The Grand Mosque of Taipei has services every Friday, but this Friday it is especially crowded because it is Ramadan. Muslims who might not normally come to services on an ordinary Friday will excuse themselves from their jobs and their daily tasks in order to come to the mosque and pray during the holy month.
The Grand Mosque of Taipei looks like a traditional mosque should. It has a large dome in the center, two small domes on each side, and two minarets. The front of the mosque is made up of a series of Moorish arches. This mosque, done in the traditional style of Islamic architecture, is testimony to the freedom of religion and religious expression in the Republic of China today. In the old days in China before 1912, foreign religions were officially disliked and disapproved of by the government. The freedom of Islam to express itself was restrained. Mosques had to conform to the pattern, form, and architectural style of the officially approved Confucian temples and were built in a rectangular form with a series of inner courts.
The serenity of Arabian architecture - Peaceful in a world of turmoil (left); The shawl is the headcovering for women at Mosque services (right).
The Taipei Grand Mosque was built in 1960 with funds donated by the congregation and with the help of a loan from the Bank of Taiwan. The congregation had already repaid half of the loan when the government decided to exempt them from having to repay the rest. Today the mosque serves the local Chinese Muslim congregation and, also, Muslim members of the international community living in Taiwan.
In Islam, the sexes are segregated during prayer. The women sit upstairs in a separate balcony and cover themselves in long flowing shawls while they pray. The men gather in the prayer hall downstairs, remove their shoes before entering, and put on a knitted white prayer cap. There are no pictures, statues, or icons - which are strictly forbidden by Islam - adorning the mosque.
The prayer hall is very simple. There is only a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling, a thick Oriental carpet on the floor, and the name of Allah written in gold for all to see.
The service has two parts. The first is a sermon by the Imam of the Taipei Grand Mosque, Hadj Dawood Chung Ming Ting. In his sermon he explains the meaning and significance of Ramadan. He quotes the Koran in Arabic and explains it in Chinese. During this part of the service there is a free and relaxed atmosphere. The men sit scattered about on the floor of the mosque in groups, chatting with old friends whom they may not have seen in some time. However, as soon as the sermon ends, the conversations stop, and everyone rushes forward to form very neat and straight lines starting from the front of the mosque and stretching to the back. The congregation is now ready to pray. There is no sound except for the voice of the caller leading them in prayer and the rustle of clothing as the faithful in unison, kneel, hold their hands out, press their heads to the floor in prayer, and then rise up to a standing position.
Muslims - In traditional garb (top left); The congregation- Heads covered in honor of God (bottom left); Obeisance to the Almighty- The unmistakable posture of faith (bottom right).
Islam came to China in the Seventh Century, brought by Persians and Arabs from the Middle East. Islam was brought to Taiwan by Cheng Cheng-kung (Koxinga) after the fall of the Ming Dynasty. According to Imam Ting, 20,000 Muslims came to Taiwan in 1949 with the military, when the government moved to Taiwan. The number of Muslims has increased naturally and through conversions to Islam so that today, Imam Ting says, a very conservative estimate of the Chinese Muslim population in Taiwan is 50,000.
In addition, there are both Chinese and non Chinese Muslims from many different Middle Eastern and Asian countries who live and work in Taiwan, either temporarily or permanently.
Islam in Taiwan is in a healthy condition. "No one leaves the faith," the Imam asserted. Often, people who have not come to mosque for years will one day, when taken ill or when suffering the blights of old age, suddenly return to the mosque seeking solace and comfort.
Talking with members of the congregation, I found that most were active Muslims who frequently attended services. Quite a few were either brushing up on their Arabic or studying the language in their spare time. They felt that their numbers were increasing because the mosque was getting more and more crowded each year.
One of the reasons for the increase could be inter-marriage. If a non-Muslim marries a Muslim, more often than not, the non-Muslim will convert to Islam. However, one member of the congregation was quick to add that the increase was solely by peaceful, natural means, and that the old stereotype of non-Muslims being converted by the sword has no place in the modern world.
