Jahriyah

Jahriyah Sect is a Menhuan (saintly lineage) that was the most influential during a long period in history. It was founded by Ma Mingxin, a native of Gansu Province, in the mid 18th century. Jahriyah means public and loud in Arabic. They advocate that people should read Zikr aloud and thus they are called Loud-Reading Sect. There are four branches within this sect and the believers are scattered in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Gansu Province, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Jilin Province, Hebei Province, Jiangsu Province and Yunnan Province.

This sect maintains that both Shari'ah and Tariqah are important and that Shari'ah is the basis and precondition for Tariqah. When practicing Tariqah, they usually read aloud Zikr and other scriptures, and at the same time, they should rest on both knees and make some motions. However, the practice of Tariqah is limited to successors only and ordinary believers only practice common prayers.

Most of Murshids of the sect were slain by the Qing government. Therefore, the believers especially worship Murshids and apotheosize them. Myths and miracles about them are popular among the believers and their spirit of sacrificing themselves to their belief is extolled. As for the structure of religious power, there are three levels, which are Daotang (places where the Taoist rites are performed), parishes and mosques. Daotang is the place where the sheikh conducts various activities and it is also the place where the believers go on a pilgrimage. A parish is an administrative region consisting of some mosques. An agent of the sheikh is in charge of religious affairs in the region and presides over significant religious activities. An Akhund is responsible for the religious affairs in a mosque and leads the believers in their religious lives. On religious ceremonies, a male believer usually wears a black or white hexagonal hat with his beard shaved, while a female believer doesn't wear a kerchief.