人们常问，那场大洪水是淹没了整个地球，还是只淹没了诺亚及其族人所居住的地区？那个地区在古代世界或新世界中的边界又在哪里？对于这些问题，我们确实没有确定的答案。然而，这个故事的意义并不因我们在这一点上的无知而受到任何影响。按字面理解，《古兰经》的经文表明，在那个特定的时代，诺亚的族人构成了全人类。他们的土地是地球上唯一有人居住的区域。其次，洪水必定席卷了这整片区域，淹死了所有生灵，只有那些被救上方舟的除外。
People often wonder whether the great flood engulfed the whole earth or just the area where Noah and his people lived. What were the boundaries of that area in the ancient world or in the new one? We simply have no definite answer for any of these questions. But then the significance of the story is in no way affected by our lack of knowledge on this point. Taken at face value, the Qur’ānic text suggests that the people of Noah constituted all mankind at that particular time. Their land was the only inhabited area of the earth. Secondly, the floods must have swept through this whole area, drowning all living creatures, except those saved in the ark.
这已足以让我们理解那件无疑确实发生过的重大事件，因为没有比《古兰经》更可靠的来源告诉我们此事。另一方面，我们的史书对那个古老时期却毫无记载。编撰历史是一门相对晚近的学问，它所记录的只是人类所见证的事件中的一小部分。此外，历史所记载的任何内容都可能出现错误、伪造和歪曲。因此，对于我们确知已经发生的事情，我们无需寻求历史的证实，因为是那位降示《古兰经》的真主告诉了我们此事。
This is sufficient for us to understand that great event which undoubtedly happened, since no lesser source than the Qur’ān tells us about it. Our history books, on the other hand, record nothing about that ancient period. The writing of history is a relatively modern art that has recorded only a fraction of the events witnessed by mankind. Besides, whatever is recorded by history is subject to error, falsification and distortion. Hence, we need not seek history’s confirmation for anything which we are certain has happened, since we are told about it by God who revealed the Qur’ān.
不同民族的传说中，常常提到其久远历史中的一场洪水，那是由其祖先的错误行为所引发的。《旧约》中记载的故事也提到淹没挪亚之民的洪水。然而，这些内容都不应与《古兰经》中关于洪水的记载相提并论，因为那样会把《古兰经》真实而准确的叙述与来源不明、真实性欠佳的神话混为一谈。不过，此类神话在不同民族中存在并被讲述，这一事实表明，洪水或许确实淹没过这些民族所居住的土地，或者说，关于那场洪水的记忆随着获救者的后代流传了下来。
The legends of different communities often speak of a flood far back in their history, one caused by the erring ways of their ancestors. The stories related in the Old Testament also mention the flood that overwhelmed Noah’s people. None of this, however, should be discussed in conjunction with the Qur’ānic account of the flood, because that would mix the true and accurate account of the Qur’ān with myths of unknown origin and poor authenticity. However, the fact that such myths exist and are told in different communities suggests that the floods covered the lands of these communities, or that its memory travelled with the offspring of those who were saved.
我们还应当记住,《旧约》(包括犹太教经典)和包含基督教经典的《新约》都不是上帝所启示的经文。上帝启示给穆萨的《讨拉特》的所有抄本,在犹太人被奴役时被巴比伦人焚毁。几个世纪之后,由厄斯拉重新书写——他很可能就是《古兰经》第9章中提到的欧宰尔——大约在耶稣基督诞生前五个世纪。他记录了原本《讨拉特》中残存的内容,其余部分则出自人手。另一方面,《福音书》只包含基督的门徒及其学生在基督于世间的生命结束一个世纪后还能记起的内容。此后,大量故事和传说被陆续加入其中。因此,我们不能依靠这些经典来确立任何事情的确定性。
We should also remember that neither the Old Testament, which includes Jewish Scriptures, nor the New Testament with its Christian Scriptures is the text revealed by God. All copies of the Torah that God revealed to Moses were burnt by the Babylonians when they enslaved the Jews. It was rewritten several centuries later by Ezra — who is probably the one mentioned in Sūrah 9 as Uzayr — about five centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ. He recorded what remained of the original Torah, but the rest is of human authorship. The Gospels, on the other hand, include only what Christ’s disciples and their students could remember one century after Christ’s life on earth had ended. Numerous stories and legends were subsequently added to them. Hence, we cannot rely on these Scriptures to establish certainty on any matter.
