"我们经常被人问道："你们穆斯林常说的伊斯兰在哪里？"它在现实中究竟何时以其真实形态被付诸生活？你们从不厌倦地说，它是一套卓越的理想体系，但它是否曾在实际生活中存在过？如果有人问及它的实践形态，你们除了提到先知（愿主福安之）一生及早期哈里发时期，或者更确切地说是头两位哈里发的时代，别无他言。你们尤其不厌其烦地称赞欧麦尔·本·赫塔卜，说他是伊斯兰精神的化身，并用最辉煌的色彩描绘他；但当我们追问他统治时期的生活状况时，却只见"一层叠着一层的黑暗"——封建主义、不公、暴政、反动和落后。你们断言，伊斯兰赋予民众在统治者不尽职责时惩戒他们的权利；可是，除了早期哈里发时代，人民何时曾被允许选择自己的统治者，更遑论惩戒他们？你们还说，伊斯兰提供一种非常公正的经济制度，财富分配公平；但即便在早期哈里发时代，人们之间的差距何曾被拉平？你们告诉我们，伊斯兰使为全体公民提供就业成为国家的义务；可那数以百万计的失业者呢？他们有时靠乞讨为生，或者注定终生困顿与贫穷。你们也谈论伊斯兰中妇女的权利；但她们是否真正享有过这些权利？难道事实不是，由于不利的社会经济条件，她们从未能够行使这些权利吗？" 你谈到人们因敬畏真主而获得精神上的提升，并由此在统治者与被统治者之间、社会的不同阶层之间，基于为了公义与美德而相互合作，建立起相应的关系；但是，除了相对罕见的某些时期，这种精神上的提升何时真正出现过呢？

We are often asked: "Where is the Islam you Muslims talk about?” When was it ever applied to life in its true form? You are never tired of saying that it is an excellent ideal system but did it ever exist in actual life? If asked about its practical form you cannot but refer to a short period stretching over the life of the (Holy) Prophet and the early caliphate or rather the first two caliphs. You are never tired of saying about Omar bin Al-Khattab, in particular, that he was the embodiment of what Islam stood for; you depict him in the most resplendent colors but when we inquire about the conditions of life prevailing during his reign we find nothing but "layers of darkness one above another"-feudalism, inequity, tyranny, reactionarism and backwardness. You assert that Islam gives the nation the right to chastise its rulers in case they fail to carry out their obligations but when, except in the early caliphate, were the people ever allowed to choose their own rulers, let alone chastising them? You also say that Islam offers a very just economy with a fair distribution of wealth but when, even in the early caliphate were the differences among the people leveled? You tell us that it makes the providing of the employment for all its citizens incumbent upon the state, but what about those millions of unemployed who sometimes lived on begging or were otherwise doomed to a lifelong privation and poverty? You also speak about the rights of women in Islam but did she ever in fact enjoy these rights? Isn’t it a fact that she has never been able to exercise them because of the unfavorable socio-economic conditions? You talk about the spiritual elevation of men as a result of their fear of God and establishment of relations as a consequence therefore between the rulers and the ruled, between different classes of the community on the basis of a mutual co-operation for the sake of justice and virtue, but when, save in a comparatively rare period, was this spiritual elevation ever witnessed?

它是否曾对统治者起到制约作用，防止他们侵夺穷人的权利、使其遭受不公和残暴？它是否阻止了他们践踏民众的自由，并使民众遭受羞辱和屈辱？

Did it ever provide a check on the rulers to prevent them from usurping the rights of the poor subjecting them to injustice and cruelty? Did it prevent them from trampling underfoot the liberties of the people and from exposing them to disgrace and humiliation?

