The Forgotten Chinese Muslims

China’s oppression of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang has drawn international condemnation, yet the individual stories of suffering and resilience often remain hidden beneath broad statistics and political discourse. Yet, as the Prophet Muhammad has stated, 

“Whosoever kills a single innocent self [...] then it is as if he has killed all mankind.” (Qur'an, Chapter 5 (Al-Ma'idah), Verse 32)

The Uyghurs are a Turkic ethnic group, predominantly Sunni Muslim, native to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwest China. They have their own distinct language, culture, and religious traditions, many of which are increasingly being suppressed by the Chinese government under the guise of anti-extremism policies. 

​The Chinese government even went as far as imprisoning Uygur Muslims in so-called "reeducation camps". The government asserts that these camps are part of efforts to combat terrorism, separatism, and religious extremism. They claim these facilities provide training and ideological education to individuals influenced by extremist ideologies. Yet in reality, they are a tool to pressure and silence the Uygur community in China.

Furthermore, in the name of national security, mosques have been demolished, Islamic texts banned, and traditional Uyghur dress and religious practices outlawed. The use of the Uyghur language is discouraged, especially among children, with schools enforcing Mandarin-only policies. Religious holidays are tightly controlled, and even private expressions of faith, like simply growing a beard, wearing a veil, or fasting during Ramadan, are treated as suspicious behavior subject to state scrutiny and even arrest. Even normal day-to-day activities, such as applying for a passport, downloading certain file-sharing apps, social media apps and even merely having relatives outside, would incur scrutiny and probing. Leaked documents and investigative reports indicate that detentions often occur without formal charges or trials, targeting individuals for the reasons mentioned above. State-of-the-art surveillance systems have been used to flag-down individuals based on such behaviors and while the Chinese government provides general justifications for the existence of these camps, specific triggers for individual detentions appear to be broad and often arbitrary, lacking transparent criteria.

Zhongqi Zhuang (left) and Nurxat (right) at AROPL Headquarters

Recently, I spoke to brother Nurxat, a Uyghur Muslim born in the region of Xinjiang in the north-west of China in a place named Turfan, a once key outpost on the famed Silk Route and now a historical center for tourism. He recently joined us at the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light Headquarters and now lives amongst the diverse community that surrounds Aba Al-Sadiq. He courageously shared his deeply personal experiences and his testimony reveals the pervasive and deeply personal impact of racial discrimination and abuse of technology on Uyghur lives even to this day. 

Life Inside Reeducation Camps

One of the darkest aspects that has been widely described is the brutal reality inside Xinjiang’s “reeducation camps”. Prisoners endure severe beatings and are forced under duress to sign fabricated confessions. “They beat you and then force you to sign documents for made-up charges,” Nurxat recalled from first-hand testimonies. Worse still, the prisoners are pressured to implicate friends and family to save their own selves and their relatives, perpetuating a viscious cycle of innocent people being detained under false pretenses.

“You either betray someone or become a victim yourself,” says Nurxat. This led to a childhood upbringing that was full of suspicion, always on the look-out and careful, lest your friend sells you out to save his own self. How can one establish bonds and make close friends when he is constantly worried and looking over his shoulder? “Growing up, I never knew what it meant to feel safe,” Nurxat said.

“From an early age, I learned to watch my words, hide my faith, and pretend everything was fine, even when everything around me felt wrong. It was a childhood of silence, fear, and learning to disappear before being ‘disappeared’.” “The worst part wasn’t just the fear,” he reflected. “It was the feeling of being unwanted in your own homeland—like you were born guilty of something, just for being Uyghur. And worst of all, bearing the fact that nobody cared about you or your pain and sorrows, living life in quiet desperation.”

From the article: 用情感敲开心灵大门 用说理舒缓群众情绪 

From the article: 不只新疆！青海機場也現「人體器官」綠色通道

Even more disturbingly, there are credible accounts that have been documented over the years of illegal organ harvesting from detainees. “There are access points for organ transportation—organs taken from reeducation camp prisoners and stored for rapid delivery across the country,” recalls Nurxat. When asked why they even allow and actively engage in such horrific practices, he responded: “They are for high ranking officials and bureaucrats.” 

