Muslim groups operating across Europe have invited all imams and speakers to draw attention to the East Turkistan issue. Civil society organizations united around the "Stand4Uyghurs" campaign expect high participation in the International Khutbah Campaign to be held on Friday, July 3rd.
19.06.2026, Baran Magazine
The Chinese administration's deliberate attempt to isolate Uyghurs from the rest of the Islamic world has caused the severe grievances experienced by the Uyghurs to be erased from memory for a long time. Taking action to change this situation, activist groups invite all speakers to deliver a joint khutbah (sermon) describing the resistance of East Turkistan during Friday prayers. The groups also announced that they will organize a large-scale protest in front of the Chinese Embassy in London on July 5th.
The full text of the published khutbah is as follows:
The Overlooked Slaughter
In recent years, we have been watching the sheer brutality of the Zionist genocide against our brothers in Gaza with deep sorrow. This horrifying situation has mobilized many of us. Some of us took to the squares, some of us took part in various civil initiatives, and some of us delivered financial aid to our brothers in need.
While headlines such as "Syria Rejected Military Clutches Against Lebanon" occasionally dominate the news and our eyes are rightly turned to Gaza, another genocide in a different geography of the world is increasing its severity day by day. This genocide is met with silence by a large part of the Islamic world. This massive, systematic, and chilling persecution, backed by mountains of concrete evidence and testimony, stands before us in all its reality.
Faced with this genocide against our Uyghur brothers in East Turkistan, the people of the region have been waiting for solidarity and support from the Ummah for years; unfortunately, they face a great indifference in this heavy struggle for existence.
Systematic Assimilation
Occupied East Turkistan, referred to as "Xinjiang" by the Chinese regime, is going through a dark period where Beijing's oppression has reached its peak and a state-sponsored de facto genocide is being carried out against the Uyghur Muslims. The region is the scene of a mass detention practice rarely seen in history. A whole culture and belief system are being completely wiped out before our eyes. For instance, between 2 and 3 million Uyghurs are currently held captive in concentration camps, while more than 10,000 mosques have been demolished across East Turkistan. Consequently, since 1955, there has been a dramatic demographic slaughter resulting in a severe decrease in the Muslim population in the region.
All values belonging to Islam, from headscarves and beards to prayer, are considered criminal elements. Muslims are driven to concentration camps en masse, Muslim women are forced to marry atheist Chinese men, organ harvesting is made systematic, and centuries-old historical mosques are completely demolished.
An Ordinary Day of a Uyghur Muslim
While we live in comfort and convenience in the West, we have serious difficulties in comprehending the daily and uninterrupted persecution to which Uyghur Muslims are subjected. When we look briefly at an ordinary day of a Uyghur Muslim, we face a remarkably heavy picture. First and foremost, the usurpation of the right to worship means the path to prayer is completely blocked, forcing Uyghur Muslims to perform their prayers in great secrecy, sitting on chairs or under the most difficult conditions. Furthermore, observing the Ramadan fast, which is one of the fundamental building blocks of the Muslim faith, now leads to severe criminal penalties. In a deliberate attempt to erase the Muslim identity from society, even greeting each other with the word "Salaam" is subjected to heavy pressure.
Additionally, any gathering activity on sacred Muslim holidays is suppressed by security forces, and participation in the Hajj or Umrah pilgrimages has been made completely impossible. Mother-tongue education has been completely eliminated, and Uyghur and Islamic works are immediately confiscated by authorities as soon as they are detected. The few remaining mosques are kept under close surveillance, while almost all imams have been exiled to concentration camps; in Kashgar alone, more than 70 percent of the mosques were demolished. Parents are severely punished for giving their children common Islamic names deemed "extremist," and violating this rule causes the child to be deprived of education and healthcare services. Moreover, the consumption of products with a "halal" label is under heavy pressure: people must justify their choice not to eat pork to questioning authorities, while Uyghur-owned businesses are forced to sell alcohol and pork. Most painfully, the violation of family privacy has reached its peak with one million Communist Party members forcibly placed in Uyghur homes as government informants; for Uyghur Muslims who attach utmost importance to privacy, private family life has completely disappeared. Concurrently, Chinese authorities seize the land and properties of Uyghur Muslims and transfer them to Chinese communist settlers.
