前言
Preface
当今大多数所谓“受过教育”的人,正面临一场宗教危机。
The majority of the modern "educated" people are today faced with a religious crisis.
宗教真的还是人生的一个事实吗？也许过去它是，但在科学已经改变了整个生活进程、除科学及科学事实所认可的内容之外再没有任何容身之处的今天，它是否仍然如此？宗教是否代表人类的一种真实需要？还是说，它完全取决于个人的气质禀赋，因此人信或不信都无所谓，信与不信这两种状态之间并无差别？
Is religion really a fact of life? It might have been one in the past, but does it still remain so in the world of today when science has changed the whole course of life, and when there is no place in it for anything save science and what scientific facts approve of? Does religion represent a genuine need of humanity? Or is it something wholly dependent upon the temperamental constitution of an individual so that one may not believe in it as there is no difference between the two states of belief and unbelief '?
谈到伊斯兰教时，这些人也表现出类似的思想危机：当伊斯兰的传教者告诉他们，伊斯兰教不仅仅是一种信条，也并非只是对灵魂的陶冶，或对人类美德的净化与培养，而是一个和谐的整体，其中还包括公正的经济制度、均衡的社会组织、民法、刑法以及国际法的法典，一套关于生活的哲学观，以及一套体育教育体系，所有这些都源于伊斯兰教同一的根本信条及其道德与精神气质。听到这些，这些自称"受过教育"的人大为困惑，因为他们以为伊斯兰教早已不复存在，已经过时，丧失了全部用处。所以，当他们听到虔诚的穆斯林说，伊斯兰教并不属于遥远的过去，它不是陈旧或过时的，而是至今仍然充满生机、欣欣向荣的生活体系，并且它蕴含着人类已知的其他任何制度——包括社会主义、共产主义或其他任何制度——所不具备的生活要素时，他们感到十分惊讶。
Talking about Islam they betray a similar state of intellectual crisis when the missionaries of Islam tell them that Islam is not a mere creed, nor does it represent simply an edification of souls, or a refinement and training of human virtues but is rather a harmonious whole that also includes a just economic system, a well-balanced social organization, codes of civil, criminal as well as international law, & philosophical outlook upon life along with a system of physical instruction, all of these flowing from the same fundamental creed of Islam and its moral and spiritual temperament. When they hear all this, these "educated" people are greatly perplexed, for they supposed that Islam had since long ceased to exist as it has become outmoded and had exhausted all its usefulness. That is why they are surprised when they hear devout Muslims saying that Islam does not belong to a remote past, it is not obsolete or antiquated but is a living and flourishing system of life even at the present moment, as it holds within itself such elements of life as no other system known to humanity does including socialism as well as communism or any other system.
听到这些话,他们惊讶到了极点,再也按捺不住,于是对这些传讲真主之言的人大声叫嚷:你们对我们讲这一切,是讲那种允许奴隶制、封建制和资本主义的宗教吗?这种制度认为女人只是半个男人,把她关在家里;它规定了诸如石刑、肢体残害和鞭刑等惩罚;它让信众靠施舍过活;它把人分成不同的阶级,有的剥削另一些人;它不能为劳动大众提供体面生活的保障。这样一种制度,是这样那样的制度,它今天怎么可能还站得住脚,更不用说将来能够延续?且不说它能否取得胜利、在竞争中成功,在当今各种现代社会经济制度之间正在进行的残酷意识形态斗争中,这样的制度又怎么可能支撑下去?
At this their surprise exceeds limits, they can no more contain themselves, so they scream at these preachers of Gods words: Do you tell us all this about the religion that approves of slavery, feudalism and capitalism-the system which holds that woman is only a half-man and imprisons her within her household; which prescribes such punishments as stoning to death, mutilation and whipping; which lets its people live on charity; which splits them up into different classes, some exploiting the other; a system which provides no security of decent living to the toiling people; and a system which is such and such, how is it possible that such a system should even hold its own today, let alone its survival in the future? Not to speak of its triumph and contending successfully, how can such a system even hold out in the ruthless ideological struggle going on at present among different modern socio-economic systems?
让我们暂且停下来，看看这些所谓"受过教育"的怀疑者究竟是什么人。他们的怀疑从何而来？这种思想态度是他们自己独立思考的结果，还是仅仅在鹦鹉学舌，甚至连这些话的含义都未曾理解？
Before proceeding further let us, however, pause awhile and see as to who these "educated" skeptics are? Whence does their skepticism originate? Is this attitude of mind a result of their own free thinking or are they merely parroting the words of other, without even so much as understanding them?
事实上，这些先生们所表现出的怀疑态度，根本不是他们自己独立思考的结果，也并非真正源自他们自己的头脑。要追溯它的真正来源，我们还得把现代历史稍作回顾。
The fact is that the skepticism exhibited by these gentlemen is not at all a result of their own independent thinking, nor did it originate in their own minds as such. For its true source we win have to go back a little over the history of modern times.
