In a dramatic shift from implementing Chinese government policy toward Muslims to becoming a dissenting voice in exile, Ma Ruilin revealed precise details of how Beijing tightens its grip on Muslim minorities.

In a series of interviews with The New York Times, the former Chinese Communist Party official described his journey from being a “cadre” enforcing Chinese policies to a believer practicing his faith covertly behind a motorcycle helmet. Ma Ruilin explains that he decided to speak out publicly because he wanted other Hui Muslims—who are suffering from despair in the darkness—to know they are not alone. Ruilin, 50, who held a mid-level position in the religious affairs bureaucracy of Gansu province, now lives in New York City, where he runs a halal food restaurant in Manhattan.

He recounts how the digital systems he helped design in 2008 turned into “shackles” that track worshippers through facial recognition technologies. Ma Ruilin says he lived years of a double life, implementing policies to control Muslims by day and sneaking into masajid by night. Describing that era, he says: “By day, my face was exactly like those of my colleagues..., but at night I would kneel on the prayer mat and transform into a completely different person.” He adds bitterly, speaking about the nature of Chinese Communist Party work: “To be a successful cadre, you must have strong loyalty to the Party but without humanity... You are trained to view other human beings as objects to be managed or dictated to.”

Ma Ruilin confesses to what he calls his “greatest sin”: building a database in 2008 to track masajid and religious scholars, a tool that the government later developed into a comprehensive surveillance system. He explains that the surveillance is carried out by cameras installed at mosque entrances that monitor how often an individual visits the masjid and with whom they interact. As for the consequences, Ma Ruilin says the data collected by the cameras leads to police interrogations, job loss, travel bans, or even being sent to “re-education” camps. Ma Ruilin comments on this with regret, saying: “I realized that the systems I helped build became shackles for Muslims... I handed the devil's whip to the state to use against my own community.”

Al-Waie Magazine: This is but a drop in the ocean of the hatred that fills the hearts of the disbelievers (kuffar) toward the Muslims. This is the condition of the Muslims without a state and an Imam to protect them and defend them; they are like orphans at the tables of the merciless, with no shield to protect them and no power to grant them justice. O Allah, hasten Your victory for us.