这其实只是次要的问题。我们真正需要做的，是努力理解这件伟大事件的寓意。事实上，这个故事蕴含着几个教训，我们现在将简要地加以讨论。
This is anyway a side issue. What we need to do is try to understand the moral of this great event. Indeed, the story drives home several lessons which we will now briefly discuss.
正如我们所见,努哈的族人深陷贾希利叶之中。他们心肠硬化,执迷于恶行,固执地拒绝他的信息——那信息是关于真主的独一性,以及所有人都应当只向祂顺服。努哈的族人是阿丹的后裔。从《古兰经》第7章《高处》和第2章《黄牛》中所述的阿丹的历史,我们得知,他的堕落是他和他的后代被托付建设大地之任务的前奏。这正是他被创造的目的。真主在他犯错之后,告诉他如何悔罪、求饶,然后赐予他完成此任务所需的品质与能力。阿丹从他的主那里领受了某些诫命,真主赦免了他的罪过。随后,他与妻子及后代一同向真主立誓:他们将始终遵循真主的指引,绝不听从撒旦——他们永恒的敌人。
As we have seen, Noah’s people were immersed in jāhiliyyah. Hardened in their evil ways, they stubbornly rejected his message based on God’s oneness and the need for all people to submit themselves to Him only. Noah’s people were Adam’s progeny, and we know from Adam’s history related in Sūrahs 7 and 2, The Heights and The Cow, that his fall was the prelude for him and his offspring to be charged with the task of building the earth. This was the purpose behind his creation. God gave him the qualities and abilities necessary to perform this task after He had told him how to repent and seek forgiveness for his error. Adam received certain commandments from his Lord and God forgave him his sin. He then pledged to God, along with his wife and offspring, that they would always follow God’s guidance and never listen to Satan, their eternal enemy.
亚当于是带着正确的信仰降临大地:将自己交托于真主,遵循祂的引导。他无疑也向子女教导伊斯兰的含义,即顺服真主。因此,这种顺服,或广义上的伊斯兰,是人类在地上所知的第一种信仰,在它之外并没有其他信仰与之并存。所以,如果说后来的一代人,即挪亚的族人,深陷于本章所描述的那种愚昧(jāhiliyyah)之中,我们可以十分确定地说,这种愚昧及其所包含的一切——偶像崇拜、传说、偶像、错误观念与习俗——是晚于人类生命在地上开始时那纯正信仰即伊斯兰的。人类偏离以顺服真主为基础的一神信仰,即广义上的伊斯兰,是撒旦诡计所致。作为真主和人类共同的敌人,撒旦总是在人们疏于遵守真主的诫命、偏离祂的引导时,利用人的弱点。真主创造了人,并赋予他一定的自由选择,人借此接受考验。凭借这份自由,他可以选择坚守真主的引导,以此抵御他的敌人;也可以背离真主的引导而走向其他道路。当他哪怕稍有偏离,撒旦便会趁机压制他,最终将他推入亚当子孙所经历的那种愚昧状态。然而,亚当是一位宣讲以顺服真主为基础之信仰的先知。
Adam, then, descended to earth with the right faith: submitting himself to God, following His guidance. He did, no doubt, teach his children the meaning of Islam, i.e. submission to God. Hence, this submission, or Islam in the general sense of the word, was the first faith ever known to man on earth. There was no other faith alongside it. Hence, if Noah’s people, a later generation, were so immersed in the type of ignorance, or jāhiliyyah, described in this sūrah we can state, in all certainty, that such jāhiliyyah, with all that it entailed of paganism, legends, idols, false concepts and traditions, is something more recent than the pure faith of Islam with which human life on earth started. Man’s deviation from the monotheistic faith based on submission to God, i.e. Islam, in its broader sense, took place as a result of Satan’s machinations. As the enemy of both God and man, Satan always exploits people’s weaknesses whenever they become lax in their observance of God’s commandments and deviate from His guidance. God has created man and granted him a measure of free choice, by which he is tested. With this measure he can choose to hold fast to God’s guidance, fortifying himself against his enemy. Or he can deviate from God’s guidance and follow any other way. When he deviates, even slightly, Satan overpowers him, eventually, pushing him to that state of ignorance experienced by Adam’s offspring. Yet Adam was a prophet who taught the faith based on submission to God.