中世纪期间，欧洲与伊斯兰世界之间爆发了十字军东征。双方之间进行了激烈的战役，此后出现了一段双方暂停敌对行动的时期，但两个阵营之间的敌意从未消失，这一点从第一次世界大战期间英国占领耶路撒冷时艾伦比勋爵所明确表达的话中可以得到充分印证："如今，十字军东征终于结束了！"我们还必须记住，在过去两个世纪里，欧洲帝国主义一直与伊斯兰东方处于冲突之中。
The Middle Ages witnessed crusades between Europe and the world of Islam. Furious battles were fought between the two after which followed a period that saw a suspension of hostilities between the two camps but their hostility towards each other never ended as is well borne out by what Lord Allenby said in clear terms on the occasion of the British occupation of Jerusalem in World War I: "Now have the crusades come to an end!' We must also keep in mind that during the last two centuries European imperialism remained in conflict with the Islamic Orient.
英国人在1882年借塔菲格的背叛进入埃及。他们与塔菲格密谋对埃及实施军事占领，以挫败在欧拉比领导下的民众革命。此后，英国的政策出于必然，始终围绕一个基本目标：不断加强对伊斯兰世界的控制，并保护其利益不被东方真正的伊斯兰精神所冲垮。 在这一点上，我们愿意提及维多利亚时代英国首相格莱斯顿先生在下议院所说的话。他手持《古兰经》，对议会议员们说："只要埃及人手里还有这本书，我们在那片土地上就永远无法享有安宁与和平。"
The British stepped into Egypt in 1882 following Taufiq's treachery. They hatched a plot with him for the military occupation of Egypt in order to thwart the popular revolution under the leadership of Orabi. Thereafter the British policy of necessity revolved around one basic aim: strengthening their hold more and more on the Islamic world and safeguarding their interests from being swept away by the true Islamic spirit of the Orient. We would in this respect like to refer to what the British Prime Minister of the Victorian age, Mr. Gladstone said in the House of Commons. Holding up the Holy Qur'an in his hands he told the members of the House: "So long as the Egyptians have got this book with them, we will never be able to enjoy quiet or peace in that land".
自然地，英国人所推行的政策，是贬损伊斯兰的律法与原则，驱逐穆斯林心中对其神圣性的敬重，并把伊斯兰描绘得漆黑一团，以使穆斯林轻视它，并在适当的时候彻底抛弃它。他们这样做，是为了巩固对这个国家的帝国主义控制。
Naturally the policy pursued by the British was one of deriding Islamic laws and principles, of exiling the sense of their sanctity from Muslims' hearts, and of painting Islam in the blackest of colors so as to make them look down upon it and in due course of time to discard it totally. They did all this in order to tighten up their imperialistic grip on this country.
他们在埃及所采取的教育政策，使学生对伊斯兰教的真实面貌相当无知。在他们眼中，伊斯兰教不过是一种包含各种崇拜、祈祷、赞颂和荣耀真主、并追求神秘修行的宗教；《古兰经》只是为求真主赐福而诵读的一部书；而伊斯兰教则是一种关于追求最高尚、最慷慨的道德准则的理论性号召。学生从未被告知，伊斯兰教是一种社会经济制度和治理体系，是一部宪法，是内政与外交政策的基础，是一种教育体系，也是一种生活方式，并且是对生活的守护。相反，他们所学到的，是东方学家和其他欧洲十字军分子对伊斯兰教提出的种种怀疑，其目的是使穆斯林背弃自己的宗教，轻易屈服于帝国主义的种种恶毒阴谋。
The educational policy they adopted in Egypt was such as left the students quite ignorant about the reality of Islam, except that it was a religion embracing worships, prayers, praising and glorifying God, and pursuing mystic practices; that the Qur'an was a book read in order to invoke God's blessings and that Islam was a theoretical invitation to pursue the noblest and most generous of moral precepts. Students were never told anything about Islam as a socio-economic system of government or as a constitution, or as a basis of internal and external policy, or as a system of education, or as a way of life and a watcher over life. What they were taught instead was the doubts cast against Islam by the orientalists and other European crusaders in order to make the Muslims forsake their religion and succumb easily to the evil machinations of imperialism.
