Mustafa Akyol: Faith versus tradition in Islam

譯者: Yakun Li 審譯者: Sean Chuang

幾週前

A few weeks ago, I had a chance to go to Saudi Arabia.

我有幸去了沙烏地阿拉伯一趟

And the first thing I wanted to do as a Muslim

作為一個穆斯林，我最想做的事情

was to go to Mecca and visit the Kaaba,

就是去麥加的天房

the holiest shrine of Islam.

伊斯蘭最神聖的廟堂

And I did that; I put on my ritualistic dress,

我去了天房；我穿上了我朝聖的服裝

去了這個神聖的清真寺

I went to the holy mosque,

I did my prayers,

我禱告

I observed all the rituals.

並遵循的所有儀式的流程

同時

And meanwhile, besides all the spirituality,

我發現在這一切神性之外

there was one mundane detail in the Kaaba

天房儀式中有一個很不起眼的細節

that was pretty interesting for me:

但是我卻覺得非常有趣

there was no separation of sexes.

在天房裡，沒有將男女隔離開來

In other words, men and women were worshiping all together.

意思就是說，男人女人

在同一個空間裡一起做禮拜

在行塔瓦夫禮，也就是繞天房角落的黑石時

They were together while doing tawāf, the circular walk around the Kaaba.

男女也是在一起的

They were together while praying.

男女在一起祈禱

And if you wonder why this is interesting at all,

如果你不明白這有什麼有趣的

你可以去沙烏地阿拉伯其他的地方看看

you have to see the rest of Saudi Arabia,

because this a country which is strictly divided between the sexes.

因為在這個國家裡

男女是被嚴格分離開來的

In other words:

也就是說

as men, you are simply not supposed to be in the same physical space

男人無論如何都不應該

與女人在同一個空間裡

with women.

And I noticed this in a very funny way.

有趣的是我怎樣注意到這點的

I left the Kaaba to eat something in downtown Mecca.

我離開了天房

去麥加市中心找吃的東西

I headed to the nearest Burger King restaurant.

我去了距離天房最近的漢堡王

在那裡

And I went there -- I noticed that there was a male section,

我發現這裡有一個男性用餐區

which is carefully separated from the female section.

很嚴格地與女性用餐區分割開來

I had to pay, order and eat in the male section.

我必須在男性用餐區點餐，付賬，用餐

"It's funny," I said to myself,

“這太有趣了，”我和我自己說

"You can mingle with the opposite sex at the holy Kaaba,

“你可以跟異性在神聖的天房一起做事情，

but not at the Burger King?"

卻不能在漢堡王這樣做。

(Laughter)

很諷刺不是嗎?

Quite, quite ironic.

我認為這不僅有諷刺意味，還值得我們去深入探討

Ironic, and it's also, I think, quite telling,

because the Kaaba and the rituals around it

因為天房與其中進行的儀式

are relics from the earliest phase of Islam,

都是從最早期的伊斯蘭傳統中流傳下來的

that of prophet Muhammad.

早至先知穆罕默德的時代

And if there was a big emphasis at the time to separate men from women,

如果當時伊斯蘭很重視

將男女分割開來

the rituals around the Kaaba could have been designed accordingly.

天房的宗教儀式也會反映這一點

But apparently, that was not an issue at the time.

但是，我們很明顯可以看到，當時這並不是一個問題

所以儀式是男女一起的

So the rituals came that way.

This is also, I think, confirmed by the fact

我認為這同時也驗證了

將女性隔離出去

that the seclusion of women in creating a divided society

創造一個兩性分隔的社會

is something that you also do not find in the Koran --

並不是從古蘭經中來的

而古蘭經是伊斯蘭教的核心

the very core of Islam, the divine core of Islam --

伊斯蘭最神聖的核心

that all Muslims, equally myself, believe.

是包括我在內的所有穆斯林的信仰

我認為在古蘭經，

And I think it's not an accident

that you don't find this idea in the very origin of Islam,

這個伊斯蘭的源頭中

無法找到男女分隔的要求並不令人驚奇

because many scholars who study the history of Islamic thought --

因為，據許多學者研究

伊斯蘭思想史的

Muslim scholars or Westerners --

穆斯林學者，或者西方學者說

think that, actually, the practice of dividing men and women physically

事實上，將男女從空間上分隔開來的

這個習俗

came as a later development in Islam,

是伊斯蘭較後期發展出來的

as Muslims adopted some preexisting cultures

當穆斯林開始遵循

一些中東地區已有的文化跟傳統

and traditions of the Middle East.

Seclusion of women was actually a Byzantine and Persian practice,

將女性排除出主流社會事實上

是一個拜占庭和波斯的習俗

穆斯林後來沿襲了這個習俗

and Muslims adopted it and made it a part of their religion.

並使之成為自己宗教的一部分

Actually, this is just one example of a much larger phenomenon.

事實上，這個例子

只說明了整體現象的冰山一角

What we call today Islamic law, and especially Islamic culture --

我們目前所理解的伊斯蘭法，特別是伊斯蘭文化——

事實上伊斯蘭文化也分很多種

and there are many Islamic cultures, actually;

沙烏地阿拉伯的文化與

the one in Saudi Arabia is much different

我的家鄉伊斯坦堡，或者整個土耳其，是有很大不同的

from where I come from in Istanbul or Turkey.

But still, if you're going to speak about a Muslim culture,

但是

如果我們要談穆斯林文化

this has a core: the divine message which began the religion.

