The vast majority of Muslims in China are Sunni Muslims. A small minority are Shia Muslims.
It has been traditionally accepted in Chinese-Muslim historiography that all Muslims in China (possibly 30 million of them) are Sunni of the Hanafi School.
In recent years, China has made great progress in accommodating Muslim travellers. From major cities to regions with strong Islamic heritage, there are more options than ever to enjoy your trip with peace of mind.
Palestinians are predominantly Sunni Muslims, with Sunni Islam being the faith of the vast majority (around 85-90%) of the Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, though there are also significant Palestinian Christian communities and very small Shia groups. The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which governs Gaza, is a Sunni organization, but Shia groups like Hezbollah and Iran offer strong support for the Palestinian cause.
Sunni and Shi'i are the two largest branches of Islam, with the overwhelming majority of Iranians practicing Shi'i Islam. About 90 percent of Iranians practice Shi'ism, the official religion of Iran. [i] By contrast, most Arab states in the Middle East are predominantly Sunni.
The majority of Muslims in Egypt are Sunni, with many affiliated with various Sufi orders. The Ahmadiyya community is estimated at around 50,000 individuals. Estimates of Egypt's Shia population, including Twelvers and Ismailis, range from 800,000 to as many as two to three million individuals.
China's "3-hour rule" for minors restricts children under 18 to playing online video games for only three hours per week, specifically from 8 PM to 9 PM on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays, to combat gaming addiction and improve health. Implemented by the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) in 2021, the rule mandates gaming companies use real-name verification and facial recognition to enforce limits, though some children bypass it using adult accounts.
Pork - all parts of a pig are prohibited. Animals slaughtered in the name other than Allah.
Not very common, most Chinese Muslims don't wear hijab, but No one really cares, as long as your faces is showing. They won't ask you to remove unless it's for security reasons. However burqa and niqab will be a no go if you try to find a job in china.
Neither Sunni nor Shia Islam is inherently "stricter"; both have diverse followers, but their interpretations and structures differ, with Shia often having a more defined clerical hierarchy (Imams) seen by some as stricter, while Sunnis emphasize the Prophet's direct tradition (Sunnah) through elected Caliphs, sometimes leading to more literalist theology but also direct faith, with both branches having very devout and more moderate individuals. Key differences include leadership succession (Ali for Shia, council for Sunni), legal interpretations, and specific practices like Ashura mourning for Shia, with modern tensions often driven by politics, notes this YouTube video and this PBS LearningMedia article.
While Huihui or Hui remained a generic name for all Muslims in Imperial China, specific terms were sometimes used to refer to particular groups, e.g. Chantou Hui ("turbaned Hui") for Uyghurs, Dongxiang Hui and Sala Hui for Dongxiang and Salar people, and sometimes even Han Hui (漢回) ("Chinese Hui") for the (presumably ...
Sect identity is more common among other religious groups in India. For example, the predominant sect among Indian Muslims is Sunni Islam (55%), while 6% of Indian Muslims identify as Shia.
Yes, Shia also do pray 5 times a day like “normal” Muslims (technically 15% of a sample set cannot be abnormal), however, many times they combine the setting under which they do Dhuhr and Asr prayers (i.e. they do both in one setting) and Maqrib and Isha prayers.
"Al Salam" literally means "The Peace"; the number "313" is the number men who accompanied the Islamic Prophet Muhammad during the Battle of Badr and is said by Shias to be the number of people that will accompany the 12th Shia Imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, when he returns to the world during the end of times.
Ja'fari (Shia) School
The Ja'fari school, followed by many Shia Muslims, holds views somewhat similar to the Hanafi school but with slight variations. Generally, Shia scholars permit only fish that have scales and shrimp, considering them Halal. Other shellfish like crabs, lobsters, and mollusks are often deemed haram.
Any fish without scales are haram (forbidden) but fish that do have scales are permissible. Shia scholars tend to teach that no other aquatic creatures are halal, with the exception of certain edible aquatic crustaceans (e.g. shrimp but not crab), which are also Halal like scaled fish.
Pork is classified as najas, meaning it is inherently unclean and defiling. Consuming pork would compromise a Muslim's state of purity, making them unfit for certain religious activities. However, in exceptional circumstances such as excessive hunger or starvation, Muslims are permitted to eat pork.
The "Three Ts" in China refer to the highly sensitive topics of Taiwan, Tibet, and Tiananmen Square, which are major taboos and subjects of strict censorship, with discussions often discouraged or forbidden due to their challenge to the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) narrative and authority. Foreigners are often advised to avoid these topics to prevent discomfort, legal issues, or awkwardness with Chinese citizens.
China's "0.1% rule" refers to its 2025 export controls that require licenses for products containing 0.1% or more (by value) of certain Chinese-origin rare earth elements or technologies, extending China's regulatory reach globally to materials like magnets, semiconductors, and defense components, even if manufactured outside China. This extraterritorial control, similar to the U.S. Foreign Direct Product Rule, aims to leverage China's dominance in rare earth supply chains for strategic influence, impacting high-tech industries by requiring approval for exports and potentially disrupting global supply chains.
The pooled mean sleep duration of 21 studies with available data was 6.82 hours/day (95% CI: 6.59-7.05 hours/day). The estimated proportions of sleep duration <5 hours/day, <6 hours/day, <7 hours/day were 18.8% (95% CI: 1.7%-35.9%), 26.7% (95% CI: 19.7%-33.7%) and 42.3% (95% CI: 34.8%-49.8%), respectively.
The world's smallest country i.e. Vatican City is the first country in the world where not a single Muslim lives. Vatican City is a religious and cultural place for the people of the Catholic community, the Pope, the leader of the Catholic Church worldwide, lives here.
In the 7th century, Egypt was invaded and conquered by the Islamic caliphate by the Muslim Arabs. When they defeated the armies of Byzantine Empire in Egypt, the Arabs brought Islam to the country.
Women are not required to wear a hijab (headscarf) in Egypt, and female tourists, unless they are Muslim, are never expected to wear a hijab. Covering hair is required when women enter mosques in Egypt, but this can be done with a scarf instead of a full hijab.