“实际上，你所谈论的是一个并不存在于现实世界中的梦境，你如此钟爱的那段短暂时期，除了证明当时确有某些非凡之人，做过他人永远无望做到的伟大事业之外，什么也证明不了。那是一个例外，因为此后再未重现，难道它还有可能再次出现吗？”

n fact you are talking about a dreamland which does not exist in the world of reality, and the short period of which you are so fond proves nothing beyond the fact that there were certain extraordinary persons who did perform mighty deeds such as others can never hope to do. It is an exception, for it was never afterwards repeated, for is it likely to be witnessed again".

这是共产主义者及其同类所宣称的说法。遗憾的是，许多穆斯林也落入了这类宣传的圈套，因为他们对伊斯兰历史一无所知，所知的只是他们的帝国主义主子所教授的内容。

This is what tile communists and their like assert. Many of the Muslims too are unfortunately found to be a prey to this sort of propaganda as they know nothing about the Islamic history save that taught to them by their imperialist masters.

在进一步讨论之前,我们想强调一个基本区别:一种是没有任何实例可以证明其可以实行或适用于生活条件的纯粹理想主义;另一种则是有历史证据支持其主张的理想主义,它不仅能够成功地应用于现实生活,而且完全能够引导生活的进程。由此便产生了这样一个问题:伊斯兰教就其本质而言,是否仅仅是一种不存在于任何地方、也无法在这个世界中实行的乌托邦式理想,其整体结构完全由纯粹想象和虚构的元素构成;还是说,它是一种切实可行的生活体系,只是不一定能够在人类历史的所有时期都以同样的成功或相似的方式应用于生活? 显然,这两种理想主义之间有着非常大的区别。如果伊斯兰教是一种纯粹抽象性质的意识形态,那么无论未来社会环境和生活条件发生多大变化,都不再有任何希望使它适用于实际的生活状况。但如果它是一种切实的生活体系,而只是外部的生活条件阻碍了它的充分应用,那么情况就完全不同了。在这种情况下,一旦这些不利的生活条件发生改变或变得有利于它,就很有希望使它在生活中得以实现。 那么,对伊斯兰教而言,适用的是前一种情况还是后一种情况呢?

Before proceeding further we would like to stress a basic difference between a pure idealism with no instance to show that it is practicable or applicable to conditions of life, and an idealism such as is fully attainable with historical evidence to support its claim that it cannot only be successfully applied to practical life but is also fully capable of directing its course. As such, the question that crops up is: is Islam by its very nature merely a Utopian ideal that exists nowhere, nor is capable of being practiced in this world, its whole texture being fabricated out of purely imaginary and fictitious elements, or is it a practical system of life but may not necessarily be applied to lire with equal success or in similar manner during all the periods of human history? Evidently, there is a very great difference between these two forms of idealism. If Islam be an ideology of a purely abstract character, then there is no longer any hope of its ever being applicable to the actually conditions of life howsoever great a change the social circumstances and conditions of life might undergo in future. But if it is a practical system or life and only the external conditions or life intervene in the way or its fullest application, then the case is quite different. In such a case there is every hope that it might be materialized in life if and when these unfavorable conditions of life change or become favorable to it. Which or the two cases is applicable to Islam, the former or the latter?

答案并不难找,因为这一问题十分明确,几乎没有两种看法。伊斯兰教曾在人类历史上被完整地实行过,这一事实毫无疑问地证明:它是一套切实可行的生活体系,人完全能够实践和接受。它还证明其基础并非虚构或幻想。人始终如其过去所是,人性本身并无改变。因此,曾经发生过的事情,未来还可能一再发生。

The answer is not far to seek as the matter is so clear that there can hardly be two opinions about it. That Islam has once been already fully applied in human history proves beyond any doubt as to its being a practical system of lire that is fully capable of being practiced or adopted by man. It also proves 1hat its basis is not an imaginary or a fictitious one. Men are what they were or have been before, there being no change in the human nature as such. Therefore what happened once might happen again and again.

