对许多人来说，逊尼与什叶的分裂足以证明，"一个乌玛"的理念在当今世界已不再切实可行。伊斯兰历史虽然总体上以团结为特征，偶尔也有穆斯林之间的分裂，但如今许多民族国家的边界已成为新的团结纽带，而伊斯兰的乌玛概念则被套用到了几个世纪前存在过的模式上。这样的分裂使穆斯林和非穆斯林都把世俗主义视为处理分歧的唯一途径，而呼吁伊斯兰团结和哈里发制度的声音，在一些人看来则是理想主义的。

For many the Sunni and Shi’ah fracture is sufficient evidence that the concept of one Ummah is no longer practical in the modern world. Whilst Islamic history has been characterised by unity with the odd schism amongst Muslims, today many national boundaries have become the new unity, with the Islamic concept of Ummah predated to a model that existed centuries ago. Such a schism has led to both Muslims and non-Muslims to view secularism as the only way to deal with differences, whilst calls for Islamic unity and the Khilafah are perceived by some to be idealistic.

本质上，这场争论关乎伊斯兰如何处理差异，以及派别、教派和民族的存在，是否意味着建立一个具有穆斯林团结的全球性国家是不可能的？

In essence the debate is about how Islam deals with differences and does the existence of many groups, sects and nations mean a pan-global state with Muslim unity is impossible?

要理解这一点,必须清楚地认识到,伊斯兰世界并不是第一个出现此类分歧的国家。1861年,美国爆发了内战,这是一场激烈的地域性冲突,交战双方是美利坚合众国与由南方十一个州组成的美利坚联盟国。这些南方州在亚伯拉罕·林肯于1860年当选美国总统后,决定脱离联邦。如今,英国也面临苏格兰可能在2013年前分离、成为独立国家的前景。这两场冲突中,都从未有人讨论世俗主义能否凝聚人心。美国内战被视为其历史的一部分,并在其学校中讲授。

In understanding this it must be clearly understood that the Islamic world is not the first nation to have such differences. The US suffered from a Civil War in 1861 which was a bitter, sectional conflict between the United States of America and the Confederate States of America, formed of eleven southern states which moved to secede from the Union after the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States. Britain today is facing the prospect of Scotland separating and becoming an independent country by 2013. Both conflicts never saw any discussion on secularism’s ability to unify people. The civil war in the US is considered a part of its history and taught in its schools.

随着伊斯兰的疆域不断扩大，伊斯兰并不陌生于不同的民族、习俗、文化、语言和不同的学派。随着伊斯兰的领土扩张，不同教派的人都成为了伊斯兰的臣民。阿拔斯王朝统治时期，伊斯兰的统治延伸到了一些地区，那里的其他宗教信徒与被征服地区的思想家和学者发生了冲突。正是这种冲突促成了理性科学的发展，即对伊斯兰信仰的研究。这一发展也源于以理性证据来阐释伊斯兰信仰的需要。因此，各学科逐渐分化为不同的分支，伊斯兰学科也随之走向多样化。

Islam is no stranger to different peoples, customs, cultures, languages and different schools of thought. As the Islamic lands expanded people of different denominations all became Islamic subjects. Islamic rule under the Abbasids reached lands where the inhabitants of other religions clashed with the thinkers and scholars in the conquered territories. It was this clash that resulted in the development of the rational sciences, i.e. the studying of the creed of Islam. The development was also due to the need for presenting the Islamic belief with rational evidences. As a result, disciplines became divided into branches and Islamic disciplines became diversified accordingly.

这些学科处理了许多问题,并且每当征服范围进一步扩大时,它们都得到了丰富。因此,国家内的许多穆斯林开始致力于这些学科、科学、学习和研究。伊斯兰土地上逐渐形成了一种多层面的伊斯兰文化,人们为了提升哈里发国而投身于学习它。每一位学者,无论他或她专攻哪一类文化,每一位作家,无论其文学取向如何,以及每一位数学家、科学家或工匠,都会因这种碰撞而辩论并阐发伊斯兰。

These disciplines dealt with many issues and were enriched every time the conquests expanded further. As a result many Muslims in the state began to devote themselves to the disciplines, sciences, study and research. A multi-faceted Islamic culture took shape within the Islamic lands, so the people dedicated themselves to learning it to elevate the Khilafah. Every scholar, whatever type of culture he or she specialised in, and every writer, whatever their literary approach, and every mathematician, scientist or artisan, would debate and articulate Islam due to this clash.

