People who committed crimes in the July 5 riot in Urumqi - especially those who took the lives of others - will be punished not only by the courts but by Allah, said Haji Ibrahim Xue Tianli, president of the Beijing Islamic Association and an imam at the Niujie Mosque of Beijing.

"Homicide is an unforgivable sin. According to the teaching of Islam, killing one innocent person equals killing the whole human race," he told China Daily at the mosque on Friday after the Jum'ah or Friday's congregational prayer.

Some 1,000 Muslims attended Friday's Jum'ah at Beijing's most famous mosque, which dates back more than 1,000 years.

Xue said that since the July 5 riot in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, more police and police cars have been seen around the mosque.

Wei Chunjie, deputy director of the administration committee of the mosque, said between 100 and 200 Uygurs attend the mosque.

"The Muslims who come to pray at Niujie Mosque are always mixed. They are from various ethnic groups of China and different countries, and the relationship between them is very harmonious," said Wei.

Niujie Mosque is in the heart of Beijing's Muslim community. Approximately 250,000 Muslims live in Beijing, mainly belonging to the Hui ethnic group.

(China Daily July 25, 2009)