现代进步主义者声称，这样的事不可能再次发生，因此伊斯兰的复兴是一项毫无希望的任务。但我们不妨请问他们：难道他们是想说，伊斯兰初期的人们已经达到了如此崇高的道德完美巅峰，以至于人类永远无法再次企及那样的高度吗？面对他们自己所主张的观点——人类在不断进步，并持续向前迈进——他们又如何为这一立场辩护呢？

Modern progressionists say that it cannot re-happen and, therefore, Islamic revival is a hopeless task, but may we ask them if they want to say that man in the early days or Islam had attained to such a high pinnacle of moral perfection as humanity is unable to regain those heights ever again? How do they justify this stand of theirs in the face of their own claim that humanity is constantly advancing forward and ever marching ahead?

为什么在早期哈里发时期之后，伊斯兰历史上再也没有出现过类似的景象，除了开端之时以及穆斯林历史中零星出现的极短时期，例如欧麦尔·本·阿卜杜勒·阿齐兹的统治，这一问题值得深入研究。然而，其答案清楚地铭刻在历史的篇章之中，无论是以伊斯兰世界中所见的地方性现象的形式，还是以人类生命历程所展现的普遍真理的形式。

The question as to why the like of the early caliphate is not seen in the subsequent history save once in the beginning and later on during the extremely short periods scattered here and there in Muslim history, such as the reign of Omar bin Abdul Aziz for example, calls for a close study of the problem. Its answer, however, is clearly imprinted on the pages of history, either in the form of a local phenomenon witnessed in the Islamic world or as a universal truth exhibited in the life-history of mankind.

我们在这方面必须提及以下两个事实：

We needs must in this respect refer to the following two facts:

首先，人类在伊斯兰的帮助下所实现的伟大飞跃，以及伊斯兰将人类从深渊之底提升到早期哈里发时代所见证的道德升华之高度，是一种无法用生命的普通物理法则来解释的现象；它毋宁说是伊斯兰在这片大地上所creating的众多奇迹之一。然而，这一切只有在经过多年的准备，以及那些伊斯兰伟人进行彻底的道德重塑之后才得以实现，这些伟人在自身以及整个生活行为中体现和完美诠释了这一伟大奇迹。

Firstly, the great leap that humanity strode forward with the help of Islam and the deep abyss from the bottom of which Islam lifted it to the lofty heights of moral refinement witnessed in the early caliphate, was a phenomenon such as cannot be explained in terms of ordinary physical laws of life; it was rather a miracle out or the so many other miracles brought about by Islam on the face of this earth. But it was made possible only after years of preparation and a thorough moral reorientation of those great heroes of Islam who exemplified and embodied this great miracle in their persons as well as in their whole conduct in life.

但是，伊斯兰教在世界上传播的速度如此之快，无论是在更早的时期还是之后的时期，在各种历史运动中几乎找不到可与之相比的例子。这又是伊斯兰教带来的一个奇迹，很难用共产主义者和唯物主义者惯常用来解释人类历史的任何唯物主义或经济史观来加以说明。然而，这种迅速的传播，使许多对伊斯兰教的真正精神还很不了解的民族加入了它的行列，他们也不理解其社会经济和政治制度的真正意义。遗憾的是，当时的穆斯林政府无法像对阿拉伯早期穆斯林那样，为这些新皈依者安排教义教导或道德教育。

But Islam spread with such a lightning speed in the world that there is hardly any parallel to it in the history of the different historical movements either in the earlier or in the subsequent periods. This is just another miracle brought about by Islam that is hard to explain through any materialistic or economic interpretation of history such as with which the communists and the materialists are wont to explain away human history. This speedy propagation of Islam, however, brought into its fold very many nations who were far from being fully acquainted with the real spirit of Islam, nor did they understand the real significance of its socioeconomic and political system. Unfortunately, it was not possible for the Muslim governments of the time to arrange for the doctrinal instruction or moral education of these converts such as was given to early Muslims of Arabia.

