Faithful Servants
Muezzin Still Calls at Beijing's Oldest Mosque

Sportsman of the last century Muhammad Ali visited a few years back, and last week they hosted Iran's vice president and the Indonesian vice president.

There is no shortage of celebrity guests from the one and a half billion Muslims worldwide, but Niujie Mosque's primary task remains the same as it was 1,000 years ago-- to serve the faithful of the Beijing Muslim quarter, currently numbering 11,000, who live along a narrow, ancient street of green doors and bustling stalls.

In the heart of the Moslem quarter, Niujie was built in 996 by Nazruddin, an Arabian scholar who served as an official in the Liao Dynasty. It was enlarged and renovated in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, and twice under the Communists. It is the oldest and the largest of the city's 68 mosques. A high wall surrounds the 6,000 square-meter garden of ancient trees and buildings that combine elements of Arabic and Chinese architecture.

Non-Muslim tourists are not allowed into this prayer hall. But they can peep through the window, say Bai.

After examining golden, glinting Korans donated by distinguished guests, mosque director Bai Zengfu directs us to a wooden board in the mosque's (private) reception room, which carries a declaration from the Qing Emperor Kangxi (1662-1723) to the effect that people of all nationalities are equal.

In the 33rd year of Kangxi's reign, an official reported to the emperor that the Muslim people in the Niujie area were planning a revolt to overthrow the government.

Kangxi didn't believe the official, and so he dressed as a layman and investigated himself. He discovered there was no plot. He went back and issued an imperial notice, in which he supported the rightfulness of religious belief and urged Chinese Han people to understand and live peacefully alongside Muslims.

The local official was granted the right the kill the people who had claimed Muslims were revolting, without the need to consult with the emperor beforehand.

The emperor's declaration has yet to lose relevancy. Bai takes us to a small courtyard with two tablets commemorating Muslim missionaries Ahmad Al-Thani Alkhdoni and Ali Ben Al-Khar Emad Al-dine Al-Behari.

Ramadan is the busiest day.

They came to Niujie Mosque to lecture around 1270. Ahmed died in 1280, Ali 1283. Their tombs are here. The characters on the tablets recording their stories are still clear. During the Cultural Revolution, the senior imam buried the tablets underground. The mosque closed for 10 years in 1969.

Outside in the sunshine, the minaret dominates the courtyard. It faces the prayer hall, decorated in brilliant red and gold and facing Mecca, as well as a bathhouse for pre-prayer ablutions, a small school and the hexagonal tower. This six-sided Song Dynasty building was originally intended for observing the moon and calculating the time of Ramadan.

Imam Li Shuwen, one of nine imams at the mosque, says yes, they sometimes use the minaret (6.20am, 1.30pm, 3.30, 4.50 and 6.40 pm. Non-Muslims can watch prayers from outside). But this isn't Egypt, he says, so they tend to keep the volume down.

The end of Ramadan is good for business.

Everyone else is napping. This is the first day of Ramadan. It can be tough, and the faithful generally take a morning siesta to dull the hunger. It hits hardest around lunchtime.

The fasting, known as siyam, involves abstinence from eating, drinking, smoking and marital intercourse, and is observed throughout the daylight hours of the 29 or 30 days of the lunar month of Ramadan.

It teaches believers patience and self-control, as well as reminding them of their responsibility for the millions of human beings in the world who lack provisions or are victims of unjust distribution.

The fasting is accompanied by increased efforts toward good manners and righteous deeds, along with additional worship at night. It is not supposed to be a retreat from life, but rather, a supplement to one's ordinary activities.

On this first day, Li sits and graciously entertains a foreign editor and a Chinese reporter who proceed to ask him a series of ignorant questions:

The white hat? "It's not compulsory, it symbolizes purity."

Prayers? "On a train, you can pray silently to God if you must. If you miss one, you can make it up later."

Conduct? "No shorts, no skirts, no smoking or drinking."

Dual admission price? "I'm not sure if it's still policy. I will suggest they make the price the same for foreigners. No offence is intended."
It was during Ramadan, when people only eat at night and rest during the day, that the misunderstanding mentioned earlier occurred with the emperor's official.

The busiest time is the end of Ramadan this month, January 8, when those who have submitted their will to God celebrate the end of their long, lunar fast.

Minaret

Thousands will come, says Bai, and points to a photo of an entire courtyard full of Muslims at prayer.

The Niujie area will soon change radically. Local residents now mostly live in poor-but-quaint housing, but sometime next year will be moved into modern apartments when the first phase of the Niujie area reconstruction project is finished, says mosque director Bai Zengfu. Bai says he is delighted at the prospect of rubble and rubbish being replaced by grass and gardens around the mosque walls.