Muslim students look to the future

As the students filed into the mosque at the Xinjiang Islamic Institute, Chinese construction workers repairing the buildings quietly laid down their tools and waited in silence as the scholars performed the fourth of the five daily prayers required by the Muslim faith.

On graduation from the institute in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, the students will be awarded bachelor's degrees and then return to their hometowns where they will gradually become the new generation of mosque leaders.

The carpets of the traditional-style mosque - a structure topped with minarets and an onion dome whose windows allow sunlight to flood the prayer hall - have been removed for cleaning while the workers fix a leak in the roof. Funded by the regional government, the main building and dormitory of the school have also been reinforced to make them less vulnerable to earthquake damage.

After 15 minutes of prayer, the students stood up and put their shoes back on. They then walked back to their classrooms in the four-story building next door. A few minutes later, the beautiful, calming sound of chanting could be heard as Quran recitation classes resumed.

China has 10 Islamic institutes; Xinjiang is among the largest and the only one that teaches in the language of the Uygur ethnic group. The students' day begins before sunrise with the first prayer, and in contrast to secular universities, all courses at the school are scheduled to take place between the prayer sessions.

The mosque, built in 1987 when the institute was founded, is an important teaching facility where students learn how to perform a variety of religious tasks.

"Senior students take turns learning how to take prayers and interpret the Quran. That's the minimum they are expected to do. Some are overwhelmed at first but they have to get used to it," said Abudurehep Turmniaz, dean of the institute, which currently has 219 students, most of whom follow the Sunni branch of Islam.

"Although they will have a bachelor's degree and a deep knowledge of Islam after five years of study, it will still take years for them to gain the respect of the locals and become imams (leaders of worship at mosques)."

The Quran, the holy book of Islam, must be recited in Arabic. For those whose first language is not Arabic, memorizing all 30 books of the Quran word for word and then chanting them requires skill and dedication. The institute invites voice teachers to train elite students and help them improve their chanting.

"We require our students to digest and memorize two books (of the Quran) every semester, but for some it's a very challenging task. Officials can use notes when addressing the public, imams can't. Locals won't accept an imam who cannot chant fluently by heart," said the bearded Abudurehep, dressed in a traditional imam's gown.

"Simply memorizing the Quran is not enough. I need to understand the exact meaning of every Arabic word, so I can interpret it correctly for the people," said Jamarlitin Wahli, who wore sneakers and a sweat shirt. Although the sophomore is only 20, he is already one of the few people at the institute who can recite all 30 books of the Quran.

Jamarlitin's sonorous voice and accurate pronunciation led to him being selected by the Chinese Islamic Association to represent the country at an international Quran recitation contest in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates in July. He left with the award for excellence.

"Although my chanting is not that much different from people from other countries, I feel that I am actually better at it than most of them," he said.

The young scholar hails from Artux city in southern Xinjiang, where his grandfather - an imam at a small mosque - began teaching him the Quran at an early age. The old man is proud that his grandson was accepted as a student by the best Islamic academy in the region.

"My grandfather always asks me not to be arrogant and to take the opportunity to master the spirit of the Quran so I can teach him when I return home," said Jamarlitin.

"In the past, the Quran was passed down by word of mouth in Xinjiang. It was easy to tell whether an imam came from Turpan in the east or Kashgar in the south because of his accent when he chanted. But at the institute, we teach the students Arabic according to classical pronunciation. Some of our teachers are sent abroad to study so they can set the standard," said the dean.

When Memetimin Abudulla returned to the institute in 2011 after five years at Al-Azhar University in Egypt, the world's leading center for the study of Arabic literature and Islamic learning, he was surprised at the transformation the institute had undergone.

"When I arrived as a freshman in 2000, the institute only had one building. We didn't have a dormitory or canteen. Now I feel that the teaching and living conditions here are even better than at Al-Azhar," said the 29-year-old Kashgar native, looking smart in his blue suit. "Now at least, students don't need to stand through classes because there are not enough tables and chairs as they do sometimes at Al-Azhar. But there is so much to learn in Egypt - it's like swimming in an ocean of knowledge."

At age 15, Memetimin became determined to study at the Xinjiang institute after hearing a recording of the Quran being chanted by one of the teachers at the school: "The chanting was so beautiful and I said to myself that I need to learn from the best, but I never imagined that I would study at Al-Azhar University."