Mufti Menhuan (saintly lineage) is a
famous sect in China and it is a branch of Khufiyya Menhuan. It was named after
the founder of this sect, Ma Shouzhen (1633-1722), who was called Mufti
(interpreter of Islam).
It is said that Ma Shouzhen's ancestors were
Central Asians who came to China in a very early time and later they settled in
Xi'an City of Shaanxi Province. In 1673, Ma Shouzhen went to Xining City of
Qinghai Province to visit a famous Islamic scholar who came to China from
Arabia, as well as Ap¨Ąg Khwaja, leader of the Xinjiang White-Mountain Muslims.
He accepted the creeds of Khufiyya Sect and he himself was named Mufti, which
made his name widely known. Then, Ma Shouzhen disseminated his creeds with
Lintao of Gansu Province as his base. During the reign of the sixth leader, the
sect split. Then it was suppressed due to the fight between it and the
government and from then on it never carried out open activities.
Mufti Menhuan adopts a hereditary
system in the succession of its leader. In organization, its central mosque is
very simple. In creeds, it lays stress on paying homage to Qubbah (tombs) and
deifies its leaders. In addition, it attaches importance to education in
Chinese. The believers are scattered in many areas of Gansu Province, Qinghai
Province and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, especially in Kangle, Linxia,
Gansu Province.