Statement on the Situation of Muslims in East Turkistan - China
Iumsonline.net – Aug. 4, 2008
All praise is due to Almighty Allah, and peace and prayers be upon the Messenger of Allah. The secretariat-general of the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS) follows with increasing concern the circulating news that Chinese authorities demolished a mosque in Kalpin county near Aksu city in Xinjiang, confiscated copies of the Ever-Glorious Qur’an that were in that mosque and arrested a large number of Muslims during the attack. Fifteen Muslim Uighurs were convicted in a closed trial on July 9; two of them were executed, three others were given suspended death sentences and the remaining ten received life imprisonment.
Regardless of the reasons claimed by Chinese authorities to justify these actions, they must be read in the context of the ongoing persecution against Muslims in East Turkistan. This persecution was quite clear when Chinese police this year detained 82 people in Xinjiang whom they said were planning to attack the Beijing Olympics, and China claimed it had crushed a group in Xinjiang that was plotting to kidnap foreign journalists, tourists and athletes during the Olympics.
About eight million Muslims in East Turkistan are in need of urgent and continuous protection and help from Islamic countries and Muslims, and spreading awareness about their issue by preachers and scholars.
Accordingly, the secretariat-general of the IUMS calls upon all its members to follow the news on this issue in the international mass media, place this issue at the center of their activities and interests, and invite Muslim officials all over the world as well as local and international human rights organizations to pay a great deal of attention to this persecuted Muslim minority; as this may induce Chinese authorities to change its treatment of Muslims in East Turkistan.
In addition, the IUMS calls upon his Excellency the secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) to leave no stone unturned and to seek to convince the Chinese government to pay due attention to this matter and make the necessary decisions and measures for treating the Muslims of Turkistan in a way that suits a country with such a great and ancient civilization as the People's Republic of China. Also, the IUMS hopes that his Excellency the secretary-general of the OIC provides member states with copies of this statement and calls upon them to exert every effort to protect the Muslim minority in East Turkistan through their good relations with China. The honorable Prophet (peace and blessing be upon him) said, “A believer to another believer is like a building whose different parts enforce each other.” (Agreed upon on the authority of Abu Musa Al-Ash`ari) And, “The believers as regards their being merciful among themselves and showing love among themselves and being kind, resemble one body, so that, if any part of the body is not well then the whole body shares the sleeplessness (insomnia) and fever with it.” (Agreed upon on the authority of An-Nu`man ibn Basheer)
The secretariat-general of the IUMS will continue to follow up this matter and cooperate with all organizations and governmental as well as popular bodies regarding this critical issue.
Allah is the Grantor of success
Sha`ban 3, 1429 A.H., corresponding to Aug. 4, 2008
Secretary-General
Dr. Muhammad Selim Al-`Awwa
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