Islam is the most popular religion for under-30s in China

When it comes to Asia’s No 1 booming economy China, the first few things that flashes in one’s mind are Kung Fu, Noodles and Buddha. But who would have thought that this nation given its rich multi culture and endless tale of historical events would also be a nation slowly moving towards accepting the Islamic faith.
China has been predominantly ruled by the Atheist Communist Party ever since its political inception in 1949. However that didn’t stop many who some way down the history line got themselves a share of the many different faiths around the world to accept one as their own.
Taoism, Buddhism, Catholicism and Protestantism are some of the recognized religions throughout China. Beating them all surprisingly is the Islamic faith which accounts to 22% of all the nation’s religions.
History itself has the evidence but in various different accounts. Some historians believed that the emergence of the Islamic faith dawned during 651 A.D, less than 20 years after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. A man named Sa’d Ibn Abi Waqqas was sent by Uthman the third Caliph to China to preach the Islamic faith .
By far the majority of the Muslim population will be found in the Xinjiang province of Western China. It is the largest Chinese Administrative Division. The locals here are called Uighur. The Memorial mosque in Canton is the first mosque built in China.
The capital of this densely Muslim populated state recently ordered the banning of women wearing burqas in a bid to curb terrorism in the nation and also adding to the fact that burqa is not a traditional dress worn by the Uighur women.