《周刊报道》为何西方的宗教复兴可能是伊斯兰教

        西方正在变得越来越伊斯兰化。最近几十年有数百万的穆斯林移民到了欧洲并且好像还会有数百万的人随之而来。尽管最近20年来穆斯林移民的比例有所上升，但美国的穆斯林（较之其他西方国家）还是比较少。（著名的民意调查显示美国大约有275万穆斯林，尽管美国伊斯兰关系委员会宣称实际人数比这两倍还要多。）

And it isn't just immigration. The French author Michel Houellebecq's new novel Soumission exaggerates wildly by foretelling a France that finds renewal in Islamization within the next decade. But Islam does win converts in the West, and there are good reasons to expect that some of the next great religious awakenings in the Western world will be Islamic ones.

      并且还不仅仅是移民问题。法国作家Michel Houellebecq的新作《屈服》（Soumission）十分夸张的预言，法国在未来十年会发生伊斯兰文化复兴，并且伊斯兰教在西方的确拥有不少皈依者，所以有理由相信西方下一次的宗教大觉醒将是伊斯兰教的。

For one, Islam is a living faith, whereas the established Christian churches are mostly dead. Islamic imams make headlines for proclaiming what they believe. Christian theologians and pastors make headlines for announcing what they doubt or no longer believe. However far behind the Islamic world is from the West economically, the presence of an Islamic government in Iran, and the wide-ranging Sunni revival that is upending the Middle East, speak to a faith that has immediate relevance.

      首先，伊斯兰是一种鲜活的信仰，而现有的基督教则是呆板的。伊斯兰教的阿訇们大肆宣传他们相信的东西，基督教的神学家们宣扬的是他们怀疑什么或者不再相信什么。不管伊斯兰世界与西方的经济水平相差多么大，伊朗伊斯兰政府的存在以及中东的逊尼派的大范围的复兴，这都与伊斯兰不无关系。在欧洲,伊斯兰教给人的印象是既自信又有街头智慧。清真寺里总是人山人海，一派兴旺的景象，这些清真寺是逐渐增加的穆斯林的精神支柱。教堂里则空空荡荡，比较落魄并且丑闻缠身，做起事来又优柔寡断。

Even the worst of Islamism has not been a barrier. The British journalist Yvonne Ridley was kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan, but has since converted and become an activist on behalf of Muslim causes in Britain. Conversions to Islam in the U.S. increased after the Sept. 11 attacks.

      即使是被污名化的穆斯林也未影响伊斯兰教的传播。在阿富汗被塔利班绑架的英国记者Yvonne Ridley皈依伊斯兰教之后，回到了英国并且成了一位为了英国的穆斯林事务而奔走的活动家。另外，9.11事件之后，皈依伊斯兰教的美国人数量却增加了。

Islam is also proud of what it offers believers. Muslims happily share and teach core texts, sayings, and the history of their faith. These offer consolation, understanding, and a guide to life far more compelling than Western popular culture. By contrast, most Western Christians know very little about their own beliefs.

      伊斯兰教本身也已向穆斯林授到为傲。穆斯林们也非常乐意互相分享、沟通自己对教义、语录的理解，互相交流自己的奉教历史。这抚慰人们，促进人们之间互相理解，并为人们提供了比西方流行文化所能提供的更加吸引人的生活。与此形成对比的是，许多西方人对自己的信仰知之甚少。

Christians will find themselves envying the unity and devotion that is prevalent across Islam. My own experience walking through Cairo at evening during the call to prayer taught me this lesson. The ancient chant rises above the city, and in alleyways men from all classes roll out mats and bow in prayer. Some shopkeepers momentarily slide curtains in front of their entrances. The less devout may continue walking, but chat more quietly, as a hush descends over a city of 8 million. As the chant ends, one can almost sense a citywide sigh of relaxation. Only a low-functioning animal would not be impressed by this.

      我在开罗有一次夜里散步时遇到的号召人们进行祈祷的场景，让我觉得即使是基督徒也会羡慕伊斯兰世界里穆斯林的团结与虔诚。当城市上空响起古老的颂歌时，巷道里各个阶层的人都拿出坐垫然后跪下低头祈祷，一些店铺老板也迅速拉起帷幔挡住进口。当这个拥有8百万人口的城市突然安静下来时，一些不太虔诚的人可能会继续走路，但是交谈时会更加小声。当颂歌结束时，你甚至能够感受到整个城市都松了一口气。谁都会被这个场景震撼，除非你是低级动物（感受不到）。

Among Christians, this kind of wide, open, unselfconscious, nation-defining piety is entirely absent. The only Christian analogue that comes to mind is the way, in the 1980s, drivers in the west of Ireland might still cross themselves as they passed by a parish church. But that habit has since died, and anyway it is rather like comparing dipping water from a malfunctioning faucet to the roar of a living river

      在基督教里，像伊斯兰教那种公共、大范围的真心的信仰和民族烙印般的虔诚早已消失。基督教中类似的虔诚行为也只有在20世纪80年代的爱尔兰西部，当地司机经过教区教堂会自发的祈祷。但这种习惯也已消失，并且即使这种习惯还存在，与穆斯林的虔诚相比还是有天壤之别的。

Christianity concerns itself with theological debates and orthodoxy first, and also with the regulation of the moral lives of its faithful. Its march out into the public square is slightly constrained by its theology ("my kingdom is not of this world") and by history. The separation of church and state and the centuries of secularization give the impression that Christian theology is conducted in an almost private sphere. In important ways, Christians have internalized the idea that the church is merely a private pursuit.

