by a prominent Hui Islamic leader

Ma Liangjun (1871-1957) was a renowned Hui Muslim Akhund in the Northwest and a famous Islamic scholar ('Hui' referring to an ethno-religious group of Chinese speaking Muslims mostly based in North-west China). The author's name is only given in Arabic in this publication, but 'Ma Liangjun' and 'Muhammad Yusuf Hijrani' are the same person; 'Ma' being synonymous with the Arabic 'Muhammad' among the Hui population and 'Hijrani' being the Arabic name Ma Liangjun appointed himself. He was a prominent local figure that advocated peace and national unity in Xinjiang and was responsible for much of the modernisation and development in the local Islamic education systems. He authored many books and articles in Arabic, Persian and Chinese, many of these were Islamic in nature. As well as making a significant literary contribution to Islamic studies in Xinjiang, he was also a progressive figure in China Hui cultural developments.

The first part of this text deals primarily in Islamic theology, with commentaries by the author on a number of Islamic scholars including al-Taftazani. The second part of the text comprises a number of shorter extracts on astronomy, includes maps of the world and touches on global affairs including the Serbian Campaign of 1914. Examples of Arabic printing in China are rare and the variations in transliteration make it difficult to find comparables on Western databases, but no other copies of this author's works have been traced on OCLC.

Two parts in 1 vol., type-set printed in Arabic with 16 woobdblock printed diagrams, complete, 331pp., 215 x 165 mm; typographic black ink Arabic text, with cosmological diagrams with captions in Arabic and Chinese scripts, some very light age-toning to paper else clean internal condition; contemporary leather-backed marbled boards, spine ends and extremities worn, covers scuffed.