因此,伊斯兰帝国不断扩张,信众的数量也成倍增长,但伊斯兰的原则与教义却始终未能深入这些大量皈依者的内心。统治者不再畏惧舆论,肆意践踏伊斯兰的诫命。他们剥夺人民的自由,使民众遭受各种形式的不公,这从倭马亚王朝、阿拔斯王朝、突厥人及马穆鲁克的历史中可以看出。在缺乏健全而有教养的公共舆论的情况下,他们可以轻易地把伊斯兰当作儿戏,并侵夺人民的权利。

Consequently, the Islamic empire expanded and the number of the believers also multiplied but Islamic principles and teachings never found way into the hearts of these large hosts of converts. The rulers no longer feared public opinion while trampling underfoot the commandments of Islam. They usurped the people's liberties and subjected them to all forms of injustice as is known by the history of the Ommeyeds, Abassides, Turks and Mamlukes. In the absence of a well-formed and educated public opinion they could easily treat Islam as a plaything and usurp the rights of the people.

其次,伊斯兰在人类生活中所带来的伟大进步,不能被视为一种物质或自然现象。因为它一跃而起,将人类从最低贱的奴役与农奴制度的深渊中提拔出来,达到了迄今为止人类在其他任何已尝试过的社会制度下所经历过的、最理想的社会公正状态。伊斯兰使人类摆脱了放纵情欲的统治,并将其提升到人类整个历史上从未见过的道德完善的最高境界。

Secondly, the great advancement that Islam effected in human life cannot be termed as a physical or a natural phenomenon, for in one great leap it raised humanity from the lowest depths of slavery and serfdom to the highest and most ideal state of social justice yet experienced by mankind under any other social system it has so far tried. Islam freed it from the dominance of unruly passions and elevated it to the highest realms of moral perfection ever witnessed in the whole range of human history.

正是伊斯兰使人在其早期时期达到了如此令人惊叹的崇高道德境界,因为以先知本人及其同伴的人格所体现的精神力量是非凡的。正是这股力量将人提升到远高于其平常所能达到的境界,使他们创造出近似奇迹的伟大成就。然而,当这股强大的动力逐渐消退时,人们便从昔日崇高的道德与精神状态中退回到原先的状态,尽管他们至少仍保留着一丝神圣之光的火花。本文旨在向世人指出的,正是被这神圣之光照亮的历史篇章。但这并不意味着,正如一些人错误地以为的那样,要使实际生活中哪怕是最小的改变(如伊斯兰所实现的那样)都需要先知本人及其同伴的持续在场。因为一千三百年前在政治经济关系领域中堪称奇迹的事情,如今由于人类或穆斯林共同体自身在数百年间积累的经验,已经成为人类完全有能力去完成的任务。

It was Islam that made men win these surprisingly lofty moral heights during its early period as the spiritual force exemplified in the personality of the Holy Prophet and his Companions was an extraordinary one. It was this force that raised men to a plane far higher than they could ordinarily attain and made them perform mighty works very much akin to miracles. When, however, this mighty impulse ebbed away the people reverted to their former state from their erstwhile sublime state of moral and spiritual existence, although they still retained a spark at least of the divine light. It is the pages of history illumined by this divine light which we intend to point out to our fellowmen in this treatise. But this does not mean, as some people have wrongly assumed, that it requires the constant presence of the Prophet himself and his Companions to bring about even the smallest change in practical life such as was effected by Islam, for that which was a miracle in the world of politico-economic relationships thirteen hundred years ago, has now, thanks to the experiences gained by mankind or by the Muslim community itself over the centuries, become a task for the performance of which man is fully equipped.