他们被灌输这样的观念:唯一真正存在的社会制度就是欧洲所拥有的那一种;唯一真正的经济制度是欧洲哲学家所构想的那一种;最正确、最合适的立宪政府形式,是欧洲人借助各种试验而演化出来的那一种。他们被教导说,人权首先是由法国大革命加以承认的;民主是由英国人民培育并使之流行的;而罗马帝国则是提供文明基础的唯一来源。简言之,英国人把欧洲描绘成一个桀骜不驯却又强大无比的巨人,没有任何力量能够阻挡其进步;而他们却把东方描绘成一个矮小的附庸,除了服从欧洲、在社会和文化观念上完全依赖欧洲之外,毫无自身的地位可言。
They were taught; that the only genuine social system in existence was that which Europe possessed, the only true economic system was one that was conceived by the European philosophers, the right and most appropriate form of constitutional government was what the Europeans, thanks to their various experiments, evolved. They were taught that the rights of man were first taken cognizance of by the French Revolution, that democracy was fostered and made popular by the English people, and that it was the Roman Empire that provided any basis of civilization. In short, the British depicted Europe as a rebellious but mighty giant with none to stand in its way or check its progress whereas they presented the East as a dwarfish underling with no standing of its own save that of subordination to Europe and complete dependence upon it for its social and cultural outlook.
这一政治政策终于见效了。在埃及人中间，涌现出了这样几代人：他们丧失了对自身个性或独立文化存在的任何思考，完全被欧洲迷住了，对它极其虔诚地崇拜；他们既不能用自己的眼睛去看，也不再有能力独立思考；欧洲人要他们看什么，他们就看什么；欧洲人希望他们怎样想，他们就怎样想。
This political policy at last took effect. Among the Egyptians there sprang up generations who were shorn of any thought of their individuality or independent cultural existence. They were completely enthralled by Europe; they worshipped it most devotedly; they could neither see with their own eyes nor were they any more left capable of thinking for themselves; they would see just what the Europeans wanted them to see; and they thought what they wished them to think.
如今所谓"受过教育"的知识阶层，正是帝国主义者通过其政治手段，在本国所取得成果的集中体现。
The "educated" intelligentsia of today represents as such the culminating point of what the imperialists with their political maneuvers achieved in-this country.
这些可怜的人对伊斯兰一无所知，只剩满腹怀疑。他们关于伊斯兰的全部信息，都来自其欧洲主子。因此，人们看到他们像欧洲人一样大声疾呼，主张政教分离，主张科学与伊斯兰分离。
These poor people know nothing about Islam but doubt. About Islam they have no information save what they received through their European masters. That is why they are seen shouting like them advocating the separation of religion from the state and of science from Islam.
但他们因无知而忽略了这样一个事实:欧洲所摆脱的宗教,与伊斯兰主义的倡导者所呼吁人们接受的宗教截然不同;而当时欧洲的特殊处境,使其背离宗教,这些情况仅限于世界的那一地区。伊斯兰东方从未发生过此类事情,将来也不太可能发生。因此,当他们呼吁同胞抛弃伊斯兰教,或宣称伊斯兰教不应在社会、政治和经济事务的管理上发挥作用时,他们不过是在重复并鹦鹉学舌般地表达其主人从外部输入的思想。
But in their ignorance they pass by the fact that the religion that Europe shook off was one quite different from what the advocates of Islamic ideology call upon people to adopt; and that the particular circumstances that prevailed in Europe at the time and made it turn its back upon religion were confined to that region of the world only. Nothing of the sort ever happened in the Islamic orient; nor is there any likelihood of its ever happening there. Thus when they call upon their countrymen to discard Islam or declare that Islam should have no say in the management of social, political and economic affairs of community and life, they are merely expressing and parroting the imported thoughts of their masters.
欧洲曾是宗教与科学之间冲突的舞台,因为当地的教会武断地接受了某些理论和教条(这些理论和教条继承自希腊)。
Europe was the scene of a conflict between religion and science, because the church there had arbitrarily embraced certain theories and dogmas (inheriting them from Greece)
然而,他们坚持认为这些说法是神圣的、不容置疑的真理。因此,当理论科学与实证科学证明了这些理论的谬误与虚假时,那里的人们别无选择,只能相信科学,并且不再信奉教会以及这些神职人员所代表的宗教。科学与宗教之间的斗争愈发激烈,随着欧洲教会自封为拥有神圣权力并以最专横的方式加以推行,人们摆脱这些宗教人士统治的热情也日益高涨。于是,在那里的人们眼中,宗教成了一个可憎的妖魔,无论白天工作还是夜间睡眠,都在折磨着他们。它向人们征收沉重的勒索,使他们沦为对神职人员卑躬屈膝的奴隶,还要求他们以上帝之名吞下荒谬的言论和迷信。烧死科学家的酷刑,仅仅因为他们说地球是圆的,便是最丑恶的罪行。这使得那里每一个明智、思想自由且有良知的人都有了神圣的责任,挺身而出,协助那些试图摧毁这一可憎妖魔的力量,或至少将其锁链束缚,使它不能再次折磨和压迫人民,同时也避免它因歪曲宗教、让人们觉得宗教不过是虚妄与谎言而损害宗教的事业。
and insisted that they were sacred and a gospel truth. So when the theoretical and the empirical science demonstrated the error and fallacy of these theories, the people there had no other course but to believe in science and disbelieve in the church as well as in the religion these churchmen stood for. The war between religion and science gained in intensity and the enthusiasm to get free from the dominance of these religious men increased as the church in Europe conferred upon itself divine power and proceeded to enforce it in a most tyrannical manner. Thus for the people there religion came to signify an abominable ghoul that harassed them in their working no less than in their sleeping hours. It exacted from men costly extortion and reduced them to an abject state of subordination to the churchmen, besides calling upon them to swallow nonsense and superstitions in the name of God. The torturing of scientists and burning them alive because they said, for instance, that the earth was round, was the ugliest of crimes that made it a sacred duty of every sensible, free-thinking and conscientious individual there to come forward and help the forces that sought to destroy this abominable ghoul or at least put it in chains so as not to let it ever again harass and oppress the people besides harming the cause of religion by misrepresenting it and making others feel as if religion contained nothing but falsehood and untruth.