鉴于人类历史上最初的信仰就是伊斯兰，即唯独顺服真主，我们必须将比较宗教学大师及其他进化论者所提出的论点视为臆测而加以摒弃。这些学者宣称，一神论是人类宗教中的晚近发展，在它之前经历了多个阶段和多种形式的多神论、二元论，以及对自然力量、灵体、星辰等的崇拜。
The fact that the first faith ever known on earth was Islam, or submission to God alone, makes it imperative for us to reject as conjecture the theses advanced by the masters of Comparative Religion and other evolutionists. These claim that monotheism is a recent development in human religion, preceded by several stages and forms of polytheism and dualism, worship of natural forces, spirits, planets, etc.
任何在这方面进行的研究，都遵循一种由历史、心理和政治因素预先决定的特定方法论。这种方法论摧毁了神圣宗教的根基，以及启示和天启信息的概念本身，目的是确立一切宗教都是人类的产物。一旦确立了这一点，就可以轻易地断言，宗教是随着人类思想的进步而发展起来的。
Whatever research is made in this connection follows a particular methodology predetermined by historical, psychological and political factors. This methodology destroys the basis of divine religions, and the very concept of revelation and divine messages, in order to establish that all religions are a human product. Once this is established it can easily be claimed that religions developed as human thought advanced.
有些为伊斯兰辩护的人不经意地犯了错误，他们在无意中认同了那些按照预设路线研究宗教史的专家的理论。他们热情地为伊斯兰辩护，却在不知不觉中摧毁了《古兰经》以绝对清晰的方式所陈述的伊斯兰信仰根基。《古兰经》明确说明，阿丹（愿主赐福他并使他平安）带着伊斯兰的信仰降临大地。《古兰经》还提到，努哈（愿主赐福他并使他平安）面对的后代已用无知取代了伊斯兰。他所倡导的，基本上是同一种信仰，即建立在上主绝对独一性之上的信仰；也就是广义上的伊斯兰信仰。努哈之后，同样的循环再次出现：人类抛弃伊斯兰，转而采纳各种蒙昧时期（jāhiliyyah）的学说。所有先知所带来的讯息都是同一个关于真主独一的讯息，呼吁人类唯独顺服真主。就信仰的根本而言，神圣的信仰从未发生过任何发展。
Some of those who write in defence of Islam err, unwittingly endorsing the theories of specialists in the history of religion who conduct their research along such predetermined lines. While defending Islam so enthusiastically they unwittingly destroy the basis of the Islamic faith as stated in the Qur’ān with absolute clarity. The Qur’ān states that Adam (peace be upon him) descended on earth with the faith of Islam. It also states that Noah (peace be upon him) faced a later generation that had installed ignorance in place of Islam. He advocated basically the same faith based on the absolute oneness of God; i.e. the Islamic faith in its broader sense. The same cycle repeated itself after Noah with mankind abandoning Islam to adopt different jāhiliyyah doctrines. All prophets were sent with the same message of God’s oneness, calling on mankind to submit themselves to God alone. At no point was there any development in the divine faith in as much as it relates to the basics of faith.
演变、扩展和进步只涉及伴随同一信仰的律法。对蒙昧时代(jāhiliyyah)教义发展的理性研究并不会得出人类走向一神论的结论。相反,它表明,历代先知和使者所传扬的一神信仰,即使在后代人偏离真信仰之后,仍在他们中间留下了更多痕迹,使其教义更接近一神论的本源。信仰真主独一的历史远早于一切异教宗教。这一信仰从一开始就是完备的,因为它不是人类思考或知识增长的结果,而是真主赐予人类的,因此从起始之时就是真实而完备的。
Evolution, expansion and advancement addressed only the laws that accompanied the same faith. An enlightened study of the development of jāhiliyyah doctrines does not lead to the conclusion that people progressed to monotheism. It rather shows that the monotheistic faith, preached by successive prophets and messengers, left more traces in succeeding generations, even after they had deviated from true faith, to make their doctrines nearer to the monotheistic origins. Belief in God’s oneness dates back much further than all pagan religions. This faith was complete right from the start, because it was not the result of human thinking or increased human knowledge. It was given to man by God, and as such it was true and complete from the outset.
这一点在《古兰经》中已有明确的论述。任何穆斯林学者都不应背离《古兰经》中如此明确的经文，也不应追随比较宗教学教授们在摸索中提出的种种理论。
This is clearly established in the Qur’ān. It is not for any Muslim scholar either to depart from what is stated so clearly in the Qur’ān or to follow professors of Comparative Religion as they grope for a coherent theory.
