from China to serve as administrators over the Muslim population in Bukhara in Central Asia, using foreigners to curtail the power of the local peoples of both lands.

The territory of the Yuan dynasty was divided into 12 districts during the reign of Kublai (Emperor Shizu) with a governor and vice-governor each. According to the Iranian historian Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, of these 12 governors, 8 were Muslims; in the remaining districts, Muslims were vice-governors.

Over 10,000 Muslim names can be identified in Yuan historical records. The standard word for Muslims in Chinese language documents of the late Yuan period is "Huihui" (回回). The Muslims were overseen by a Huihui named Yeheidie'erding (Amir al-Din) who designed Qionghua island which sits in the lake of Beihai Park in central Beijing. In the fourteenth century, the total population of Muslims in China was 4,000,000.

New communities

The Yuan dynasty saw the formation of Muslim communities in North China and Yunnan. The descendants of these communities who were to merge completely with the local Han population, nevertheless sought down to our own day to preserve their own personality and were to show a marked tendency to autonomy.

Yuan oppression of Muslims

At a later period, Genghis Khan and the succeeding Yuan emperors forbade Islamic practices, such as slaughtering of animals in a “[halal]” manner and Circumcision. Genghis Khan directly referred Muslims and Jews as "slaves", demanding that they should follow the Mongol method of eating rather than the halal method. Jews were also affected, being forbidden to eat Kosher.

Among all the [subject] alien peoples only the Hui-hui say “we do not eat Mongol food”. [Cinggis Qa’an replied:] “By the aid of heaven we have pacified you; you are our slaves. Yet you do not eat our food or drink. How can this be right?” He thereupon made them eat. “If you slaughter sheep, you will be considered guilty of a crime.” He issued a regulation to that effect ... [In 1279/1280 under Qubilai] all the Muslims say: “if someone else slaughters [the animal] we do not eat”. Because the poor people are upset by this, from now on, Musuluman [Muslim] Huihui and Zhuhu [Jewish] Huihui, no matter who kills [the animal] will eat [it] and must cease slaughtering sheep themselves, and cease the rite of circumcision.

Rebellion

At the end, corruption and the persecution became so severe that Muslim generals joined the Han people in rebelling against the Yuan dynasty. The Ming founder Zhu Yuanzhang had Muslim generals like Lan Yu who rebelled against the Yuan and defeated them in combat. Some Muslim communities adopted the Chinese name which meant "barracks" and "thanks". Many Hui Muslims claim it is because the Han people played an important role in overthrowing the Yuan dynasty and it was thus named to honor the those who assisted them.

Muslims in the semu class also revolted against the Yuan dynasty in the Ispah Rebellion but the rebellion was crushed and the Muslims were massacred by the Yuan loyalist commander Chen Youding.

During the Ming conquest of Yunnan, Muslim generals Mu Ying and Lan Yu led Muslim troops loyal to the Ming dynasty against Mongol and Muslim troops loyal to the Yuan dynasty.