因此,如果我们想要把伊斯兰教应用于现代生活状况,并适当考虑到早期穆斯林生活中所体现的崇高道德品格,那么我们就不必以早期伊斯兰历史中所展现的那种惊人快速度前进了,因为人类此后所积累的各种经验与所取得的进步,已经使我们大大接近伊斯兰理想的崇高巅峰。因此,实现这一理想变得容易得多,所需的努力也远没有那么艰辛。下面几个现代生活中的例子,足以说明我们以上所述的真理。

Therefore if we should want to apply Islam to the modern conditions of life making due allowance for the high moral excellence exemplified in the lives of the early Muslims we would not have to move forward at the miraculously high speed such as characterized the early history of Islam, for the various experiences and the progress since made by man have already brought us much closer to the lofty pinnacle of the Islamic ideal. Its achievement has, as a consequence thereof, become much easier, the effort required also being far less arduous. A few examples from the modern life may suffice to illustrate the truth of what we have said above.

现代大多数国家通过普选选举其统治者，并且人民有权在统治者未能履行对人民的义务时罢免或撤换他们。然而，这不过是伊斯兰政治制度一项重要特征的现代运用，而这一特征早在一千三百多年前就已由伊斯兰确立。在哲宗时代，即艾布·伯克尔和欧麦尔哈里发的时代，这无疑是一个奇迹；但在我们这个现代世界，它已不再是奇迹。只要我们诚心希望在生活中实践它，它的实现就完全在我们的能力之内。

Most of the nations in the modern times elect their rulers through general elections and also have the right to suspend or dismiss them if they should fail in discharging their obligations towards the people. But this is no more than a modem application of an important feature of the Islamic system of government that was instituted by Islam more than thirteen hundred years ago. Surely this was a miracle in the age of the caliphs Abu Bakr and Omar, but not in this modem world of ours; its realization is now completely within our means provided we should honestly wish to enforce it in our lives.

既然我们可以从英国或美国引进它，为什么我们不能以伊斯兰的名义采用它呢？尤其是当它本来就存在于伊斯兰教之中的时候？

For if we can take it from England or America, why cannot we as well adopt it in the name of Islam, especially when it is already therein Islam?

接下来的问题是国家如何保障其雇员的基本需求。

Then there is the question of guaranteeing the basic needs of its employees by the state.

关于这一点，还有先知（愿主赐福并使他平安）明确的命令：国家的所有雇员都应获得其基本生活所需。正是这一命令，二十世纪的共产主义将其付诸实行；尽管伊斯兰早已做到这一点，并且无需像共产主义那样依赖无产阶级专政。如果我们今天倾向于保障国家雇员的这些基本需求，为何不效法伊斯兰，反而去模仿共产主义呢？

About this too there is the explicit commandment of the Prophet (peace be on him) that all employees of the state shall be provided with their basic needs. It was this very commandment that communism carried into effect in the twentieth century notwithstanding the fact that Islam had already done so without resorting to a dictatorship of the proletariat such as communism could not do without. If we are inclined today to guarantee these basic needs to the state-employees, why should we not follow the lead of Islam rather than imitate communism?

因此，我们所面对的问题归根结底可以归结为一个根本性的问题：某一特定的社会经济和政治制度是否切实可行？这是能够正确判断一种制度是否可行的唯一标准。从这一立场出发，我们会发现伊斯兰的生活制度实际上是一种切实可行的生活制度，因为它是有史以来在这片大地上第一个被真正应用于人类生活的制度。

Thus the problem we are dealing with in the final analysis crystallizes into the fundamental question: Is a particular socio-economic and political system practicable or not? This is the only criterion whereby the practicability or otherwise of a system can be judged aright. Judging from this standpoint we find that the Islamic system of life is in fact a practical system of life, for it was the first system ever practically applied to human life on the face of this earth.

这种说法并不属实：共产主义者及其追随者宣称，现代生活建立在科学基础之上，而伊斯兰则是建立在情欲与虔诚意图之上的体系。事实恰恰相反，这一点从下述事实便可明白：例如，伊斯兰教法根本不是建立在人的感觉或情绪之上的。

There is no truth in what the communists and their camp-followers say that the modern life is raised on a scientific foundation while Islam is a system based on passions and pious intentions. That this is absolutely false may be realized from the fact that the Islamic law, for instance, does not at all rest on the feelings or emotions of men.

