He was influential and played an important role in Chinese Islam in this position as he propagated reformist doctrines in Ningxia in his later life.

[5] Hu's father was a Gansu ahong (imam) belonging to the Khafiya menhuan, a Chinese-style Naqshbandi Sufi order.

Hu opposed wasteful rituals and cash payments for religious services, which Sufi orders practiced.

Being a member of the Yihewani, he was so against Sufism and the menhuan to the point where he destroyed his own father's gongbei (a Hui Islamic shrine centered around a Sufi master's grave) built at Tongxin.

He studied modern science, promoted sports for his students, and permitted people to take pictures of his mosque and him, which made him stand out from less-liberal Yihewani.

Ten days prior to Ramadan's end in 1935, Ma Hongkui arranged for Chinese New Year celebrations.

Hu Songshan pronounced kufr upon Ma Hongkui for this, while delivering an aggressive and fierce sermon in public.

[22] When Japan invaded China in 1937 during the Second Sino Japanese War, Hu Songshan ordered that the Chinese Flag be saluted during morning prayer, along with deference to nationalism[clarify].

Hu often reminded the Muslim masses that "If we object to natural science, then clothing, food, and shelter could not be talked about.

Hu also cited a Hadith (聖訓),[31] a saying of Muhammad, which says "Loving the Motherland is equivalent to loving the Faith" (traditional Chinese: 愛護祖國是屬於信仰的一部份; simplified Chinese: 爱护祖国是属于信仰的一部份; pinyin: àihù zǔguó shì shǔyú xìnyǎng de yī bùfèn) (Arabic: حب الوطن من الایمان ḥubb al-waṭan min al-imān).

[32][Notes 1] Hu Songshan harshly criticized those who were non patriotic and those who taught anti nationalist thinking, saying that they were fake Muslims.