It is a great sin to load these conditions, which are difficult for us to tolerate, onto their shoulders. While we proudly say that the Ummah is a single body, we must deeply feel the responsibility of leaving our Uyghur brothers alone under these difficult conditions.
Our Responsibility
Most of us are well aware of the situation of our Uyghur brothers. The big obstacle to our effective mobilization is the feeling of powerlessness that is tried to be instilled in us. People often think they can do nothing against a massive superpower. However, oppression and injustice grow by feeding on our indifference. We living in the West have extremely wide opportunities to make a big difference. This situation imposes a much heavier responsibility on us. Indifference is an attitude that must be eliminated and its responsibility before Allah is extremely heavy.
The first step to fulfilling our role as Muslims is to realize that Allah has blessed us with a huge potential to bring about tangible changes. Every Muslim must have the consciousness that "I, as one person, can be the spark of a great change." Our main purpose on earth is to be tested, and our duty is to stand firm in the face of this test. Determining the result is entirely at Allah's discretion; our responsibility is to take a stand with the righteous when we see injustice in the world.
Allah tells us about the Children of Israel who were tested with a command. A group that obeyed the command and warned others replied, "To have an excuse before your Lord and perhaps they may fear Him." This answer must be engraved in our hearts; because this stance is the cornerstone of all our activism and dawah.
Our Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Whoever among you sees an evil, let him change it with his hand. If he is not able to do so, then with his tongue. If he is not able to do so, then with his heart, and that is the weakest of faith." To ignore an evil on the assumption that our power to change it is limited means to suspend the duty of Islam.
Ways to Take Action
Even if you are a single person, you can make a huge difference. Even if our power to completely solve a problem is limited, striving on that path of solution is our duty. Islamic legal scholars have expressed this principle with a strong maxim: "What cannot be fully obtained, its obtainable part is preserved."
We are obliged to struggle as much as our strength, access, and sphere of influence allow. Allah Almighty (as stated in Baqarah 286) holds everyone responsible only to the extent of the opportunities He has given them. We will be held accountable for how we use our voice, property, time, connections, and power of influence. Allah is Ash-Shakur; He is the most appreciative of the sincere efforts of His servants. He rewards the sincere efforts of His servants abundantly, no matter how small they may seem.
What Can We Do Practically?
There are four main practical courses of action:
First, attend the July 5th London Demonstration. The "Stand4Uyghurs" campaign is taking the field with a larger goal, relying on the collective power, voice, and unity of the Muslim community. Therefore, it is of great importance to participate in the protest in front of the Chinese Embassy in London on Sunday, July 5th at 12:00 PM with your family, friends, and social circle, and to raise awareness in your mosques and community groups.
Second, create awareness. We are obliged to know the richness of our Uyghur brothers' culture, their contributions to Islamic civilization, and the severity of the persecution they face. By turning our phones and social media platforms into advocacy tools, we must share the campaign's calls to action and speak up loudly about East Turkistan on every platform.
Third, implement an economic boycott. Boycotts have historically been the most effective way to economically counter oppressors. In this context, we should support the "Blood Bargains" campaign—part of the Stand4Uyghurs initiative—by completely abandoning fast fashion giants like "Temu" and "Shein," which profit from Uyghur forced labor in occupied East Turkistan, and remove all products stemming from this wheel of persecution from our lives.
Fourth, rely on the power of Du'a (Prayer). Du'a is the sharpest weapon of the believer, so we must never forget the Uyghurs in our prayers. Recognizing that Allah is the absolute owner of everything and has the power to bring about change at any moment, it is our responsibility to turn to Him with sincerity, praying at every opportunity for their freedom, their protection, and an end to the oppressors' tyranny.
On July 5th, we will come together in large numbers to reinforce our solidarity, spiritual support, and commitment to this cause. Our main goal is to please Allah and to experience the peace of having fulfilled our responsibility when we stand before Him. So let us take action. Let us speak. Let us give charity. Let us boycott. Let us pray. Let us show with our words and actions that the Ummah stands shoulder to shoulder with the noble people of East Turkistan.