同样，早期的哈里发在与议事会协商，或探求伊斯兰法律的解释与适用时，也不会将其决定建立在一厢情愿的设想或人们的意图之上。

Similarly, early caliphs did not rest their decisions on wishful thinking or the intentions of men when conferring with their councils or seeking some legal interpretation and application of Islamic law.

事实是，伊斯兰教并非仅仅依靠法律。它固然确立了各种法律规范，但它首先要从人的内心去教化人，使人们在法律被执行时，不仅因为惧怕政府的外在压力，更出于自身内在的道德自觉而甘愿服从。毫无疑问，这是人类迄今在政治领域所取得的最卓越的成就。然而，法律始终存在，只是在公共利益需要时才被援引。在这种情况下，法律的执行不顾及任何人的情面，以至于哈里发奥斯曼曾说："真主以权威所约束的，是《古兰经》所不能约束的。" 有些作者在论证伊斯兰的复兴不可能实现时宣称，像欧麦尔这样的人物并非每天都能诞生；这样的人物是例外，在历史上并不常见。然而，这种推理恰恰暴露了其思想的贫乏。因为，我们为了执行伊斯兰法律所需要的，并不是欧麦尔这样由伊斯兰培育出的典型人物本身，而是他所制定的法律或留下的司法先例。例如，欧麦尔下令：若窃贼的行窃是由于某种外在的经济或社会压力所迫，则不得砍断其手。这一司法先例，绝非必须有一个像欧麦尔那样的人才能将其应用于现实生活，因为它不过是对伊斯兰法理学基本原则的一种阐释，即在存在疑问的情况下，应当避免施加法定刑罚。我们并不存在任何外在或内在的限制，使我们因为身边没有欧麦尔这样的人，就无法在现实生活中执行它。

The fact is that Islam does not rely on law alone. It no doubt frames various laws but it first of all wants to civilize human beings from within so that they would willingly submit to the law if and when it is enforced not only because of any outside fear of the government but because of their own moral initiative from within. Undoubtedly, this is the most excellent achievement so far gained by mankind in the world of politics. But still the law is there all the time although it is invoked only when the general good calls for it. In such cases it is enforced without any regard whatsoever of people to such an extent that caliph Othman said: "God restrains with authority that which is not restrained by the Qur'an." Some writers while arguing that the revival of Islam is impossible allege that men like Omar are not born every day; personalities like him are exceptions and not met with frequently in history, But such a line of reasoning betrays their own barrenness of thought, For, it is not the person of Omar-the typical man produced by Islam that we stand in need of for the enforcement of the Islamic law but rather the laws framed or legal precedents left behind by him. Thus, for instance, Omar ordered that the hands of a thief shall not be cut in case there is a possibility of his being driven to it due to some external economic or social exigency. Surely, this legal precedent does not necessarily call for the presence of a man like Omar to apply it to practical life, as it was nothing but an interpretation of the basic principle of the Islamic jurisprudence which lays down that in cases of doubtful nature the legal punishment should be avoided. There is no external or internal check upon us such as due to which we may not be able to enforce it in our practical life just because there is no Omar amongst us.

