Controlling Religious Knowledge and Education for Countering Religious Extremism – Case study of the Uyghur Muslims in China

Abstract

As a secularist state, China has always been highly sensitive about religious traditions, particularly Islam. During the late 1990s and especially after the 9/11 terrorist events, the government rhetoric has been to equate the Islamic knowledge and identity with violent ethnic separatism, and more recently extremism and terrorism (Roberts, 2016, 2018). Thus, the Uyghurs’ right to access Islamic knowledge and practice Islam has been increasingly restricted and diminished (Cook, 2017; Millward, 2018). After reviewing the recent history of Chinese rhetoric and policies regarding the religious education in Xinjiang, this article discusses the possible ramifications of such developments, via the lenses of post-colonialism, the Politics of Recognition (Taylor, 1994), the push and pull factors that trigger radicalization, and religious literacy.  Meanwhile, through sharing the perspectives of the Uyghur diaspora in Canada, the author also highlights that current Chinese policies and practices could deepen the “us” vs. “them” dichotomy between the Muslim Uyghurs and the majority Han population as well as the Chinese state, therefore creating more tension in society.