这导致了各种团体、教派和分歧观点的出现，其中只有少数被认为已经超出了伊斯兰的范围。然而，这些数以百计的教派并未被视为民众之间的分裂。事实上，在阿拔斯王朝时期，巴格达成为了思想和革命性观念的中心。来自不同背景、具备不同学识的思想家受到欢迎，并获得了辩论的平台。这使得社会对伊斯兰形成了纯正的理解，因为伊斯兰经受住了接踵而来的各种考验。因此，多样的团体和教派的存在，实际上增强了对伊斯兰的理解，而非成为问题的根源。这是因为分歧在于对伊斯兰经典的理解，而当时正值这些经典被整理归类和编纂成典的时期。多个团体和教派的存在，实际上对此起到了促进作用。

This led to the emergence of a variety of groups, sects and differences of opinion, only a handful of which were considered to have gone outside the fold of Islam. However, such sects which went into the hundreds were not considered a division amongst the people. In fact under the Abbasids, Baghdad became a centre for intellectual and revolutionary ideas. Thinkers from various backgrounds and learning were welcomed and given a platform to debate. This resulted in a pristine understanding of Islam by society as Islam was withstanding the various tests thrown at it. Hence the existence of diverse groups and sects actually strengthened the understanding of Islam rather than being a source of problems. This was because the differences were on understanding the Islamic sources, which were going through the period of being catalogued and codified. The existence of multiple groups and sects actually aided this.

当今穆斯林世界的分裂可归结为两个问题。第一个是穆斯林在理解伊斯兰方面所陷入的衰弱；第二个则由芝加哥大学经济史专家大卫·弗罗姆金教授概括。他在其著作中非常清楚地指出，穆斯林世界的许多处境源于殖民时代。他写道：

The division in the Muslim world today is down to two issues. The first is the weakness that overtook Muslims in understanding Islam and the second was encapsulated by Professor David Fromkin, expert on Economic History at the University of Chicago. He highlights very clearly in his book that much of the situation in the Muslim world stems from the colonial era. He says:

奥斯曼帝国旧有的大量财富如今被战胜国攫取。但必须记住，伊斯兰帝国几个世纪以来一直试图征服基督教欧洲，而决定那些战败民族命运的权力掮客自然决心，这些国家今后再也不能组织起来威胁西方利益。凭借数百年的重商主义经验，英国和法国建立了一些小而不稳定的国家，其统治者需要它们的支持才能维持权力。这些国家的发展与贸易受到控制，它们注定不再对西方构成威胁。随后，这些外部强权与其傀儡签订合同，以低廉价格购买阿拉伯的资源，使封建精英极其富有，而大多数公民则陷入贫困。34

‘Massive amounts of the wealth of the old Ottoman Empire were now claimed by the victors. But one must remember that the Islamic empire had tried for centuries to conquer Christian Europe and the power brokers deciding the fate of those defeated people were naturally determined that these countries should never be able to organize and threaten Western interests again. With centuries of mercantilist experience, Britain and France created small, unstable states whose rulers needed their support to stay in power. The development and trade of these states were controlled and they were meant never again to be a threat to the West. These external powers then made contracts with their puppets to buy Arab resources cheaply, making the feudal elite enormously wealthy while leaving most citizens in poverty.’34

殖民者刻意制造穆斯林世界的分裂，建立“弱小而不稳定的国家”，是一项有意为之的政策，目的是确保穆斯林世界永远无法团结。第一次世界大战之前，法国和英国就已经瓜分了中东。他们在纸上的地图上画线，制造了外约旦、叙利亚、沙特阿拉伯、科威特、伊拉克和伊朗。巴基斯坦、印度和阿富汗随后被建立，把已经共同生活了数百年的人民分隔开来。正是这些殖民政策，如今演变成了众多问题。每个国家都任命了既听命于英国、又听命于法国的统治者。沙特家族实际上曾与英国合作摧毁哈里发制度，以换取对汉志的领导权。

Creating divisions in the Muslim world by establishing ‘small, unstable states’ was a deliberate policy by the European colonialists to ensure the Muslim world never can unite. France and Britain prior to World War 1 had already carved up the Middle East amongst themselves. They drew lines on paper maps and created Transjordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and Iran. Pakistan, India and Afghanistan were later created which separated people who had lived for hundreds of years together. It is such colonial polices which have now ballooned into multiple problems. Each nation was appointed with rulers who were subservient to both Britain and France. The Saud family actually collaborated with the British to destroy the Khilafah in return for leadership of the Hijaz.