同样,欧麦尔规定,统治者有充分权力从富人的过剩财富中取用,并将其分配给穷人,正如当今英国所做的那样。在英国实施这一法律并不需要一位欧麦尔,这足以证明它在现代世界中的可行性。他的这一裁定也基于《古兰经》关于财富的著名原则:“免得财富只在你们中的富人之间流转”(59:7)。欧麦尔还阐明了国家的权利,即对总督所积累的财富进行调查,以查明其来源:是他们自己的,还是挪用了公款,或是通过非法手段获得的。这在当代世界中也几乎已成为普遍做法,尽管我们这里当然没有欧麦尔。他还立法规定,弃婴应由国家抚养,其费用由公库支付,因为他不应为父母所犯的罪过承担责任,或任其受苦。欧洲和美洲终于在二十世纪制定法律承认了这一点,这再次表明,就法律的执行和应用而言,并不必然需要一位欧麦尔。我们需要欧麦尔,不仅因为他是一位具有卓越人格的人物,还因为他是伊斯兰早期最杰出的法学家,并且深刻地浸润于伊斯兰的精神与理解之中。至于他的个人生活,我们可以从中获益并加以效法,因为它帮助我们提升到更高的境界,并为后世所有穆斯林提供了崇高而高尚的榜样。 但即便我们未能效法他个人的典范，遵守他所制定的律法，或许已足以在现实生活中立足。因为这些律法能使我们自立于世，而不是盲目模仿或追随从外国输入的法律与制度。

Similarly, Omar laid it down that the ruler was fully authorized to take of the excess of the rich people's wealth and distribute it among the poor as is nowadays being done, for instance, in England. It did not need an Omar to enforce this law in England which is sufficient to prove its practicability in the modern world. This ruling of his was also based on the well-known Qura'nic principle concerning riches: “In order that it may not (merely) make a circuit between the wealthy among you” (Iix : 7). Omar also enunciated the right of the state to institute an inquiry about the wealth amassed by the governors with a view to know as to whence they had acquired it, if it was their own or misappropriated from public funds or gained through unlawful means. This has also become almost a universal practice in the contemporary world, although there is, of course, no Omar here among us, He also made it a law that a foundling shall be looked after by the state and his expenses defrayed from the public exchequer, for he could not be held responsible or left to suffer for the sin committed by the parents, Europe and America at last recognized this by framing laws to that effect in the twentieth century, which again shows that so far as the enforcement or the application of the law is concerned the presence of an Omar is not inevitable. We need Omar not just because he was a man of towering personality but because he is the most outstanding legist of the early period of Islam besides his being so deeply imbued with the spirit and understanding of Islam, As for his personal life, we may follow it with benefit, for it helps us to ascend to higher planes of being and affords the Muslims of all times to come with a sublime and noble example to follow. But even if we fail in following his personal example, our observance of the laws enacted by him might suffice in practical life, for these would enable us to stand on our legs and not merely imitate or follow blindfoldly the laws and constitutions imported from foreign lands.

还有一种针对伊斯兰教的重大误解广为流传，即认为伊斯兰教只在早期哈里发时期才在地球上得到充分确立。确实，除了早期哈里发之后欧麦尔·本·阿卜杜勒·阿齐兹的短暂时期外，伊斯兰教从未以其真正的形式得到推行；但这并不意味着伊斯兰教作为一种宗教和生活体系，在哈里发时期之后便不复存在。此后的岁月里，从伊斯兰的角度看，只是政权在部分或全部方面发生了病态的变化，而社会的其余部分在精神上依然与以往一样保持着伊斯兰的特质。社会从未承认人们分为"有产者"和"无产者"，也未承认分为主人与奴隶；相反，人们在普遍的兄弟情谊中团结一致，彼此分担劳动，并共享劳动的成果。

There is also still another great misunderstanding prevalent against Islam. It is said that Islam was never fully established on this earth save in the early caliphate period. It is correct that Islam was never enforced in its true form except during the short period of Omar bin Abdul Aziz after the early caliphate; yet it does not at all mean that Islam as a religion and a system of life had ceased to exist after the caliphate period. In the subsequent years, it was the government only that had suffered a morbid change from the point of view of Islam partly or totally. The rest of the society remained as Islamic in spirit as ever. It did never recognize the division of the people into the 'haves' and 'havenots' nor into masters and salves. Rather they were all united in a universal brotherhood sharing with one another the labor as well as the fruits thereof.

