This video of a precocious and adorable three year old Uyghur girl was circulating transnational Uyghur social media networks in February 2014. The girl, demurely clad in a black headscarf, responds to her mother’s prompts that Allah is one, Allah resides in heaven, we are gifts of Allah, and she lisps an Arabic language prayer. The video clip was titled ‘There are Uyghur mothers and fathers like this’.

It’s not unusual to see Uyghur children performing for the camera in precocious ways. Most often they sing or dance; this kind of Islamic performance is unusual. Sometimes their performances can have political meanings, as with the delightful child singer Berna, whose recent hit song about learning the Uyghur alphabet reflected wider Uyghur concerns about education, language loss and national identity.

http://beigewind.wordpress.com/2013/08/29/childrens-music-uyghur-memories-and-berna-a-seven-year-old-pop-star-from-urumchi

This clip attracted various comments, with some responding that the girl would be better encouraged to learn about her own history and science, and others linking it explicitly to religious extremism.

Categories: Multimedia, Sound map

Tags: A pious toddler