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Ma Mingxin (1719–1781) (simplified Chinese:马明心、马明新;traditional Chinese:馬明心、馬明新;pinyin:Mǎ Míngxīn;Wade–Giles:Ma Ming-hsin) was a ChineseSufi master, the founder of theJahriyyamenhuan (NaqshbandiSufi order).[1]
Ma Mingxin's Arabic given name was Ibrāhīm. After returning to China from Arabia he started calling himself 'Azīz.[2]
He was also called Muhammad Emin (Arabic:محمد أمين).[3] Followers of the Jahriyyah sometimes refer to him by the title of Wiqāyatullāh (Arabic: وقاية الله)[4]
AChinese-speaking Muslim fromGansu,[2]Ma Mingxin spent 16 years[5] studying inMecca[2] andYemen. He was a disciple of aNaqshbandiSufi teacher named 'Abd al-Khāliq,[6] who was a son of az-Zayn b. Muhammad 'Abd al-Baqī al-Mizjaji (1643/44-1725), originally ofMizjaja nearZabīd,Yemen. Az-Zayn, in his turn, had studied inMedina under the famous Kurdish mysticIbrahīm ibn Hasan al-Kūrānī (1616–1690), who was known for advocating the vocal (rather than silent)dhikr (invocation of the name of God).[1][2]
After returning to China in 1761,[7] Ma Mingxin founded theJahriyyamenhuan (order) (哲合忍耶;Zhéhérěnyē) - the second Naqshbandi order in China afterMa Laichi'sKhufiyya. In opposition to the "silent" Khufiyya Sufis, and following al-Kurani's teaching, Jahriyya adherents advocated vocaldhikr, which is reflected in the name of their school (from Arabicjahr, "aloud").[1][2] Ma Mingxin also opposed the emphasis that the Khufiyya members placed of the veneration of the saints,[1] construction of grandiose elaborately decorated mosques, and the enrichment of religious leaders at the expense of their adherents.[2]
By the early 1780s, Ma Mingxin's Jahriyya had spread over much of the then province ofGansu (which at the time also included today'sQinghai andNingxia), as had the late Ma Laichi's Khufiyyamenhuan. Theological arguments between members of the twomenhuans, as well as the orders' claim on members' contributions, against the background of government mismanagement of the provincial revenue, often resulted in both violent conflicts and lawsuits.[8][9]
The escalating conflict between the adherents of the two movements eventually attracted attention of theQing government in 1781. The apparent center of the conflict at the time was in the ethnicSalar community ofXunhua County (in today'sQinghai Province, just west of today's Gansu'sLinxia Prefecture). Considering the Jahriyya (dubbed by the governmentThe New Teaching, in opposition to the "Old Teaching", i.e. the Khfiyya and the non-Sufi (gedimu) Muslims) subversive, the authorities had Ma Mingxin arrested, even though he wasn't personally anywhere around Xunhua at the moment.[8]
While Ma Mingxin was kept inLanzhou during theJahriyya revolt, a government expedition sent to Xunhua to take care of the Jahriyya business was destroyed by the Jahriyya Salars, who then rushed across the today's Linxia Prefecture and to the walls of Lanzhou. When the besieged officials brought Ma Mingxin, wearing chains, to the city wall, to show him to the rebels, the Salars at once showed respect and devotion to their imprisoned leaders. Scared officials took Ma down from the wall, and beheaded him right away.[8]
Ma Mingxin's widow, whose surname was Zhang (originally, from Gansu'sTongwei County), and his daughters were exiled toXinjiang.[10]
Ma Mingxin's death did not stop conflicts with China's Muslim community, or those between the Muslims and the government. Three years after the death of Ma Mingxin, his follower Tian Wu started a rebellion against the imperial government; after its defeat, the authorities remained on lookout against the spread of the "subversive" Jahriyya teachings.[1]
Ma Mingxin's fifth generation descendant and the then leader of Jahriyya,Ma Hualong, was one of the chief leaders of theGreat Northwest Hui Rebellion in Ningxia, Shaanxi, and Gansu in the 1860s.[11]
The Jahriyya order continues to this day, even if in more covert forms.[1] In remembrance of Ma Mingxin, whose beard was shorn by government soldiers before his execution, many Jahriyya members shave the sides of their beards.[12]
In 1985, over 20,000Chinese Muslims assembled at the site of Ma Mingxin's original (destroyed) tomb nearLanzhou for a commemoration ceremony. Thetomb has since been rebuilt.[12]
Ma Mingxin's descendant wasMa Yuanzhang.[13]
Ma Shaowu was a fourth generation descendant of Ma Mingxin, and Ma Shaowu's uncle Ma Yuanzhang was also a descendant, as was Ma Shaowu's great uncle Ma Shenglin马圣鳞. Ma Shaowu's son Ma Cho-ya is a fifth generation descendant and he currently lives inUrumqi.[14]
《熱什哈尔》中當然不稱呼「馬明心」三字。一般用他的傳教道號「維尕葉 屯拉」，意為「主道的捍衛者」。
