Xinjiang has rich ethnic customs, and the best place to reflect ethnic customs is Kashgar, known as the "Pearl of the Silk Road". The most prominent place in the city center is the Id Kah Mosque, the symbol of Kashgar with the most Islamic architectural style. "Id Kah" means "festival, happy square". Mosques are places for Muslims to hold religious activities and "places of worship" for Muslims. Chinese and foreign tourists visit Xinjiang will find many mosques of different sizes in the streets and alleys. Their main function is for Muslims to worship. With the development of Islam, mosques also have other functions. It plays an important role in the religious life of Muslims, so wherever there are Muslims gathering, there is a mosque. In Xinjiang, there are now over 22,000 Islamic mosques and sites for religious activities, one for every 400 religious believers.
The origin of Id Kah Mosque is also rich in vicissitudes of life. It was originally a burial place for Islamic missionaries left by Qudibo, an Arab general who conquered Central Asia. It was not built until 1442 AD by the descendants of Shaktesi Mirza, king of Kashgar. In 1537,Hader Merzha Aerboke the ruler of Kashgar, built a small mosque here in memory of his uncle who was buried there, which became the predecessor of Id Kah Mosque. In the first half of the 16th century, the ruler of Kashgar of the Yarkant Khanate expanded it into a large mosque that could be used forFriday worship. In 1798, Guligena, a Uyghur Muslim woman from Inkisha, died of illness in Kashgar on her way to Pakistan. People used her travel fare to expand the mosque and named it "Id Kah". Later, Zhuo Lipiahan, a wealthy woman of Uygur ethnic group, donated money to expand the mosqueand purchased 600 hectare of land as the property of the mosque. In 1809, Kharshgar Aqmubok Ikandar expanded the mosque by adding a gongbeizigate and digging an artificial lake and water channel inside the mosque. During the expansion of Kashgar City during the reign of Emperor Daoguang of the Qing Dynasty, Id Kah Mosque, which had always been located outside the city, was included in the city and was expanded on a large scale. In 1872, Agube, an invader from the Central Asian Haohan region, in order to win popularity.He ordered another large-scale renovation of the mosque, replanning the layout of the whole mosque to form today's scale The total area of the mosque is 16800 square meters, which is composed of chapel, sermon hall, gatehouse and some other ancillary buildings. The gate is made of yellow brick and gesso stitching. The gate is 4.7 meters high and 4.3 meters wide, and the gate tower is about 17 meters high. On both sides of the gate, an 18 meter high minaret is asymmetrically built, with a crescent moon on the top of the tower. Every day at dawn, the leader will climb to the top of the tower to loudly call Muslims to worship. Behind the gate is a large arch Beizi, the top also supports a minaret. After entering the gate, there is a huge courtyard with flowers and pools. Along the north and south walls, there were a row of lecture halls used for the leader to teach lecture. Praying hall is in the west of the mosque on a high platform, divided into the inner hall and the outer hall; The top of the mosque is supported by 158 light blue columns in a square shape. On the ceiling and the four corners of wooden column, it is the caisson design of exquisite wood carving and colored drawing. There is a niche on the middle wall of the main hall, with a sedan throne seat. When worshiping, the big mullah stands in the niche and recites scriptures. On festivals, the big mullahs would preach here. All of them are equal, no matter their rank high or low, they will enter according to their order. everything is stripped before religion, and everyone can listen to the interpretation of the Koran by the imam equally. Muslims must take off their shoes to enter the corridor.
The most important thing about Id Kah's status is not its size, but the fact that it is a place for Muslims from all over Xinjiang to "gather for rituals". Devout Muslims go to mosque five times a day: the morning service, the noon service, the afternoon service, the evening service and the night service, which lasts 15 minutes each time, and an hour and a half on Fridays. On festivals and Chinese New Year holidays, the whole Id Kah Mosque and the central square will be full of people, up to 100,000 people at most, to listen to the sermons given by the knowledgeable and respected grand imam. Every day to worship here has reached 2-3 thousand people, on Friday is also called "Juma Day" afternoon, the number of about 6-7 thousand peoplecome here to pray . On "Kulban" festival, all over Xinjiang Muslims come here, so there are more than 20-30 thousand people. After praying people jostle with each other, the cheerful drum music is playing. Muslims chimed in to the "shaman dance" (women were not allowed to participate) and reveled throughout the night.
One of the essential facilities in Islamic architecture, especially in mosques, is the bathing room where Muslims purify themselves. The mosque has a steam shower room for up to 200 people and a pool. Before worship, Muslims practice "grand purgation" and "minor purgation" depending on the situation. Beside the clean pool is a wooden staircase that leads up to the top of the tower, and every morning the mosque`s leader climb to the tower to call the sleeping Muslims to worship.
There are two types of mosque architecture: traditional Chinese style and Arabic style. The main building of Arabic style mosque includes: worship hall, oratory hall, bathroom and so on. Large mosques are generally expected to moon and minaret, you see in the door is 18 meters high tower is this kind of building.
On the two major Islamic festivals,Corban and Ramadan festivals, there will be a large number of Muslims on and around Id Kah Square, up to 100,000 people, which is no exaggeration to describe as a sea of people.
Islam is a translation of Arabic which originally means "to obey". Followers of Islam are called Muslims, which means "the obedient." Islam is a monotheistic religion that believes in the only God, "Allah", and Muhammad is the last messenger of "Allah".
The "five colors" commonly used in Islamic dwellings and religious buildings,they are: peaceful and vibrant green; Pure and bright white; Yellow for the earth and the desert; Blue for the sea and sky; Solemn and bold red.
Well,we can now go in to visit, before entering the mosque please pay attention to: in the visit of the time do not make a loud noise, do not walk from the front of the Muslims who are worshiping, visitors will be to tidy up clothes, untidy clothes are not allowed to enter.