在其著作中专辟一章探讨信仰的起源时，`Abbās Maĥmood al-`Aqqād 写道：安拉，或称上帝，……
Devoting a chapter to the origins of faith in his book, Allah, or God, `Abbās Maĥmood al-`Aqqād, writes:
人类的信仰与人类在科学知识和其他技能方面的发展是同步发展的。因此，早期的信仰与早期人类生活的标准相适应，人类的科学知识和技能也是如此。这意味着，早期科学领域的这些知识并不比早期的信仰和崇拜更为先进。两个领域都没有体现出对真理更清晰的把握。
Human beliefs developed in parallel to human development in scientific knowledge and other skills. Thus, early beliefs fit with the standards of early human life, as did human scientific knowledge and skills. This means that such early knowledge in the scientific field was no more advanced than early beliefs and worship. Neither field reflects a clearer grasp of the truth.
此外,人类为形成关于宗教的正确概念所付出的努力,必定比与科学和工业相关的努力更为艰难、持续时间也更长。宇宙中最伟大的真理,必定比科学与工业在不同领域有时所探求的真理更难获得。
Moreover, human efforts to formulate a true concept of religion must have been harder and longer lasting than those related to science and industry. The greatest truth in the universe must be harder to achieve than the truth of different areas addressed at times by science and at others by industry.
人们长期不了解太阳的运作方式，尽管太阳是我们的眼睛所见、身体所感的最清晰之物。很长一段时间里，人们普遍认为是太阳绕着地球运行。他们解释太阳的运动和其他现象的方式，与他们试图解释神秘事物、解释梦境的方式颇为相似。人们对太阳本质的无知——即使在今天，这种情况可能依然存在——却从未促使任何人否认太阳的存在。
People remained ignorant of how the sun functions, although it is the clearest thing our eyes see and our bodies feel. For a long time, the common belief was that it was the sun that orbited the earth. They explained its movement and other aspects in much the same way as they sought to explain mysteries and interpret dreams. People’s ignorance of the nature of the sun, which may be true even today, never prompted anyone to deny its existence.
这意味着，我们提到蒙昧时代（jāhiliyyah）早期宗教的起源，并不表明宗教性是虚假的，也不意味着它是对不可能之物的追寻。它所说明的只是：最伟大的真理过于重大，一代人无法完全理解。人们必须一代接一代，分阶段地去领会它，正如他们领会那些感官更能直接感知的较小真理一样。不过，最伟大的真理要求他们在这一过程中付出更多的辛劳与努力。
This means that our reference to the origins of religion in the early periods of jāhiliyyah does not indicate that religiosity was false, or that it meant a search for the impossible. All that it shows is that the greatest truth is too momentous to be comprehended in full in one generation. People must gather it in stages, one generation after another, in the same way as they do with smaller truths of which their senses are more cognizant. However, the greatest truth requires them to put more toil and effort into the process.
比较宗教学的研究揭示了早期人类所信仰的大量神话和迷信。这些遗迹至今仍可在原始社会以及古代文明民族中找到。人们从未假定此类研究会有不同的发现，也从未认为早期信仰可能不是这些神话。事实上，这正是学者们所预期的合乎逻辑的结论。他们并不指望能够发掘出任何可以成为关于信仰本质的全新观点基础的东西。一位学者若以为自己对原始信仰的研究能够引导他得出结论：早期人类认识到了完整而纯粹的根本普遍真理，那他所追求的不过是海市蜃楼。20
Studies in Comparative Religion have unravelled a multitude of myths and superstitions in which early humanity believed. Traces of these continue to be found among primitive communities or nations of ancient civilization. It was never presumed that such studies could make any different discoveries, or that early beliefs could be anything other than such myths. Indeed, this is the logical conclusion which scholars expected. They did not expect to unearth anything that could be the basis of a completely new outlook on the essence of belief. A scholar who imagines that his research in primitive faiths could lead him to conclude that the early humans recognized the fundamental universal truth, complete and pure, is only pursuing a mirage.20
在另一章“信仰真主的阶段”中，阿卡德写道：
In another chapter, on the ‘Stages of Belief in God’, al-`Aqqād writes:
比较宗教学的学者认为，原始社会的信仰大致经历了三个主要阶段：多神信仰、单一神信仰（拜一神而不否认他神）和一神信仰。
Scholars of Comparative Religion identify three main stages of belief in primitive communities: polytheism, henotheism and monotheism.
