Muslim Women: Chinese Empowerment?

I subscribe to the Foreign Dispatch podcast of National Public Radio. It's stated aim is as a "weekly podcast of the biggest news and best stories as covered by National Public Radio's Foreign correspondents from around the world." I find this to be true, and really enjoy listening to the three or four stories each week brings. Occasionally, they'll compile double that number about a particular story and package them all together as a "Special Report." You can find their website here, and I strongly encourage you to subscribe if you're serious about the goings-on in today's world.

Anyways, that's my plug. The latest edition, dated 23 July, goes from discussing a new law giving Russia's FSB more leverage to control the populace, to discussing female Imams in Central China, to discussing marriage rituals in Sudan. It is this middle topic I wish to consider for just a moment.

Muslim women being allowed to teach the Qur'an? Yes, it's true: in the world's most populous nation, about 2% of the population are Muslims. This breaks down to about 21 million people, mostly centered around central China, the provinces of Xinjiang, Ningxia, Gansu and Qinghai making up the informal "Quran Belt". The podcast takes us to one of these provinces, where 16 all-female mosques are located, roughly 1/3 of the number of male mosques. Female imams perform the same roles as men, except they are not allowed to handle male corpses nor lead funeral processions. They teach the Qur'an to female students, and lead prayers in all-female mosques.

While the podcast alludes to resistance near the Chinese borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan, it appears that this hostility is doing nothing to deter these all-women mosques from spreading. In fact, NPR reports that the establishment of all-female mosques is spreading to Northern China, even as attendance at these houses of worship wane.

My "Big Question" is alluded to in the podcast by a male member of the Islamic Association of China. He hopes that with the Chinese rise in economic power, that China will soon be viewed as a Muslim powerhouse as well. My Big Question is, Would China, big, atheist China, ever link their foreign aid to religious practices and, potentially, work to expand the role of women in Islam?

Imagine in five or ten years, China taking (mostly African and Asian, some Middle Eastern) women and educating them in some of their all-female mosques. With another 10 years of economic growth, another 10 years to fully take the reigns in the international arena, and maybe, just maybe, to even implement some democratic reforms. As the podcast indicates, these institutions are still fully-functioning and actively seeking pupils. With China beginning to reach out to developing nations, and its aid-for-oil in Africa has been well-documented in recent years, I believe that, should China choose to seize the opportunity, it can create a new generation of cosmopolitan women imams, empowered by an Islamic education. Just imagine this as a reaction to Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and even the extremists of Al-Qaeda, all of whom promote misogyny as part of their Islamic culture.