One woman’s story reveals the challenges that Muslim women face in China.
A recently released BBC video features Ye Qingfang, a Chinese Muslim woman, describing the discrimination she’s received in the country because of her religion.
Though China is home to more than 23 million Muslims, she points out that Islamophobia is still a significant issue.
“In the beginning, people didn’t understand me. They made me go for psychological counseling,” Ye said in the video, referring to when she started to practice Islam seriously. “They asked if I was manipulated by evil groups or had any connection with them.”
Ye began wearing a hijab after she started college, where she said she “deeply” studied the religion and culture. While she was discriminated against early on, it didn’t stop there. Upon returning to her hometown of Qinghai to teach Chinese, she said her school didn’t support teachers who wore hijabs, fearing they’d be a bad influence.
She ended up moving to Beijing and now runs a studio where she designs hijabs as a way to demonstrate the beauty of Muslim women.
The treatment Ye’s received because of her faith isn’t so rare in China. Tensions towards Muslims in the country have been rising for some time, a report from the Jamestown Foundation points out. A number of attacks ― particularly a 2014 terrorist attack in a Kunming train station by a knife-wielding group that killed 31 people and injured 141― resulted in a surge of anti-Muslim sentiment. The government blamed extremists from Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uyghur population who have often been distrusted by other citizens for refusing to assimilate to the country’s culture.
Just recently, Chinese authorities rolled out a ban, prohibiting people in Xinjiang from using baby names like “Mohammad,” “Jihad,” and others with religious meanings that are widely used by Muslims, RFA reported. As the New York Times pointed out, officials say the measure is part of an effort “to curb religious fervor” in the region.
And a few weeks ago, Chinese social media users spewed Islamophobic hate speech in opposition to a mosque that was planned to be built in the town of Nangang in the city of Hefei, where there’s a large concentration of the Hui minority, who are Muslim. A pig’s head was even buried in the ground of the future house of worship, the Independent reported.
In spite of the current climate, Ye says she’ll continue wearing her hijab and stay true to her faith.
“I hope Muslim women can confidently wear hijabs on the street.”