[LINK] "Islam in Taiwan: Lost in tradition"

[rfmcdonald]

Al Jazeera's Athena Tacet reports on Taiwanese Islam, beset equally by assimilation into surrounding and overwhelmingly non-Muslim populations and by immigration of people foreign to the Taiwanese practice of Islam. (Indonesia is a major source.)

Every Friday afternoon about 1,000 Muslims gather for the weekly prayer at the Taipei Grand Mosque.

Only 20 percent are local Taiwanese - the majority come from Indonesia, Pakistan, Malaysia and various other countries from Africa and the Middle East.

[. . .]

According to Omar Yang, chairman of the mosque, there is a crisis of faith among the Muslim community here stemming from the new generation's lack of education about Islam, and the prevalence of Chinese culture and traditions, which have led to the fading away of Islamic practices.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Yang recalled the story of a family from central Taiwan who discovered their ancestors were Muslims. They respected various Islamic practices, including not eating pork, but never questioned their ways.

One day they unwrapped one of the offerings their ancestors had left on the traditional Chinese family shrine, and discovered a copy of the Quran in Arabic.

"Knowledge about Islam is not being passed on to the next generation," Yang said. "That's the real problem."