Authorities in western China are prohibiting parents from
naming their children Islamic names.
This is in the latest effort to dilute the influence of
religion on life in the ethnic Uighur minority heartland.
“Muhammad,” ”Jihad” and “Islam” are among at least 29 names
now banned in the heavily Muslim region.
If a parent chooses one of the barred names, the child will
be denied government benefits, Fox News reports.
The names listed on the government document disseminated by
Uighur groups include several related to historic religious or political
figures and some place names.
“Imam,” ”Hajj,” ”Turknaz,” ”Azhar” and “Wahhab” are on the
list, as well as “Saddam,” ”Arafat,” Medina” and “Cairo.
Judgment calls about which names are deemed to be “overly
religious” will be made by local government officials.
The naming restrictions are part of a broader government
effort to secularize Xinjiang, which is home to roughly 10 million Uighurs, a
Turkic people who mostly follow Sunni Islam.
No comments:
Post a Comment