这样人为划定的边界，如今已成为许多穆斯林看待世界的透镜。因此，穆斯林世界的问题在很大程度上是殖民者有组织策划的结果：他们最初在物理上将穆斯林分隔开来，随后又通过设立国旗、国庆日和国歌，确保穆斯林团结的任何想法都不会出现。

Such artificial boundaries have today become the lens through which many Muslims view the world. Hence the problem in the Muslim world to a large extent was an organised affair by the colonialists where initially they segregated Muslims physically, and then they ensured any ideas of Muslim unity would never arise by creating national flags, national independence days and national anthems.

过去的团结建立在伊斯兰之上，它使伊斯兰的土地成为繁荣的社会，接纳所有人，并在各个领域中卓有建树。因此，殖民主义者所努力争取的伊斯兰的缺席，正是曾经一个民族的地方如今存在五十多个国家的原因。

Unity in the past was built upon Islam and it turned the Islamic lands into prosperous societies which welcomed all and excelled in various fields. Hence the absence of Islam, which is what the colonialists worked for, is the reason why over 50 nations exist where one nation once stood.

不是伊斯兰教导致了分裂，而是伊斯兰教的缺失才带来了问题。一个颇为贴切的例子，就是西方世界试图将世俗主义作为处理逊尼派与什叶派问题的模式。这种做法对于卷入冲突的人们而言是陌生的，它非但没有解决冲突，反而是把冲突挪到私人领域，确保其不再影响公共领域的政策。关于穆罕默德ﷺ继承人的最初争议，实际上只能通过考察这一问题上的伊斯兰证据来解决；从这个角度看，只有伊斯兰才可能成为解决方案。过去一些穆斯林针对先知ﷺ家族的行为、穆阿维叶的所作所为，以及整体的历史，都不是伊斯兰教法的渊源，因此不能作为参照点。在这个问题上，参照点应当是《古兰经》和圣训，当然，其中可能出现不同的解释，这与一切教法学都是一样的。然而，解释并非没有限度的过程，解释是有规则可循的。

It is not Islam that is the cause of divisions but the absence of Islam that causes problems. A pertinent example of this is the attempts by the Western world in imposing secularism as the model to deal with the Sunni and Shi’ah problem. Such an approach is alien to the people involved in the conflict and rather than solving the conflict it is in fact placing it in the private sphere ensuring it has no influence in polices in the public sphere. The original dispute over the successor to the Prophet Muhammad وسلم وآله عليه الله صلى can in reality only be solved by assessing the Islamic evidence in this regard, from this perspective only Islam can ever be the solution. The actions of some Muslims in the past against the Prophet’s وسلم وآله عليه الله صلى family, the actions of Mu’awiyah and history generally are not sources of Islamic jurisprudence and hence cannot be the reference point. The reference point in this case would be the Qur’an and the hadith and naturally different interpretations can occur here, which is the case with all jurisprudence. However, interpretation is not a limitless process and there are rules for interpretation.

在每一种意识形态中，对于建立在信条基础之上的解决方案，都存在意见分歧。在民主国家，由于理解上的差异，已经出现了众多的思想流派。

In every ideology there exists difference of opinion on solutions built upon the creedal tenets. In democratic countries, numerous schools of thought have arisen due to differences in interpretation.

在今天的美国，我们有民主党和共和党。在英国，我们有工党、自由民主党和保守党。放眼整个西方世界，还有新保守主义者，以及自由意志主义者、费边主义者、环保主义者和基督教民主党人。他们在自由主义理念应如何体现的方式上各不相同，但他们都以世俗主义为基础——那就是资本主义的信条。经济学领域也存在类似分歧：主张政府干预的凯恩斯学派与货币主义学派针锋相对。社会主义同样发展出多个以其信条为根基的学派。社会主义的倡导者看到了由“所有权自由”这一观念所导致的不公，并得出结论：人与人之间私有财产的差异是需要加以解决的问题。其中一个学派（共产主义学派）

In the US today we have Democrats and Republicans. In the UK we have Labour, Liberal Democrats and Conservatives. Across the Western world we have neoconservatives as well as libertarians, Fabians, environmentalists and Christian Democrats. All differ in the manner that liberal ideas should manifest themselves but they all have secularism – the Capitalist creed - as their basis. Economics is also prone to such difference with the Keynesian school, advocating government intervention, against the Monetarists. Socialism also had a number of schools of thought built upon their creed. Advocates of Socialism saw the injustice that resulted from the concept of ‘Freedom of Ownership’ and concluded that the difference in private ownership between people was the problem that required a solution. One school of thought (the communist school)

