The Islamic Institute in Urumqi, which is the capital of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, is seeking to increase its number of Islamic theology students, and the current students have expressed their happiness about the conditions present at the institute.The institute in the northwestern part of China is one of 10 Islamic faculties of theology in the country and the only one that teaches in the Uighur language.The institute was built in 1987 and currently serves as an important teaching facility for the Islamic religion in China with a total of 280 students. Speaking to Daily Sabah in Urumqi, Abudurehep Turmniaz, dean of the institute, said there is currently ongoing construction for the new campus in the university district on the outskirts of Urumqi on 10 hectares, and concluded that they would like to increase the number of students up to 1,000 when they move to their new campus in coming years.Giving detailed information about the education system Turmniaz said about 70 percent of the courses at the institute are related to Islam, including recitation and interpretation of the Quran and Arabic, and the remaining 30 percent teaches students on Uighur literature, Mandarin, geography and computer skills. ''Mandarin is the official language of China and Uygur is our mother tongue, thus we have a duty to master both languages both in spoken and written form to have better communication skills with Muslims both in Xinjiang and other parts of China'' he said."We accept Muslim students aged between 18 to 22 from all over Xinjiang. Since we were established in 1987 we saw hundreds of young people graduate and most of them went back to their hometowns to become imams or teachers at local Quranic schools," Turmniaz said. ''Our institute also helps Muslims from the region prepare for pilgrimage. So far more than 10,000 people in Xinjiang made pilgrimage through our institute. I was also at Makkah and Medina for my Hajj duty last week," he added. The institute has also sent more than 70 of its graduates to study overseas.According to official statistics there are 30 million Muslims in China and almost half of them live in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous region. The Uighur's are the biggest ethnic Muslim group with about 10 million people who live mainly in Xinjiang, but can be found in many Chinese cities. The second biggest group is the Kazakhs. About 2 million of them live mainly in Xinjiang. The Hui are another main Muslim ethnic group that lives throughout all of China.In Xinjiang there are about 24,000 mosques with 29,000 religious officials serving Muslim people. Officials stated that there are also mosques with a tradition of having iftar during the holy month of Ramadan, and a number of religious believers provide free iftar to those fasting. Answering questions on the ban on prayer and fasting targeting the Muslim population, Turmniaz denied these allegations and said they are free to pray and fast as they wished.In fact Muslim people in Xinjiang have no problem fulfilling their religious duties, unless you are a student under the age of 18, a government official or a teacher. According to Chinese rules students cannot choose and practice any religion until they reach the age of 18. Likewise, government officials are also banned from practicing any religion while on their duty. A book called "Freedom of Religious Belief in Xinjiang," published by The State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China, explains the logic behind this ban as follows. "No state organ, public organization or individual may compel citizens to believe in, or not believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, any religion. The state protects normal religious activities. No one may make use of religion to engage in activities that disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the educational system of the state."The students at the institution start the day with the morning prayer before sunrise, and all the students perform the five daily prayers required by the Muslim faith at the mosque, which is located next to the Institute. "We study here without paying any money and also we get some pocket money. I'm glad to study in here," student Memed Selim, 20, said. "I'm learning how to recite and interpret the Quran properly from our teachers. I'll be back in my town as an imam when I graduate," another student, Abdul Mutalip, 19, said.After the completion of their education, the students will be awarded bachelor's degrees and then return to their hometowns, where they will serve as imams and religious officials.