Uighur muslim women, speak are we listening?
On the authority of Abu Sa`eed al-Khudree (may Allah be pleased with him) who said:
I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say, “Whosoever of you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then [let him change it] with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart — and that is the weakest of faith.” [Muslim]
The Uighurs are a predominantly Muslim, Turkic ethnicity who live in China’s North-Western Xinjiang Province traditionally known as East Turkistan. In recent years, however, the current government of China has stepped up its repression of this community, destroying traditional neighborhoods and rounding up well over a million men, and sending them into concentration camps for “re-education” and forced labor. The disappearance of so many (some say as many as three million are affected) has created a palpable atmosphere of fear in the region and extending to the Uighur community in the United States.
In the last decades of increased globalization, western companies have become complicit in the repression of the Uighur people. Some US companies have been found purchasing clothing made by slave labor in the region and the tech sector has been implicated in the vast surveillance system imposed on cities in Xinjiang.
As the Washington Post editorial board observed: “All who believe in the principle of “never again” after the horror of the Nazi extermination camps and Stalin’s gulag must speak up against China’s grotesque use of brainwashing, prisons, and torture.” (Link)
The destruction of the Uighur culture and community has many of the hallmarks of genocide. As with the Chinese repression of Tibetan Buddhists, Chinese destruction of traditional Muslim culture has been developing over time (Link) only to reach a level of large scale destruction (Link)
It is deeply disappointing that many Muslim countries have failed to take action; indeed, several have explicitly endorsed its policies (Link) towards the Uighur! It is truly unfortunate that China has convinced some leaders that the repression of Uighur is justified by security concerns (Link) In other cases, as with Pakistan, it appears that debt related to development under China’s Belt and Road project may be a factor in reining in necessary condemnation. The Uighur suffer and the world looks on. www.justiceforall.org
Inshallah if you would like to practically do something to help your sister and brothers, here are two Muslim organisations to checkout.
www.cage.ngo - UK