A scandalous visit of the institution’s Secretary-General to China was just another chapter of Sunni authorities’ politically motivated capitulation to Beijing.
by Ma Wenyan
The government-controlled China Islamic Association issued a report, shared on social media, about the visit to China last month of Abbas Schumann, Secretary-General of Al-Azhar’s Council of Elders in Cairo, Egypt. While Sunni Islam does not have a formal hierarchy, the teachings of University al-Azhar are regarded by many as normative. The CCP is thus justified in hailing Schumann’s visit as a success.
On October 27, Schumann met in Beijing Yang Faming and Mu Kefa, President and Vice President of China Islamic Association. President Yang and Secretary-General Schumann visited the Sinicization of Islam Exhibition Center and Fude Library of Dongsi Mosque. They also engaged with students at the China Islamic Theological Seminary.
Schumann’s was more than a tourist visit and a photo opportunity. The trip came after the celebrations of the 10th anniversary of China-Egypt strategic partnership and President Xi Jinping’s meeting this year with Egyptian President Sisi.
Schumann’s speeches, according to the China Islamic Association, hailed an alleged Chinese commitment to religious liberty of Muslims. He stated that Egypt and al-Azhar support China’s “fight against Muslim radicalism, extremism, and separatism,” code words for the CCP repression of the Uyghur and other Turkic Muslims, which several countries have denounced as genocide.
But not Egypt. Schumann said that the Egyptian and Chinese governments, and al-Azhar and China Islamic Association should increase their cooperation in denouncing “extremism.” They should explain to the world that both China and Egypt are threatened by “radicalism and terrorism” and have adopted well-justified measures against the threat.
What this means is that at the United Nations and elsewhere China and Egypt cover each other when their violations of human rights are denounced. This is an old political game, but that respected Middle East Sunni Islamic authorities cooperate with it ignoring the suffering and genocide of the Uyghurs, who are Sunni Muslims as well, is just another intolerable scandal.
