自由派的指控:“你不宽容。” 其实的意思是:“你不容忍我所容忍的那些确切的事物。” “tolerance”在英语中的一个定义是:“对某一特定量所允许的变动幅度,尤指机器或零件尺寸上的允许偏差。” 制造出来的零件从来不会完全相同。若一家工厂生产十万个活塞,没有两个活塞会完全一样。变动总是存在的,但这种变动必须控制在特定的公差范围之内。若某个活塞超出公差,就被视为不合格,必须报废。

The Liberal Charge: “You are not tolerant.” The Translation: “You do not tolerate the precise things that I tolerate.” One of the definitions of “tolerance” in the English language is: “An allowable amount of variation of a specified quantity, especially in the dimensions of a machine or part.” Manufactured parts are never exactly the same. If a factory produces, say, 100,000 pistons, no two pistons will be exactly equal. There is always variation but that variation has to be within a specific tolerance. If a specific piston is beyond tolerance, it is deemed dysfunctional and has to be trashed.

自由派假装无限宽容,并指责他人不宽容,而实际上他们的宽容是有限度的。当然,无限的宽容是自相矛盾的,是一个悖论。区别在于,自由派的宽容最终建立在随心所欲和偶然的文化观念之上,而伊斯兰的宽容则建立在哲理(hikma)和指引之上。

Liberals pretend to be infinitely tolerant and accuse others of being intolerant when in reality their tolerance has limits. Infinite tolerance, of course, is an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. The difference is liberal tolerance is ultimately based on whims and haphazard cultural beliefs whereas Islamic tolerance is based on hikma and guidance.

如果我们回到那个制造机械零件的例子：如果公差没有被正确校准，生产出来的零件就会失灵而毫无用处。人类也是如此。某些程度的变化是可以容忍的，但并非所有类型的变化都能造就一个功能正常、健康的人。那么，论及人类的健康、功能与福祉，若取这些词语最真实的意义，还有谁比人类的创造者与维系者更加了解呢？

If we go back to the example of the manufactured mechanical part, if the tolerance levels are not correctly calibrated, the resulting parts will be dysfunctional and useless. Similarly for human beings. The right kind of variation is tolerable, but not all kinds of variation can lead to a functioning, healthy human being. And who would know better about human health, function, and well-being — in the truest sense of those words — than the Creator and Maintainer of humankind?