在伊斯兰世界的各个地区，伊斯兰的法律始终至高无上。民众从未像欧洲那样任由封建领主摆布。伊斯兰的传统一直延续，这从伊斯兰与其敌人之间的战争史中可以看到。只要翻阅十字军东征的历史，尤其是萨拉丁（Salah-ud-Din Al-Ayubi）时代的记载，便足以让人相信上述说法的真实性。即使在穆斯林历史的后期，他们履行国际协定时的行为也同样崇高而光荣。他们对知识的热爱和对文明的重视，使伊斯兰世界成为所有真正求知者和艺术追求者向往的所在。正是伊斯兰点燃的这把知识之炬，最终照亮了整个欧洲，使其在进步与发展的道路上大步向前。

The law of the land of Islam always ruled supreme in all the different parts of tile Islamic world. The people were never left to the mercy of feudal lords as happened in Europe. The Islamic traditions lived and these may be witnessed in the history of wars of Islam against its enemies. A perusal of the crusades, particularly during the days of Salah-ud-Din Al-Ayubi, may suffice to convince one of the veracity of the above Statement. The conduct of the Muslims in carrying out their international agreements even during their latter history was no less sublime and glorious. Their love for knowledge and regard for civilization made the Islamic world a favorite haunt of all true seekers of knowledge and arts. It was this torch of knowledge lighted by Islam that finally set ablaze the whole of Europe and made it march ahead on the path of progress and development.

简而言之,伊斯兰教并不是西方通常理解的那种贬义意义上的"理想主义"体系。它恰恰是一套切实可行的生活体系,而且已经被人类尝试过一次。人类如今完全可以采纳它,并取得与一千三百年前同样的成功,因为此后积累的经验使人类与它的实现更加接近。另一方面,真正可以被称为纯粹空想的,倒是共产主义,迄今为止它在人类生活中并没有成功的实际应用。据我们所知,真正的共产主义阶段尚未达到:世界只是在朝着那个理想阶段稳步前进。

In short, Islam is not an ideal system in the derogatory sense this term is commonly understood to imply in the West. It is rather a perfectly practical system of life that has already been once tried by humanity. Mankind as such can adopt it now with as much success as it did thirteen hundred years ago thanks to the experience gained since, for it has brought mankind much closer and nearer to its realization. On the other hand, it is communism which may rightly be dubbed as a mere idle idealism with no successful practical application of it so far to human life. The stage of real communism, we are told, has not yet been attained: the world is rather steadily moving towards that ideal stage.

当整个世界都被置于单一的世界共产主义国家统治之下，并且所有财富在其全体公民之间平均分配时，共产主义的真正阶段才会实现。那时，“有产者”与“无产者”之间的阶级斗争将被一劳永逸地消除，因为正是财富分配不均，才是这种阶级斗争的唯一根源。

When all the world shall be brought under the control of a single world communist state and all wealth distributed evenly among all its citizens, then will the real stage of communism be attained. Then the class-war between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' shall be done away with once for all as it is the uneven distribution of wealth that is the sole cause of this class warfare.

这种共产主义的乌托邦梦想，在现实世界中永远无法实现，它属于幻想的范畴。它的基本假设——即人类可以被人为地使其在拥有相似的生产资料方面平等，以及一旦财富在所有人之间平均分配，阶级斗争就将结束，并且人类只有通过阶级之间的战争才能进步——都是毫无根据且不真实的。它代表了一种只能迷惑愚人的理想主义。它源于唯物主义，而具有讽刺意味的是，它本应建立在科学原则和生活事实之上。

This communist dreamland is a Utopia such as would never be materialized in this world of reality. It belongs under the realm of delusion. Its basic assumptions that human beings can ever be artificially made equal in possessing similar means of production and that all class war shall come to an end when and if wealth is distributed evenly among all the people and that humanity cannot progress except through interclass warfare, are altogether baseless and untrue. It represents an idealism such as can fascinate the fools only. It originated out of materialism and, ironically enough, is supposed to be based on scientific principles and facts of life.