Islam&apos;s Loneliest Cosmopolitan: Badr Al-Din Hai Weiliang, the Lucknow–Cairo Connection, and the Circumscription of Islamic Transnationalism

John Chen, null

doi:10.13169/reorient.3.2.0120

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Volume 3, Issue 2

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Islam's Loneliest Cosmopolitan: Badr Al-Din Hai Weiliang, the Lucknow–Cairo Connection, and the Circumscription of Islamic Transnationalism

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Author(s): John Chen

Publication date (Print): Spring 2018

Journal: ReOrient

Publisher: Pluto Journals

Keywords: Islamic world, Caliphate, Islam in China, Chinese Islam, Iqbal, Nadwat al-'Ulama, al-Azhar, Yuehua , al-Fath , Xinjiang/Turkistan

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Abstract

Badr al-Din Hai Weiliang (1912–?), a Chinese Muslim from rural Hunan, led a deeply transnational life. Hai was the only Chinese Muslim known to have studied in both India and Egypt in the modern period, spending considerable time at both the Nadwat al-‘Ulama in Lucknow and al-Azhar in Cairo. After Chinese, he learned four more languages in two decades: Arabic, Urdu, English, and Persian. While the Second World War transformed him into a longtime Guomindang diplomat, his time at the Nadwa and al-Azhar in the 1930s was largely devoted to questions of Islamic unity. Hai first pursued these questions in a doctrinal mode informed by Salafi currents, then in a political mode influenced by his translation of Iqbal’s “Allahabad address.” His move to Cairo brought him closer to the network of al-Fath and its editor Muhibb al-Din al-Khatib, a strong voice on behalf of Islamic unity, but geopolitics soon intervened. Disillusioned by the failure of the East Turkistan Republic, Hai coped by turning toward a cultural-historical mode of imagining Islamic unity, one that did not require specific political action. The eventual result was his Arabic-language opus Relations between the Arabs and China. Overall, Hai’s story defies both Sino-centric and peripheralized characterizations of Chinese Islam, showing that early-twentieth-century Chinese Islam can be used to write a highly integrated history of the Islamic world. This article contrasts Hai’s numerous Arabic and Chinese writings to show how he embodied the tensions felt across the Islamic world during this period between the national and transnational community.

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John Chen

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Journal ID (doi): 10.13169

Journal ID (publisher-id): reorient

Title: ReOrient

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 20555601

ISSN (Electronic): 2055561X

Publication date (Print): Spring 2018

Volume: 3

Issue: 2

Pages: 120-139

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Columbia University, USA

Article

Publisher ID: reorient.3.2.0120

DOI: 10.13169/reorient.3.2.0120

SO-VID: 42bb1a28-0156-4ea0-a831-c25d4533c550

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History

References

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Hai Weiliang. (1932c) Aijiren yanzhong de xin tuerqi [The new Turkey in the eyes of the Egyptians]. Yuehua . 4.13, 12–14.
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Hai Weiliang. (1934a) Yindu huijiao zhi yanjin [The Evolution of Islam in India]. Yuehua . 6.11–18.
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Mao, Y. (2016) Selective learning from the Middle East: The case of Sino-Muslim students at al-Azhar University. In Lipman, J. (ed.) Islamic Thought in China: Sino-Muslim Intellectual Evolution from the 17^th to the 21^st Century . Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 147–70.
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Westad, O. A. (2005) The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times . New York: Cambridge University Press.
Ya'qub Wang Jingzhai: Imperatives for encouraging Islamic culture. In Kurzman, C. (ed.) (2002) Modernist Islam, 1840—1940: A Sourcebook . New York: Oxford University Press, 368–75.
Zaman, M. Q. (1998). Arabic, the Arab Middle East, and the definition of Muslim identity in Twentieth century India. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society . 8 (1), 59–81.
Zhenwu, Z. (2015) Xixing riji [Diary of a Journey West]. Beijing: Sino-Culture Press (original in Yuehua 5.1–5.9).

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Al-Fath. (1934a) Jam'iyyat al-ta'aruf al-islami [The Islamic consociate society]. Al-Fath 389, 20 Dhul-hijja 1352 [4 April], 9–10, 19.

[2] Al-Fath. (1934b) Jam'iyyat al-ta'aruf al-islami [The Islamic consociate society]. Al-Fath 403, 30 Rabi’ al-Awwal 1353 [12 July], 4.

[3] Al-Fath. (1934c) Mithaq Jam'iyyat al-Ta'aruf al-Islami [Charter of the Islamic Consociate Society]. Al-Fath , 389, 20 Dhul-hijja 1352 [4 April], 9–10.

[4] Al-Fath. (1935) Al-Sayyid Badr al-Din al-Sini [Mr. Badr al-Din al-Sini]. Al-Fath 433, 10 Zu-l-Qa'da 1353 [13 February], 4.

[5] Al-Fath. (1937) Al-Sayyid Badr al-Din al-Sini [Mr. Badr al-Din al-Sini]. Al-Fath 565, 26 Jumada al-Akhira 1356 [3 August], 20.

