Qingzhen Zhinan (清真指南),[a] also known as al-Murshid ilā ‘Ulūm al-Islām,[b] is a philosophical treatise on Islam written by Chinese Hanafi-Maturidi scholar Ma Zhu and first published in 1683.
Can a wooden horse whinny, or a stone cow low?The preface written by Ma himself has the earliest recorded use of the term huiru (回儒) in reference to "Confucian Muslim" scholars.
[8] Wishing to spread the message of Islam across China and to be officially recognised as a sayyid by the Kangxi Emperor, Ma Zhu completed the earliest manuscript of Qingzhen Zhinan in 1683.
"[14] Yuan-lin Tsai accused Ma of bias, while stating that his work was "much less philosophical" than that of Wang Daiyu and failed to make a "substantive contribution to the comparative discourse of Islam and Confucianism".
[11] According to scholar Kristian Petersen, Ma's "monumental" work was part of an effort that "set the stage for an important restyling of Islamic education and scholarship within the Chinese context.