但我们这些生活在伊斯兰东方的人又当如何呢?为什么要把科学与宗教割裂开来,或者认为二者相互对立、彼此交战?究竟有没有哪一条科学事实被证明与伊斯兰及其基本信条相矛盾?科学家在伊斯兰的领域内是否曾遭受迫害?伊斯兰的全部历史摆在我们面前,它证明:曾经涌现过伟大的医学家、天文学家、数学家、物理学家和化学家,但他们从未因其观点而遭受迫害。在这些伟大的穆斯林科学家的思想中,找不到任何科学与其宗教信仰之间冲突的痕迹。他们与统治当局之间也不存在任何可能导致他们受苦或被活活烧死的敌对关系。
But what about us, we who live in the Islamic East? Why should we separate science from religion or hold that the two are at variance and war with each other? Is there even a single scientific fact which has been found to contradict Islam and its basic creed? Were scientists ever subjected to persecution in the domain of Islam? The whole history of Islam is before us. It testifies that there have been great doctors, astronomers, mathematicians, physicists as well as chemists but never were they persecuted for their views. There is no trace of any conflict between science and their religious beliefs to be found in the minds of these great Muslim scientists. Nor did there exist any hostilities between them and the ruling authorities such as might have led to their suffering or burning alive.
那么，究竟是什么促使这些“受过教育”的人主张宗教与科学分离，在对伊斯兰教一无所知、毫无了解的情况下攻击伊斯兰教、挑剔其过失呢？他们那种狂热的叫嚷，不过是某种毒素的症状——这毒素当然是帝国主义者灌输给他们的，而他们自己对此毫无察觉。
What is it then that makes these "educated" people plead for separation of religion from science, for attacking Islam and finding faults with it without any understanding or knowledge of it? Their feverish crying is nothing but a symptom of the poison that had been administered to them by the imperialists, of course, without their knowing it.
这一类“受过教育”的精英阶层，在我写这本书时根本不在我的考虑之中。
This class of the "educated" elite was not at all in my mind when I wrote this book.
他们永远不会回到正道，除非他们在西方的主人也转向正道——在对其无神论的唯物主义文明感到绝望，并认识到它无法带给他们救赎之后，他们才会回到一种既属精神、又属实践的生活体系：这一体系同时包含信仰与生活，二者兼备，不可分割。
They would never return to what is right until their masters in the West also do turn towards it after despairing of their Godless materialistic civilization and recognize that it can bring them no salvation, and so return to a system of life that is at once spiritual as well as practical-a system embracing belief no less than life at once and at the same time.
我更希望在撰写这本书时，心中想的是另一类读者：那些真诚而有见识的年轻人。他们真心渴望探求真相，探求事实的真理，然而帝国主义强权散布的关于伊斯兰教的疑虑与谎言，使他们无从看清光明，也无从找到对这些谎言的回答，于是只能在黑暗中摸索。帝国主义的奴仆和共产主义的魔鬼，也不让他们走上正确的道路——那条通往自由、尊严与崇高的道路。我谨将此书献给这群开明而真诚的年轻人，并希望真主助我，消除他们心中对伊斯兰教的疑虑。
I had rather another class before me in writing this book-the sincere and enlightened youth, who earnestly wish to find out the reality, the truth, but the doubts and lies spread about Islam by the deceitful imperialistic powers leave them helpless to see the light, or the answer to these lies, and so they are left groping about in darkness, for the slaves of imperialism and the devils of communism would not let them march out to the right paththe path to freedom, honor and sublimity. It is to this enlightened and sincere group of young men that I present this book and hope that it may please God to help me dispel doubts about Islam from their minds.