[6] Al-Sini, B. (1934a) Ta'sis dawla islamiyya min asfal al-pamir ila sawr al-sin [The Establishment of an Islamic State from the Pamirs to the Great Wall of China]. Al-Fath , 383, 1 Dhu-l-Qa'da 1352 [14 February], 14–15.

[7] Al-Sini, B. (1934b) Limadha tharat Turkistan al-siniyya? [Why did Chinese Turkistan Rebel?]. Al-Fath 391, 5 Muharram 1353 [19 April], 11–12.

[8] Al-Sini, B. (1937) Al-Islam fi Turkistan al-siniyya [Islam in Chinese Turkistan]. Al-Fath 532, 535, 536, 537, 541, 542, 544, 547, 554, 555.

[9] Al-Sini, B. (1950) Al-'Alaqat bayn al-'Arab wa-l-Sin . Cairo: Maktabat al-Nahda al-Misriyya.

[10] Aydin, C. (2007) The Politics of Anti-Westernism in Asia: Visions of World Order in Pan-Islamic and Pan-Asian Thought . New York: Columbia University Press.

[11] Aydin, C. (2013) Globalizing the intellectual history of the idea of the “Muslim World.” In Moyn, S. and Sartori, A. (eds.) Global Intellectual History . New York: Columbia University Press, 161–3.

[12] Aydin, C. (2016a) The emergence of transnational Muslim thought, 1774–1914. In Hanssen, J. and Weiss, M. (eds.) Arabic Thought Beyond the Liberal Age: Towards an Intellectual History of the Nahda . New York: Cambridge University Press, 121–41.

[13] Aydin, C. (2016b) Imperial paradoxes: A Caliphate for subaltern Muslims. ReOrient . 1 (2), 171–91.

[14] Benite, Z. (2008) “Nine years in Egypt” Al-Azhar University and the Arabization of Chinese Islam”. HAGAR: Studies in Culture, Polity & Identities . 8 (1), 105–28.

[15] Benite, Z. (2014) Taking ‘Abduh to China: Chinese-Egyptian intellectual contact in the early Twentieth century. In Gelvin, J. L. and Green, N. (eds.) Global Muslims in the Age of Steam and Print . Berkeley: University of California Press, 249–67.

[16] Can, L. (2016) The protection question: Central Asians and extraterritoriality in the Late Ottoman Empire. International Journal of Middle East Studies . 48, 679–99.

[17] Chang, C. [Zhang Zhongfu]. (2014) Tianfang xueya: Zhao Yanglin xiansheng fangtan lu [Islamic Studies at the Limits: The Reminiscences of Dr. Ibrahim Chao]. Taipei: Academia Historica.

[18] Chen, J. (2014) Re-orientation: The Chinese Azharites between Umma and third world, 1938–55. Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East . 34 (1), 24–51.

[19] Chen, J. (2016) “Just like old friends” The significance of southeast Asia to modern Chinese Islam. Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia . 31 (3), 685–742.

[20] Deringil, S. (1998) The Well-Protected Domains: Ideology and the Legitimation of Power in the Ottoman Empire 1876 —1909. New York: I.B. Tauris.

[21] Forbes, A. D. W. (1986) Warlords and Muslims in Chinese Central Asia: A Political History of Republican Sinkiang , 1911–1949. New York: Cambridge University Press.

[22] Gao, F. and Yao, J. (eds.) (2012) Zhongguo xuesheng liuxue aiji 80 zhounian jinian wenji: 1931—2011 [Proceedings for Celebrating the 80th Anniversary of Chinese Muslim Students’ Going to Study in Egypt]. Kunming: Yunnan daxue chubanshe [Yunnan University Press].

[23] Hai Weiliang. (1931) Licha wang zhili zhi xia de bosi [Persia under Reza Shah]. Yuehua . 3.34, 6–10.

[24] Hai Weiliang. (1932a) Jinggao guonei rexin jiaowu zhi tongbao [A word of caution to my coreligionists at home who eagerly seek news of Islam outside China]. Yuehua . 4.6, 11–14.

[25] Hai Weiliang. (1932b) Yindu huimin duiyu shijie huijiao dahui zhi pinglun [Indian Muslims’ critique of the world Islamic congress]. Yuehua . 4.22/23/24, 32–35.

[26] Hai Weiliang. (1932c) Aijiren yanzhong de xin tuerqi [The new Turkey in the eyes of the Egyptians]. Yuehua . 4.13, 12–14.

[27] Hai Weiliang. (1933a) Ladi'er shidai de afuhan [Afghanistan in the Age of Nadir Shah]. Yuehua . 5.5, 13–14.

[28] Hai Weiliang. (1933b) Yindu zhuming huijiao shiren Yikeba boshi zhi lun zheng [The famous Indian Muslim poet Dr. Iqbal's speech on politics]. Yuehua . 5.24–29, 5.31–36.

