Muslims in China have developed their own set of practices with Chinese characteristics. The biggest difference is the development of independent women's mosques with female imams leading the prayers.

WUZHONG, CHINA — At a tiny courtyard mosque tucked down a back alley in China's Muslim heartland, Wang Shouying leads other Muslim women in prayers and chants.

The Islamic world is wide and various, and the women-only mosques common parts of China provide a good illustration of this, says Michael Wood.

According to Liu, in some Muslim communities in China and abroad there are no women-only mosques and women have to pray at home. There is no official data on the number of women-only mosques in China.

Michael Wood visits a women-only mosque in China, which has a female imam - a Chinese tradition, which originated in the 18th Century.

As early as middle of the 17th century, religious schools for female Muslims had been set up around China. These later grew into women-only mosques run by female imams during late Qing Dynasty ...

A Chinese national flag flies outside the former Xinqu Mosque that had its minarets and central dome removed in Changji outside Urumqi, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China, May 6, 2021.

WUZHONG, China -- At a tiny courtyard mosque tucked down a back alley in China's Muslim heartland, Wang Shouying leads other Muslim women in prayers and chants.

The Islamic world is wide and various, and the women-only mosques common parts of China provide a good illustration of this, says Michael Wood.

Muslims in China have developed their own set of practices with Chinese characteristics. The biggest difference is the development of independent women's mosques with female imams leading the prayers.

The Islamic world is wide and various, and the women-only mosques common parts of China provide a good illustration of this, says Michael Wood.