Ma Laichi

Tai Baba ordained the young Ma as an ahong and initiated him into Sufism, passing onto him the barakah that he had received from Afaq Khoja.

In 1728-1733 he studied under a number of Sufi masters in the Arab World (primarily in Mecca and Yemen; some versions of his biography also mention Cairo and Damascus).

In Mecca, his teacher was the head of the Khafiya zawiya (Islamic school) there, Muhammad Jibuni Ahmad Agelai (or Ajilai, in other accounts).

[2][3] After returning to China, Ma Laichi established the Hua Si (华寺; "Multicolored Mosque") school (menhuan) - the core of the Khufiyya (الخفية) 虎夫耶 movement in Chinese Islam.

[2] Ma Laichi spent 32 years spreading his teaching among the Muslim Hui and Salar people in Gansu and Qinghai.

He also converted to Islam numerous Tibetan,[5] Mongol,[6] and Monguor-speaking communities in Qinghai, sometimes after winning a religious debate with a local "Living Buddha".