[29] Hai Weiliang. (1933c) Huijiao shiren Yikeba (Dr. Iqbal) ji huijiao wenhua fuxing zhi jianglai [The Muslim poet Dr. Iqbal and the future of Islamic cultural revival]. Xin Yaxiya/New Asia . 6.5, 79–91.

[30] Hai Weiliang. (1933d) Xinjiang bianluan yu huijiao yulun [The uprising in Xinjiang and Muslim public opinion]. Shenbao Yuekan . 2.9, 55.

[31] Hai Weiliang. (1934a) Yindu huijiao zhi yanjin [The Evolution of Islam in India]. Yuehua . 6.11–18.

[32] Hai Weiliang. (1934b) Ouzhou yu huijiao shijie [Europe and the Islamic World]. Yuehua . 6.25/26/27–6.34/35/36.

[33] Hai Weiliang. (1936) Xinjiang huijiao zhi fazhan [The development of Islam in Xinjiang]. Yuehua . 8.1–7, 8.9.

[34] Han Haichao and Ma Changxin. (1993) Zhuming huizu xuezhe Hai Weiliang [The Famous Chinese Muslim Scholar Weiliang]. Alabo shijie [The Arab World]. 2, 58–60.

[35] Iqbal, M. (1977) Sir Muhammad Iqbal's 1930 Presidential Address to the 25th session of the All-India Muslim League Allahabad, 29 December 1930. In Sherwani, L. A. (ed.) Speeches, Writings and Statements of Iqbal . 2nd ed. Lahore: Iqbal Academy, 3–26.

[36] Kennedy, H. (2016) Caliphate: The History of an Idea . New York: Basic Books.

[37] Khan, N.-A. I. (2011) Egyptian-Indian Nationalist Collaboration and the British Empire . New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

[38] Kramer, M. S. (1986) Islam Assembled: The Advent of the Muslim Congresses . New York: Columbia University Press.

[39] Lauzière, H. (2016) The Making of Salafism: Islamic Reform in the Twentieth Century . New York: Columbia University Press.

[40] Ma, B. (2011) Li cheng: Minguo liu ai hui zu xue sheng pai qian shi yan jiu [The process of history: Research on Muslim students sent to Egypt in the Republican Era]. Yinchuan: Ningxia ren min chu ban she [Ningxia People's Press].

[41] Makin al-Sini, M. [Ma Jian]. (1934) Kitab al-hiwar li-Kunfushiyus: yunqal ‘ila al-lugha al-'ara The analects of Confucius: Translated into Arabic for the first time directly from the Chinese (3). Al-Fath 425, 6 Ramadan 1353 [12 December], 21–23.

[42] Makin al-Sini, M. [Ma Jian]. (1935) Nazra jami'a ila tarikh al-islam fi-l-sin wa ahwal al-muslimin fiha [Comprehensive overview of the history of Islam in China and the conditions of Muslims therein]. Cairo: Salafi Press.

[43] Manela, E. (2007) The Wilsonian Moment: Self-Determination and the International Origins of Anticolonial Nationalism . New York: Oxford University Press.

[44] Mao, Y. (2011) A Muslim vision for the Chinese nation: Chinese pilgrimage missions to Mecca during World War II. Journal of Asian Studies . 70 (2), 373–95.

[45] Mao, Y. (2016) Selective learning from the Middle East: The case of Sino-Muslim students at al-Azhar University. In Lipman, J. (ed.) Islamic Thought in China: Sino-Muslim Intellectual Evolution from the 17^th to the 21^st Century . Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 147–70.

[46] Masumi, M. (2006) Rationalizing patriotism among Muslim Chinese: The impact of the Middle East on the Yuehua Journal. In Dudoignon, S. A., Hisao, K. and Yasushi, K. (eds.) Intellectuals in the Modern Islamic World: Transmission, Transformation, Communication . New York: Routledge, 117–42.

[47] Millward, J. A. (2007) Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang . New York: Columbia University Press.

[48] Ryad, U. (2014) Anti-imperialism and the pan-Islamic movement. In Motadel, D. (ed.) Islam and the European Empires . New York: Oxford University Press, 131–49.

[49] Shiqian, P. (1988) Aiji jiunian [Nine years in Egypt]. Beijing: Yuehua, 1951. Reprint Chinese Islamic Association.

[50] Westad, O. A. (2005) The Global Cold War: Third World Interventions and the Making of Our Times . New York: Cambridge University Press.

[51] Ya'qub Wang Jingzhai: Imperatives for encouraging Islamic culture. In Kurzman, C. (ed.) (2002) Modernist Islam, 1840—1940: A Sourcebook . New York: Oxford University Press, 368–75.

[52] Zaman, M. Q. (1998). Arabic, the Arab Middle East, and the definition of Muslim identity in Twentieth century India. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society . 8 (1), 59–81.

[53] Zhenwu, Z. (2015) Xixing riji [Diary of a Journey West]. Beijing: Sino-Culture Press (original in Yuehua 5.1–5.9).