在多神崇拜时代，早期的部落崇拜数十甚至数百位神灵。在那个时代，一个大家族往往拥有自己的神灵，家族成员都崇拜它。或者，他们也可能拥有一件护符或一个象征物，由它代替神灵接受祈祷与供奉。
In the polytheistic era, early tribes worshipped scores or even hundreds of deities. In this era, it was often the case that a large family would have its own deity which members of the family worshipped. Alternatively, they may have a charm or a symbol which deputized for the deity in accepting prayers and offerings.
在第二阶段，人们仍然崇拜数以百计的神灵。
In the second stage, deities continued to be worshipped in their hundreds.
然而,其中一位神祇开始获得更高的地位,原因或是它属于最大部落的神明,得到其他部落的效忠;或是它拥有更高的权威,例如在依赖雨水灌溉的土地上,它是掌管雨水的神;又或是在常遭飓风袭击的地区,它是掌管风的神。
However, one of them begins to acquire greater prominence, either because it is the deity of the largest tribe commanding the allegiance of other tribes, or because it commanded higher authority, such as the god of rain in a land that depends on rain for irrigation, or the deity commanding wind in an area often hit by hurricanes.
第三个阶段见证了民族的兴起。每个民族都围绕着同一种崇拜聚集，尽管不同的神灵主导着不同的地区。在这一阶段，可能会出现一个民族将自己的宗教崇拜强加于另一个民族的情况，正如它将自己的政治权威强加于对方一样。它也可能接受这样的安排：被征服民族的神灵应服从胜利民族神灵的更高权威，而前者仍然被其战败的信徒所崇拜。
The third stage witnesses the rise of nations. Each nation congregates around the same worship although different deities dominate different provinces. It could happen in this stage that one nation imposes its own religious worship on another, in the same way as it imposes its political authority. It may also accept that the deity of the defeated nation should submit to the higher authority of the deity of the victor nation, yet the former continued to be worshipped by its defeated adherents.
一个民族只有经历了人类知识不断扩展的各个阶段，使旧有的传说和迷信不再被接受，才会达到这种不完备的一神信仰阶段。于是，神被描述为更接近完美与圣洁的形象，而不再是多神信仰阶段所崇拜的古老神祇。崇拜与沉思、反省相联系，也与神的旨意和至高的智慧相联系。主神通常被视为唯一的真主，而其他神祇则被降低到与天使相似的地位，或被视为曾触怒至高之神的神灵。21
A nation attains this stage of deficient monotheism only after going through different stages of expanding human knowledge that makes old legends and superstitions no longer acceptable. Thus, God is described in terms that are closer to perfection and holiness than were given to old deities worshipped during the polytheistic stage. Worship becomes associated with contemplation and reflection, and with God’s will and superior wisdom. The main deity is often thought of as the only true Lord, while other deities are reduced to a rank similar to that of angels or gods that incurred the displeasure of the superior deity.21
很显然，从阿卡德（al-`Aqqād）的观点以及他在比较宗教学领域所引述的其他学者的见解来看，宗教信仰的起源在于人类自身。因此，它反映了人类在理性、科学、政治和文明方面的发展。进步遵循着一条始终如一的路线：先是多神崇拜，然后转向二元论，最后以一神论告终。事实上，这一点在作者《导论》的第一句话中就已清楚表明：“本书论述关于真主信仰的兴起，从人类崇拜某个神明的时代，直到他认识独一的真主并净化其对真主独一性的信仰。”
毫无疑问，真主在其尊贵的经典《古兰经》中，以最明确、最果断的方式陈述了一件事，而这与阿卡德所写的内容相悖，他深受比较宗教学学者的影响。真主明确宣示的是：地上的第一个人阿丹，完全知晓真主独一的真理。他知道这一真理是纯粹的，不掺杂任何多神或二元的痕迹；他也知道只顺服真主、只遵循真主的律法，这才是顺服的意义及其实际体现。他还将这一信仰传给了自己的子女，于是在人类历史最早的时期，出现了好几代人，他们所知的信仰只有真主独一，所奉行的信仰只有顺服真主，也就是伊斯兰。
随着时间推移，阿丹后裔一代代相继，偏离悄然滋生，或许走向二元论，或许走向多神崇拜。然而，人们开始顺服众多虚假的神明。于是先知努哈（Noah）带回了一神论的天启信仰。洪水淹没了所有坚持错误信仰的人，只有信仰真主独一的人得以获救。他们是拒绝一切形式的多神崇拜和以同伴归于真主的人。 我们可以毫无争议地说，挪亚之后的几代人仍然生活在以纯粹一神论为基础的神圣信仰——伊斯兰教之中。但是，随着时间推移，偏离逐渐滋生，人们开始远离真正的信仰。每一位神的使者都是如此："在你之前，我派遣的每一位使者，我都启示他：除我之外，别无应受崇拜的主，故你们当崇拜我。"（21：25）
It is clear from al-`Aqqād’s views and what he attributes to other authorities in Comparative Religion that the origin of religious belief lies with human beings. Thus, it reflects their rational, scientific, political and civilizational development. Progress followed its consistent line, starting with polytheism, then moving to dualism and finishing with monotheism. Indeed this is clear in the first sentence the author writes in his Introduction: “This book discusses the rise of the belief in God, from the time man worshipped a deity until he recognized the