People profile

The Hui, one of China’s 56 officially recognized ethnic identities, are Sunni Muslims who speak a form of Mandarin.

Hui lineage is most often traced back to Persian traders who entered China along the Silk road in the 7th century AD. The majority of the 14 million Hui live in four provinces in Northwest China, though there are also large communities of Hui in some central and southern provinces.

Unlike the Muslim Uyghur in Northwestern China, there is no independence movement among the Hui. Thus, they encounter less government opposition and have more freedom to practice Islam, to keep Ramadan, to build mosques, and even to go on Hajj.

Strategic prayer

  • Unreached. There are hundreds of scattered individual Hui believers, and there are a few small groups of believers. In only one or two places are larger groups of believers known to be gathering regularly.
  • Pray for media outreach. The entire Bible is available in the Hui dialect of Mandarin and is available for download via a phone app. This Hui Bible is being read and downloaded regularly all across China.
  • Some Han churches are beginning to minister to the Hui, but their witness tends to display limited sensitivity to Hui culture and Islamic beliefs.