Mufti Menhuan

Mufti Menhuan (saintly lineage) is a famous sect in China and it is a branch of Khufiyya Menhuan. It was named after the founder of this sect, Ma Shouzhen (1633-1722), who was called Mufti (interpreter of Islam).

It is said that Ma Shouzhen's ancestors were Central Asians who came to China in a very early time and later they settled in Xi'an City of Shaanxi Province. In 1673, Ma Shouzhen went to Xining City of Qinghai Province to visit a famous Islamic scholar who came to China from Arabia, as well as Apāg Khwaja, leader of the Xinjiang White-Mountain Muslims. He accepted the creeds of Khufiyya Sect and he himself was named Mufti, which made his name widely known. Then, Ma Shouzhen disseminated his creeds with Lintao of Gansu Province as his base. During the reign of the sixth leader, the sect split. Then it was suppressed due to the fight between it and the government and from then on it never carried out open activities.

Mufti Menhuan adopts a hereditary system in the succession of its leader. In organization, its central mosque is very simple. In creeds, it lays stress on paying homage to Qubbah (tombs) and deifies its leaders. In addition, it attaches importance to education in Chinese. The believers are scattered in many areas of Gansu Province, Qinghai Province and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, especially in Kangle, Linxia, Gansu Province.