特殊旅客，人体器官运输通道

Translated into English: Special passengers, human organ transportation channel (markers on the floor, indicating access points and rapid delivery transportation channels for the harvested organs)

Personal and Family Tragedies

This systemic persecution extends deep into families. One of Nurxat’s close friends experienced deep trauma after their father was taken to a camp when they were still very young. They were suddenly and completely separated from him, with no explanation or chance to say goodbye. “They became severely depressed and even tried to end their life by taking pills,” he shared. “Every time they think about their father—who to this day we don’t know whether he is dead or alive—they break down. The uncertainty is a constant source of pain.”

“Each time a friend told me their dad or uncle disappeared, it felt like a countdown had started for my own family. It wasn’t just sadness—it was dread, the kind that crawls under your skin and stays there, wondering when my family and I would be next.”

Another acquaintance, a family friend, returned from detention physically debilitated. Nurxat recounts: “He lost weight and became emancipated, he couldn’t walk properly because of the lack of sunlight, the lack of food and the harsh environment inside the camp.” Even after release, surveillance continued. “The government wouldn’t leave him or his family alone.”

His firsthand account describes a tightly controlled environment, dimly lit and severely cramped—more reminiscent of a prison than anything else. Though officially labeled a "reeducation camp," the reality is far more oppressive: minimal living space, unbearable heat, and constant surveillance—together with the constant abuse by guards, verbal and physical, inhumane treatment, and brutalization—all contributing to an overwhelming sense of confinement and hopelessness.

Nurxat’s uncle faced further injustice. “After being detained for 6 years, on the day he was released , he was sent to a hospital due to his deteriorated health condition. During treatment, they restricted his movement severely until he was discharged, whilst other patients were allowed to roam around freely outside of the hospital grounds, he was kept  locked up there. They wanted to keep him confined so that he would be under their surveillance and control. Then they started heavily monitoring his family. His son was forbidden from speaking Uyghur, thus stripping him of his culture, his ways, his people. They'd visit their home regularly to ensure it stays this way.”

This deliberate cultural erasure meant his child grew up estranged from his own heritage, stigmatized by unfounded accusations of extremism.

His next door neighbor faced devastating personal loss. “She was widowed after her husband was taken away into a camp one night. Just vanished.” These cases of “midnight disappearances” are so common, that every single person in Xinjiang knows at least someone in their family or close social circle that has suffered from this fate. It has become a day to day occurrence, a perverse practice, normalized in everyday society.

“Whosoever of you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then [let him change it] with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart — and that is the weakest of faith.” (Sahih Muslim, Muslim ibn Al-Hajjaj Al-Naysaburi, Book 1, Hadith 79)

Daily Discrimination and Surveillance

Everyday life for Uyghurs is marked by relentless racial profiling and invasive mass surveillance. Reports mention an increasing number of CCTV cameras every year, and some even claim that today there is up to one camera for every two citizens. “At train stations, they would separate ethnic minorities from the native majority Han Chinese. The Han could just walk out freely, but we’d be subjected to full body searches, our luggage rummaged through, our phones scanned. It happened to me all the time. Outside in the streets, every 150-200 meters, there would be a police checkpoint. I was always scared they’d take me in for no reason,” Nurxat reports.

He continued, “Whenever I tried to stay at hotels, police would knock on my door and interrogate me. Every single time. Once, they even force drug-tested my entire family, even though they knew our religion forbade us from ever approaching drugs.” To this day, he still sometimes suffers from paranoia and discomfort whenever strangers approach him. “Even now, I still flinch when my phone buzzes or when someone knocks unexpectedly. It’s like my body never left Xinjiang, even if I did.”

Much of the surveillance extends through digital means. “They use WeChat, the most popular messaging app in China, to monitor everything,” he explained. WeChat is a multifunctional app developed by Tencent, widely used in China for messaging, social networking, mobile payments, and various daily services. As of last year, it has over 1.38 billion monthly active users globally, with approximately 845.4 million users in China, accounting for about 60.1% of the country's population. “They listen to your conversations, read your messages, track your location. It's not just about social media—it’s a mass surveillance tool.”

Restrictions on Education and Movement

Access to education and the ability to travel abroad are tightly controlled for Uyghurs, often used as tools of coercion and control. For Uyghur students studying outside of Xinjiang, the Chinese government assigns so-called "tutors" to monitor them. “They assign you a 'tutor' who acts like a police officer,” he explained. “We had weekly indoctrination sessions, watching propaganda films, and had to write reports on what we learned and how we felt, as if they took direct inspiration from George Orwell’s novel 1984.”