They told me of some of the problems that non-Muslim Chinese have in converting to Islam. It is very difficult for them to adjust to the rigors of Muslim life and to give up eating pork, which is an essential ingredient in Chinese cuisine but is forbidden to Muslims. Most Chinese believe in the Confucian tradition of ancestor worship and display ancestral tablets on an altar in their homes. Muslims, however, are not allowed to follow this practice, and this is often the most difficult prohibition for the newly converted Chinese and his or her family to accept.
Most of the people I spoke with said that they intended to bring their children up as Muslims. There were quite a number of children wearing white caps and praying alongside their fathers. Many of these children were attending the mosque's summer Arabic school, learning Arabic and about the Koran and Islam.
One man said that he was the only Muslim in his native village. He was a Taiwanese who had converted on his own. He first came in contact with Islam because of a Muslim high school teacher. The teacher encouraged him to read about Islam, and today he is a devout Muslim. He convinced his wife to convert when she married him; his children are studying Arabic.
Imam Ting is a very energetic and forceful man who does not look his 69 years. He attributes his good health and vigor to leading a clean and pure life according to the Koran. He does not drink, smoke, or gamble. Imam Ting was born in 1913 in Hunan Province. In 1933 he left China to go abroad on a Chinese Muslim scholarship, awarded to outstanding graduates of the three Muslim high schools in China at that time.
Holy words, lovingly inscribed (top left); The hands, too, express devotion (bottom left); Family scene - Helping a tot with his sandals (bottom right).
He went to Cairo, Egypt where he attended Azhar University, the most prestigious Islamic university. He returned to China after graduation seven years later. In 1943 he went abroad again, this time in government service. He has served for more than twenty years as a government official, and as an ambassador.
He speaks Arabic and Persian fluently and has spent many years in Iran, Lebanon, Libya, and also Mauritania.
Returning to Taiwan in 1966, he took up the position of Imam at the Taipei Grand Mosque; he has also become the director of the Arabic language department at the National Chengchi University. At the same time, he still holds a position in the government with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is a member of the World Muslim League.
Talking about the holy month of Ramadan and about Islam, he said: "The most important thing about Islam is discipline, a type of military discipline. I really came to understand the spirit of Ramadan when I was with the Nationalist troops besieged in Chungking. We were in the caves beneath the city, trapped during the day by Japanese bombing raids. The only time we could go out to get something to eat was at night. For the Muslim soldiers this was no hardship, because they had experienced this kind of discipline and training through Islam, but the non-Muslim troops found this very difficult to endure."
"The significance of fasting during Ramadan is to experience and to understand hunger," he said. "Muslims must do everything they can to alleviate hunger and suffering by contributing to charity." The Imam emphasized that during Ramadan, one must not take any nourishment during the daylight hours, and he explained that because the rule specified nourishment, drinking was forbidden too. "If drinking was permitted then one could drink milk, which provides nourishment, and this would defeat the purpose."
The shepherd, before his flock (top left); The Grand Mosque - Graceful minarets against the sky (top right); Detail of a dome - Arcing toward Heaven (bottom right).
Then, right in his office, the Imam performed a conversion and marriage ceremony. A middle aged Saudi Arabian doctor wanted to marry his Chinese nurse. They met when the nurse was working at a hospital in Saudi Arabia. The Imam first performed the conversion ceremony. The bride already knew some Arabic and was able to repeat the necessary phrases after the Imam. The bride and her mother, who also participated in the ceremony, both wore shawls and long dresses. The mother repeated the words after the Imam too, and closed her eyes in prayer. The bride then put one hand on the Koran, raised the other, and swore the oath in both Arabic and Chinese, "There is but one God, Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet." Then, as a newly converted Muslim, she and her husband were married.
Several young people came into the office and enthusiastically asked the Imam if he would be willing to participate in an activity they were planning for the mosque's young people. The Imam readily agreed, but as a firm believer in Muslim discipline and purity, he told them to make sure to wear modest clothing - long sleeves and long pants or skirts - and he said: "Some people may think it is square, but dressing conservatively and modestly makes one more beautiful."