Ma Mingxin
Chinese Sufi master
Ma Mingxin (1719–1781) (simplified Chinese: 马明心、马明新; traditional Chinese: 馬明心、馬明新; pinyin: Mǎ Míngxīn; Wade–Giles: Ma Ming-hsin) was a Chinese Sufi master, the founder of the Jahriyya menhuan (Naqshbandi Sufi order).
Names
Ma Mingxin's Arabic given name was Ibrāhīm. After returning to China from Arabia he started calling himself 'Azīz.
He was also called Muhammad Emin (Arabic: محمد أمين). Followers of the Jahriyyah sometimes refer to him by the title of Wiqāyatullāh (Arabic: وقاية الله)
Life
A Chinese-speaking Muslim from Gansu,
Ma Mingxin spent 16 years studying in Mecca and Yemen. He was a disciple of a Naqshbandi Sufi teacher named 'Abd al-Khāliq, who was a son of az-Zayn b. Muhammad 'Abd al-Baqī al-Mizjaji (1643/44-1725), originally of Mizjaja near Zabīd, Yemen. Az-Zayn, in his turn, had studied in Medina under the famous Kurdish mystic Ibrahīm ibn Hasan al-Kūrānī (1616–1690), who was known for advocating the vocal (rather than silent) dhikr (invocation of the name of God).
After returning to China in 1761, Ma Mingxin founded the Jahriyya menhuan (order) (哲合忍耶; Zhéhérěnyē), the second Naqshbandi order in China after Ma Laichi's Khufiyya. In opposition to the "silent" Khufiyya Sufis, and following al-Kurani's teaching, Jahriyya adherents advocated vocal dhikr, which is reflected in the name of their school (from Arabic jahr, "aloud").
The public source identifies “Ma Mingxin” as chinese Sufi master. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Mingxin, Chinese and Sufi.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Ma Mingxin”, the useful work is to connect “chinese Sufi master” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q957902. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1719, 1781, 1643 and 1725.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Ma Mingxin”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Ma Mingxin primary sources, Ma Mingxin archive and Mingxin research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ma Mingxin”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Ma Mingxin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.