ABSTRACT
It is appropriate to begin the discussion of Islam in Xinjiang with tomb complex because beneath its touristic surface the 'Apak Khoja and Fragrant Concubine Tomb' embodies many of the ironies, historical distortions, and contradictions that the literature and present-day residents of the area consistently narrate. This chapter describes a number of dilemmas facing Islam as a religious system, its professional personnel, institutions, as well as their comprehension of its tenets and texts. Lacking a unitary religious center, the universal community of Islam, the umma, has long been divided and subdivided into local congregational entities, each with its own Muslim leadership. Islamic education in Xinjiang have become a means for resisting state power and are likely to grow in that role. Islam in Xinjiang has been consistently influenced by the region's proximity to and communication with eastern Central Asia, which it strongly resembles in language, culture, and physical geography.