      基督教由于神学上的争论以及正统之争，自己就首先对自己产生了疑问，并且也对教义上规定的道德生活准则也有所异议。基督教的传播也受到了历史原因和它自己的神学理论（"我的国并不属于这个世界"）的限制。教堂和国家的分裂，以及几个世纪的世俗化让人们觉得，基督教神学似乎只是个人自己的行为。更重要的是，基督教徒现在自己也已经默认，礼拜与否取决于基督教徒自己。

Meanwhile, the great social, political, and moral issues are debated in terms that are public. Environmentalism, feminism, anti-racism, and all manner of social reform movements do not hole themselves up in private institutions — they issue forth into the public square and demand reform. Islam matches this way of thinking. Islam does not need to invent intellectual disguises like "natural law" to sneak ideas into the public square.

      同时，人们开始讨论社会、政治、以及道德上的问题，环保主义、女权主义、反种族主义以及社会上各种改革运动都不躲藏在私人组织里——他们提倡把运动扩大到公共领域并且呼吁社会改革。伊斯兰教就是这种思考方式，它不必找一些自作聪明的借口，像是"天道"一类的，来掩饰自己的传教行为。

It may be more honest to say that Islam often subsumes the political sphere into the religious one. Islam's primary intellectual project is not theology, but jurisprudence, the right conduct and governance within the ummah. In the way that moral and political reform are blurred together, a post-Christian culture may look more and more like a pre-Islamic one.

       伊斯兰教经常把政治领域上的东西吸收到宗教里面——这样说也许更准确。伊斯兰教最主要的学术课题不是神学，而是法理学，即乌玛（穆斯林最早期的政教合一的政权）内正确的行为和治理方式。就政教合一来说，后基督教文化越看越像是前伊斯兰文化。

This is why the question of whether something is Islamic will come up more often. The ummah is not at all analogous to the Christian church. It's conception of the public sphere, and the role of the believer in public life, is different from the one that informs Christianity and Western secularism. Respecting Islam means admitting this difference.

      这就是为什么人们经常会疑问某些东西到底是不是属于伊斯兰的原因。乌玛与基督教教堂并不一样，乌玛是一个公共领域的概念，并且信仰者在社会生活中的角色也与基督教徒不同，基督教徒的社会角色也预示了后来的基督教和西方社会的世俗化。尊重伊斯兰文化就意味着你得接受这种差异。
   
Islam is going to play a public role in the West, which means we are all going to have to have some familiarity with its texts, its sources of authority, and its interpretive traditions. We may have to become as comfortable criticizing it in corporate terms as we do with Christian churches. And if we can't manage that critical closeness and comfort, there's always Soumission.It may be more honest to say that Islam often subsumes the political sphere into the religious one. Islam's primary intellectual project is not theology, but jurisprudence, the right conduct and governance within the ummah. In the way that moral and political reform are blurred together, a post-Christian culture may look more and more like a pre-Islamic one.

      伊斯兰教经常把政治领域上的东西吸收到宗教里面，这样说也许更准确。伊斯兰教最主要的学术课题不是神学，而是法理学，并且由乌玛（穆斯林最早期的政教合一的政权）掌控着。就政教合一来说，后基督教文化越看越像是前伊斯兰文化。

This is why the question of whether something is Islamic will come up more often. The ummah is not at all analogous to the Christian church. It's conception of the public sphere, and the role of the believer in public life, is different from the one that informs Christianity and Western secularism. Respecting Islam means admitting this difference.

      这就是为什么人们经常会疑问某些东西到底是不是属于伊斯兰的原因。乌玛与基督教教堂并不一样，乌玛是一个公共领域的概念，并且信仰者在社会生活中的角色也与基督教徒不同，基督教徒的社会角色也预示了后来的基督教和西方社会的世俗化。尊重伊斯兰文化就意味着你得接受这种差异。

Islam is going to play a public role in the West, which means we are all going to have to have some familiarity with its texts, its sources of authority, and its interpretive traditions. We may have to become as comfortable criticizing it in corporate terms as we do with Christian churches. And if we can't manage that critical closeness and comfort, there's always Soumission.
  
      伊斯兰教想进入到西方社会的公共领域，这就意味着我们到时候必须了解伊斯兰的章程，它的权威的来源以及它的富有争议的传统。我们可能也得像批判基督教那样来对伊斯兰教进行象征性的批判，如果我们不能处理好与伊斯兰教的关系，我们就只会在它面前屈服。