One God and purified his belief in God’s oneness.” Without a doubt, God states in His glorious book, the Qur’ān, most clearly and decisively, something that is at variance with what al-`Aqqād has written, influenced as he is by scholars of Comparative Religion. What God clearly states is that Adam, the first man on earth, was fully aware of the truth of God’s oneness. He knew it to be pure, unmixed with any trace of polytheism or dualism, and he knew the meaning of submission to God alone and its practical manifestation in following only God’s legislation. He also communicated this faith to his children, leading to the existence of several generations in the earliest period of human history who knew no belief other than God’s oneness and no faith other than submission to God, or Islam. As time went by, and generations of Adam’s progeny succeeded one another, deviation crept in, perhaps towards dualism and perhaps towards polytheism. Nonetheless people began to submit to a multitude of false deities. Then the Prophet Noah brought back the divine faith of monotheism. The flood drowned all those who persisted with their erroneous beliefs. Only those who believed in God’s oneness were saved. They were the ones who rejected all forms of polytheism and the association of partners with God. We may say without fear of contradiction that several generations after Noah continued to live under the divine faith, Islam, based on pure monotheism. But then again, with the passage of time, deviation crept in and people started to move away from the true faith. This was the case with every one of God’s messengers: “Before your time We never sent a messenger without having revealed to him that there is no deity other than Me. Therefore, you shall worship Me alone.” (21: 25)
这与比较宗教学专家以及阿卡德（al-‘Aqqād）的结论明显相悖。两种研究路径在方法和结论上截然对立。我们应当记住，学者和作家的观点只是理论，彼此之间可能相互矛盾，这意味着即便按照人类的标准，也没有任何一种观点能够提供最终的、已被证实的定论。
This is certainly at variance with what specialists in Comparative Religion and al- `Aqqād conclude. The two approaches are diametrically opposed in methodology and conclusion. We should remember that the views of academics and writers are theories that may contradict one another, which means that none provides a final and confirmed judgement, even by human standards.
不言而喻,当上主明确陈述某事而其他说法与之相悖时,应当以上主的陈述为准。这一点尤其适用于那些为伊斯兰辩护的人,他们旨在澄清对伊斯兰及信仰起源的种种误解。因为否认伊斯兰是上主所赐启示的形式传给我们的事实,对伊斯兰并无任何助益。它并非由任何人所发明。它从第一天起就宣扬上主独一的基本真理,从未持有与上主独一真理相违背的任何观念或概念。在上主的一切天启中,它所宣扬的也仅是上主的独一,而非其他任何概念。
Needless to say, when God unequivocally states something that is contradicted by others, the statement to follow is God’s. This applies particularly to those who write in defence of Islam, aiming to clarify misconceptions about Islam and the origin of faith. For there is no service to Islam by undermining the fact that it came to us in the form of revelations bestowed by God. No human being has invented it. It preached the basic truth of God’s oneness from the very first day, and never entertained any idea or concept that is at variance with the truth of God’s oneness. Nor did it preach any concept other than that of God’s oneness in any of the divine messages.
这些简短的论述表明,如果我们从非伊斯兰的来源借用基本概念,我们会使自己陷入何等严重的危险。它们也表明,西方思想对那些遵循其方法论的人有多么深刻的影响,即使他们试图为伊斯兰辩护,反驳敌对者对伊斯兰提出的指控。
These brief remarks demonstrate the grave danger we expose ourselves to if we borrow our basic concepts from un-Islamic sources. They also show how deeply Western thought influences people who follow its methodologies, even when they try to defend Islam and refute accusations levelled at it by those who are hostile.
“这部《古兰经》确实指引人走向最正直的道路。”（17:9）
“Surely this Qur’ān shows the way to that which is most upright.” (17: 9)