Arslan Abdullah (Chinese: 阿尔斯兰·阿布都拉; also rendered Arslan Abdulla) is a Uyghur scholar who was a professor and former dean of the Philology Department at Xinjiang University in Ürümqi. He also served as head of the Cultural Advisors’ Office of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region People’s Government. He was detained by Chinese authorities in early 2018 during the region-wide campaign targeting Uyghur intellectuals and cultural figures, and is reported to be serving a long prison sentence.
Academic career
Abdullah built his career at Xinjiang University, where he rose to professor and dean of the philology department — the university’s institute for the study of the Uyghur language and literature. He served as chief editor of a three-volume collection on the Uyghur language. In 2015 he visited Northwest Minzu University in Lanzhou in an academic capacity. His former students include language activist and researcher Abduweli Ayup and linguist Nebijan Habibulla, who completed his PhD under Abdullah’s supervision before joining Xinjiang University as an assistant professor.
Detention
According to testimony gathered by the Uyghur Hjelp detained-scholars project, Abdullah’s detention was first reported around February 2018. His colleague Qutluq Almas told Radio Free Asia’s Uyghur service in September 2018 that Abdullah had been taken to a political re-education camp some seven or eight months earlier. Staff at Xinjiang University confirmed to Radio Free Asia in September 2018 that he had been detained and that it had been “a while” since he had last worked at the university. The Uyghur Human Rights Project’s “Disappeared Forever” documentation lists him among Xinjiang University academics — alongside literature professors Abdukerim Rahman, Azat Sultan and Gheyretjan Osman — reported as held in internment camps; at the time he was in his 70s.
The Xinjiang Victims Database (entry 223) records that Abdullah was sentenced to 18 years in prison. The U.S. State Department’s 2019 report on religious freedom in Xinjiang listed “language professor Arslan Abdulla” among prominent Uyghurs who remained in detention or whose whereabouts were unknown as of the end of 2019. No official charge, court, or verdict has been publicly documented.
Related cases
In February 2018, Abdullah’s doctoral students were detained at the same time. Nebijan Habibulla, who had returned to Xinjiang after completing a PhD at Minzu University of China and a research exchange at the University of Göttingen in Germany, was summoned to Xinjiang University’s security office in February 2018 and taken away by state security agents; activist-researcher Abduweli Ayup reports that Habibulla was later sentenced to 15 years in prison, with his status as Abdullah’s student cited among the factors in his case.
Status
As of the latest independently verifiable records, Abdullah is reported to be serving his sentence in custody in Xinjiang. His precise location and current condition have not been publicly confirmed.
Name note: Romanization variants Arslan Abdulla and Arislan Abdulla refer to the same person. Other people share the name Arslan Abdullah, including a Pakistani academic — this profile concerns only the Xinjiang University philologist described above.
Sources: Uyghur Hjelp detained-scholars project (entry 223); UHRP “Disappeared Forever” (2018) and 2021 briefing; U.S. Department of State 2019 Report on International Religious Freedom (Xinjiang); Xinjiang Victims Database (entry 223); Radio Free Asia, September 2018; Rights Defense Network, Issue 131 (August 2026). See the Media Archive & Source Record for full source detail, per-item verification, and evidentiary limits. Wording such as “political re-education camp” reflects the sources’ testimony.
View the Arslan Abdullah Media Archive & Source Record for the full source record, verification, and evidentiary limits.