主张在一切事务上实行实际平等，并绝对废除私有财产。另一派思想（农业社会主义者）则主张仅废除农业用地的私有制。随后又出现了第三种社会主义思潮（称为国家社会主义），主张凡公共利益需要之时，便以公共利益为名将私有财产转为公有，即在任何公共利益要求的情形下实行国有化。

advocated practical equality in everything and absolute abolition of private property. Another school of thought (the agrarian socialists) proposed abolishing private property in agricultural land only. Then came a third socialist school of thought (known as state Socialism) where private property was transferred to public ownership in the name of public interest i.e. nationalization in every situation where public interest called for it.

许多西方学者和研究人员撰写过关于逊尼派与什叶派分裂的论文，并以此为依据，削弱“乌玛为一”的观念。然而，这些做法所推动的一个变化过程，已经持续了数十年，如今正在穆斯林世界中逐渐沸腾起来。

Many academics and researchers in the West have presented papers on the Sunni-Shi’ah schism and have used it as a basis to undermine the concept of one Ummah. However, such actions have contributed to a process of change that has been gaining momentum for decades and is just coming to the boil now in the Muslim world.

我们目前正在目睹穆斯林乌玛在全世界范围内作为一个整体，公开拒绝资本主义和个人主义。即便是身处占领之下的巴勒斯坦穆斯林，也举行游行和集会，声援阿富汗和伊拉克的穆斯林。当"言论自由"的概念被用来攻击伊斯兰时，乌玛感到深深的厌恶，欧洲刊登的那些针对先知ﷺ的漫画便是明证。

We are currently witnessing the Muslim Ummah openly rejecting Capitalism and individualism all over the world as one body. Even the Muslims in Palestine, themselves under occupation, held marches and rallies in solidarity with the Muslims of Afghanistan and Iraq. The Ummah feels revulsion when the concept of ‘freedom of expression’ is used to attack Islam, as can be seen in the case of the cartoons printed against the Prophet وسلم وآله عليه الله صلى in Europe.

全球的乌玛已经清楚地看到，那些叛徒统治者并不是她的代表。事实上，统治者与乌玛之间的鸿沟如今正在不断扩大。考虑到乌玛经历的漫长衰落时期，她从未像现在这样团结。拼图的最后一块，也就是保护团结的那一块，所缺的只是一个国家。

The Ummah globally has clearly seen that the traitor rulers are not representatives of her. In fact a widening gulf now exists between the rulers and the Ummah. Considering the lengthy period of decline the Ummah underwent she has never been so united. All that remains in the final part of the jigsaw which protects unity is a state.

一个建立在社会所信奉理想之上的政府,能够确保统一得以形成并受到保护。圣门弟子们对那些将外来思想引入伊斯兰、可能造成分裂的哈瓦利吉派处置得非常严厉。如今,哈里发制度的重建被认为指日可待,各类智库和专家,包括美国国家情报总监办公室(CIA)在内,都预测哈里发制度将会重新出现。没有国家,几乎不可能实现统一。如果没有中央政府,美国内战就会导致北美出现两个国家。如果没有政府,英格兰与苏格兰之间也就不会有联合。是国家带来了人民之间的团结,没有它,统一几乎不可能实现。正如伊斯兰历史所表明的,伊斯兰对于统一与融合有详尽的规定,并且在团结来自不同背景的人们方面有着成功的记录。我们今天所看到的分裂,是由西方制造的,并且仍在被西方持续煽动。

A government built upon the ideals society believes in, ensures unity is created and protected. The Sahabah dealt very harshly with the Khawarij who introduced foreign ideas into Islam which would have created disunity. The return of the Khilafah is today considered well on the horizon, with various think tanks and experts including the CIA national intelligence have predicted the emergence of the Khilafah. Without a state it is virtually impossible to have unity. Without central government the US civil war would have resulted in two countries in North America. Without a government there would have been no union between England and Scotland. It is a state that brings unity amongst people. Without it unity is virtually impossible. As Islamic history has shown Islam has detailed rules for unity and integration and actually has a successful track record of uniting people from different backgrounds. The disunity we see today was created by the West and continues to be fed by them.