When he requested a passport to study abroad in search of freedom and a better life, the process was deliberately obstructed due to discrimination and racism. “They said they’d consider it—but nothing happened. Even the Uyghur tutor who tried to help me said the faculty head was reluctant to approve it, and he had never even met me.” Frustrated and determined, he realized the only way to move forward was to withdraw entirely from university. “I had to pull out of the university just to be free from their control. Only then could I apply for a passport.”

But even that process was riddled with barriers. “It cost my family over 10,000 CNY ($1,400USD) in bribes just to get the approval,” he recalled. “For context, a decent job at that time would earn you 3,000 CNY ($410USD) a month.” At the Turfan police station, further humiliations awaited. “They made me write a 'letter of assurance' to prove my loyalty to the Communist Party. Then the head of the police asked me to be a spy for them. When I refused to do so, they opened a case file on me. To this day, I have no idea why, I have never committed a single crime.”

“So, monks, from not giving money to the poor, poverty became widespread. When poverty was widespread, theft became widespread. When theft was widespread, using swords became widespread. When using swords was widespread, killing became widespread, killing became widespread, lying became widespread, when lying became widespread, backbiting became widespread. Because backbiting was widespread, their lifespan and beauty declined.” (Dīgha Nikāya 26 (Cakkavatti Sutta), Chapter 4)

Persecution Beyond China's Borders

Even after leaving China,  his past continued to haunt him and the digital grip remained and even tightened. He moved to Australia in January 2022 to study abroad—seeking freedom, a better life, and an escape from the discrimination and racism he faced back home.“During my first year in Australia, they pestered me every two or three days through WeChat video calls. They wanted to watch me, to monitor me, asked me about Uyghurs I met here, and tried to collect information about the Uyghur diaspora in Australia.”

The control and constant harassment didn’t stop there. “One Eid al-Adha, an officer sent me some money on WeChat as a ‘gift’ 500 CNY ($70USD)—a bribe—for information about the Uyghur community abroad. I didn’t accept it.” It was after this incident when he finally pushed back. “I told them: ‘I am a lawful citizen of the Republic of China and I have the right to privacy.’ I said it using their own political language, and after that, they backed off. ” The situation for his parents is still dire. “My parents still live in Xinjiang, and I fear for them every day. They live in silence now, afraid to talk—even to me. I can hear the caution in their voices. It is not the life I wished for them.”

The Voice of the Oppressed

This personal testimony brings into sharp relief the human toll of China’s oppression against Uyghur Muslims. Beyond headlines and statistics, these lived experiences show the severity of human rights violations occurring in Xinjiang and expose the deep pain, fear, and injustice inflicted on an entire people—targeted for their faith, their identity, and their refusal to submit.

As a believer in the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light, we believe that every person has the God-given right to live with dignity, to worship freely, and to speak the truth without fear. We stand with the oppressed, not just in words, but through action. From media campaigns exposing injustice to advocating for divine justice on Earth, we work to be a voice for the voiceless, ensuring their stories are heard and documented across the four corners of the Earth. As taught by Abdullah Hashem Aba Al-Sadiq, we are called to restore what was stolen from mankind: truth, dignity, and the divine rights of those silenced.

The persecution of the Uyghurs is not an isolated injustice; it is a sign of a world ruled by tyrants, not by God's choice. Their stories echo the historical suffering of the Family of Muhammad—marginalized, imprisoned, and martyred—yet ultimately chosen by God to carry the light.

Nurxat’s journey is not just a story of political repression—it is a story of childhood stolen, of families fragmented, of fear becoming muscle memory. And yet, it is also a story of resistance. Of holding on to faith, culture, and dignity, even when the world around him tried to erase it.

His testimony is not just a cry of pain; it is a stark reminder of our duty and a wake-up call. To those of us who still have a voice: let us use it. To those who can still stand: let us stand with the oppressed. Because silence, in the face of such cruelty, is complicity, it is being a mute devil. And in the vision of the Divine Just State, there can be no peace until justice reigns.

“And a caller shall call from the sky: “O People! Your prince is so and so and that is the Mahdi who shall fill the Earth with justice and equity as it was filled with injustice and oppression.” (Mo’jam Ahadeeth Imam Al-Mahdi, Al-Shaikh Ali Al-Korani, Vol. 1, p. 329-330)