许多（但并非全部）对“伊斯兰教不尊重宗教信仰自由”这一说法感到不满的人，其实真正不满的是“真主不尊重宗教信仰自由”这一观点。这才是他们问题的核心。认为只有一种宗教为真主所接纳，这一想法在他们看来本质上令人反感。真主怎能不尊重人们的良心自由？一位仁慈的真主怎能不尊重人们的选择自由？

Many (but not all) of those who have a problem with the claim, “Islam does not respect freedom of religion,” actually have a problem with the idea that God does not respect freedom of religion. That is really the core of their problem. The idea that there is only one religion acceptable to God is inherently repulsive to them. How could God not respect people’s freedom of conscience? How could a merciful God not respect people’s freedom of choice?

这也是为什么我们看到一些穆斯林因为接受宗教自由这一价值观，最终却离开了伊斯兰教。为什么？那么，对宗教信仰的宽容为什么要止于死亡？如果我们出于原则、伦理和正义，要求世俗统治者平等地容忍一切信仰，那我们为什么不对真主提出同样的要求？然而我们了解到，事实并非如此：一个人信仰什么确实是重要的。真主已经告诉我们，这一点不仅在最后的启示中，在以前所有的启示中也是如此！在今世维护宗教自由这样的原则，而在后世却坚持得救的排他性，至少可以说是一种重大的矛盾，甚至是明显的自相矛盾。如今，许多穆斯林生活在自由世俗主义的霸权影响之下，越来越多地选择放弃得救的排他性，主张信仰在今世和后世都无关紧要。这类人宣扬："所有宗教本质上都是一样的"、"所有宗教都是通往真主的道路"、"所有宗教都通向善"等等。看上去，尊重宗教自由的价值观似乎只是一个可以让穆斯林彼此争论的政治和实用问题。实际上，政治理想对普通穆斯林的信仰有着严重的影响。哲学自由主义（宗教自由这一价值观正源于此）正是以这种微妙而显著的方式，扭曲穆斯林的信仰，误导原本虔诚的信徒。愿真主保佑我们所有人。

This is also why we see some Muslims who adopt a value like religious freedom ultimately leave Islam because of that value. Why? Well, why should tolerance for religious belief end at death? If we demand, as a matter of principle, ethics, and justice, that worldly rulers tolerate every and all beliefs equally, then why wouldn’t we demand that of God as well? But then we learn that, no, the reality is that it does matter what a person believes. It matters to God as He has informed us, not only in the last revelation, but also in all previous revelations as well! To maintain a principle like religious freedom for dunya but salvific exclusivity for the akhira is, to say the least, a major tension, if not an outright contradiction. Many Muslims today, as they are living under the hegemonic influence of liberal secularism, increasingly have opted to abandon salvific exclusivity and to maintain that beliefs neither matter in dunya nor in akhira. Such people preach: “All religions are essentially the same,” “All religions are paths to God,” “All religions lead to good,” etc. It might appear that respecting the value of religious freedom is merely a political and pragmatic issue that Muslims can disagree about. In reality, political ideals have severe consequences for the iman of the average Muslim. This is how philosophical liberalism—from which the value of religious freedom originates—is able to subtly but significantly distort Muslim belief and misguide otherwise faithful believers. May Allah protect us all.