Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society/Volume 9/Statement of Haji Mahomed Ali
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES.
Statement of HAJI MAHOMED ALI, a Mahomedan of Arabic Extraction, born in the Island of Hainan, China, regarding Mahomedans in China.
I, Haji Mahomed Ali bin Yusuf, of the country of Hainan, have heard the following story from the old men of Hainan.
Once, when Râja Tang-Wang was King of China, he was uneasy in his mind for a long time. One night he dreamt that there existed Mahomedan people on either side of China, who wore cloths wrapped round their heads, and long coats down to their feet, and had their faces covered with hair; and that if he could bring those people to China, his mind would be at ease. Upon this, he sent a number of junks in search of the people of which he had dreamt, and brought them to China, giving them orders to live in different parts of the country, such as Canton, Hn-nan, Yn-nan, llam-su. Su-sun and Iainan. Now, one of these Arabs had a great many descendants, of whom I am one. In course of time, the race be- came scattered about the country, until a man named Sultan Slêman became King of Yu-nan. After this various disturbances arose in different parts, and since the death of Raja Tang-wang I can only partially remember what took place.
The custom among Mussulmen in China was that they were called Hué-Hué, and wore towchangs like the Chinese; but we con- tinued to wear the long coats of our ancestors. But now, however, the custom has been changed by the Chinese as regards those long coats, and they have become the exclusive costume of great men, or of people going to be married, nor can they be worn by the common people.
In our habits of life, such as our way of eating, drinking, sit- ting, standing, &c., we are like the Chinese, but differ a little in some things. The Chinese have the custom of nailing pieces of paper to their doors with the names of their idols (To Peh Kong) written on them. We, on our doors, write the name of God and his Prophet.
It is easy to distinguish the Chinese from the Hué-Hué rice- shops. In the latter, the fowls and ducks exhibited for sale have all been killed by their throats being cut; while in the shops kept by the Chinese there is no mark of a knife on the bodies of the dried poultry. In their shops, too, there are many things contrary to the Moslem faith.
In Hainan, there are only four mosques, as that is a small coun- try, but in the other provinces mosques are very numerous. The Korân is written in Arabic, interlined with a Chinese translation, and this practice is pursued in the other Arab books translated into Chinese.
All the Hué-Hué's in China are of the Khanafi sect, and there are none of the Shaféi. They speak Chinese and therefore few come to the Straits; many however go on the Mecca pilgrimage. I have heard that, in the time of our grandfathers and great- grandfathers, we were very powerful and were independent, but the death of Raja Tang-wang marked the commencement of the decline of Mahomedan power in China.
The majority of us are rice-cultivators, cocoa-nut and pinang (betel-nut) planters and gardeners. There are also amongst us many fishermen, but no large merchants.
The foregoing is a short sketch of our position in China.
I, Haji Mahomed Ali, can speak Hainan, Macao, Téchew, and know a little Keh, but I cannot read or write more than a few characters.
Singapore, May, 1882.