這個文化裡有一個很核心很神聖的訊息

開啟了這個宗教的源頭

But then many traditions, perceptions, practices were added on top of it.

但是之後很多傳統，觀念

習俗被加在了這個訊息之上

And these were traditions of the Middle East medieval traditions.

這些就是中世紀中東的一些習俗

There are two important messages, or two lessons,

知道了這個之後

我想引出兩個訊息，或者是兩點我們需要學習的

to take from that reality.

First of all, Muslims --

首先，穆斯林——

pious, conservative, believing Muslims who want to be loyal to their religion --

虔誠的，傳統的，忠實於其信仰的穆斯林

不應一板一眼的遵循他們文化中的所有習俗

should not cling onto everything in their culture,

thinking that that's divinely mandated.

認為這些習俗是神的旨意

有可能有些是不好的傳統

Maybe some things are bad traditions and they need to be changed.

需要被改變的習俗

On the other hand, the Westerners who look at Islamic culture

另外，作為西方人

當研究伊斯蘭文化

and see some troubling aspects

並發現一些令人不安的內容的時候

should not readily conclude that this is what Islam ordains.

不應該馬上就歸納這些文化中的習俗是伊斯蘭原始教旨的一部分

Maybe it's a Middle Eastern culture that became confused with Islam.

很有可能這只是中東文化的一部分

與伊斯蘭文化混雜了起來

有一個習俗，叫做女性割禮

There is a practice called female circumcision.

這是一個很可怕，很恐怖的習俗

It's something terrible, horrible.

It is basically an operation to deprive women of sexual pleasure.

它是一個手術

一個剝奪女性性高潮的手術

And Westerners --

西方人，不論是歐洲人還是美國人

Europeans or Americans -- who didn't know about this before,

如果不知道這個習俗的由來

[saw] this practice

在一些從北非移民的

within some of the Muslim communities who migrated from North Africa.

穆斯林的社群裡

發現了這個習俗

And they've thought,

西方人會想，”天啊，伊斯蘭教太恐怖了，

"Oh, what a horrible religion that is, which ordains something like that."

居然教教徒們做這種事情

但是如果你再進一步了解女性割禮

But when you look at female circumcision,

你就會發現，這個習俗與伊斯蘭毫無關係

you see that it has nothing to do with Islam;

它只是北非的一個習俗

it's just a North African practice which predates Islam.

比伊斯蘭更早產生

It was there for thousands of years.

這個習俗已經存在了幾千年了

And, quite tellingly, some Muslims do practice it --

很明顯一些穆斯林確實有這樣的習俗

僅在北非，而不是其他地區的穆斯林

the Muslims in North Africa, not in other places.

But also the non-Muslim communities of North Africa --

但是還有其他北非地區的非穆斯林群體

萬物有靈論者，甚至一些基督徒

the animists, some Christians and even a Jewish tribe in North Africa --

甚至還有一個北非地區的猶太部落

都有這樣的習俗

are known to practice female circumcision.

So what might look like a problem within Islamic faith

所以這個貌似是伊斯蘭信仰問題的

問題

might turn out to be a tradition that Muslims have subscribed to.

就成了一個

穆斯林從別處借來並沿襲的傳統

The same thing can be said for honor killings,

同樣的道理適用於"名譽殺害"

which is a recurrent theme in the Western media --

這個問題經常在西方媒體中被提到

and which is, of course, a horrible tradition.

當然這是一個非常恐怖的傳統

And we see, truly, in some Muslim communities, that tradition.

並且我們確實在一些穆斯林群體中看到這一傳統

但是在一些其他中東地區的非穆斯林群體中

But in the non-Muslim communities of the Middle East,

比如說基督教群體，東方人（注：非通常意義上的亞洲東方人，而是中東地區的東方人種）群體中

such as some Christian communities, Eastern communities,

你也發現相同的習俗

you see the same practice.

We had a tragic case of an honor killing

在土耳其的亞美尼亞群體中

發生了一個名譽殺害的慘劇

within Turkey's Armenian community just a few months ago.

就在幾個月前

Now, these are things about general culture,

我上面談到的是普通大眾文化範圍內的事情

but I'm also very much interested in political culture

我同樣對政治文化也很感興趣

and whether liberty and democracy is appreciated,

還有在一個政治文化裡自由與民主是否被珍視

or whether there's an authoritarian political culture

以及是否這個政治文化里有獨裁的成分存在

in which the state is supposed to impose things on the citizens.

也就是說國家想向公民強加一些事實

大家都知道

And it is no secret

that many Islamic movements in the Middle East

中東地區的很多伊斯蘭運動

都很傾向於獨裁

tend to be authoritarian,

and some of the so-called "Islamic regimes,"

並且一些所謂的“伊斯蘭政權”

such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and the worst case, the Taliban in Afghanistan,

比如說沙烏地阿拉伯，伊朗

還有最嚴重的阿富汗的塔利班政權

they are pretty authoritarian -- no doubt about that.

毫無疑問都是很獨裁的

比如說，在沙烏地阿拉伯

For example, in Saudi Arabia,

there is a phenomenon called the religious police.

有一種叫做宗教警察的東西

And the religious police imposes the supposed Islamic way of life

宗教警察用暴力確保

每個公民都遵循

on every citizen, by force --

所謂的伊斯蘭的生活方式

like, women are forced to cover their heads --

比如說女性被強制要求戴頭巾

那種伊斯蘭式大蓋頭

wear the hijab, the Islamic head cover.

這是很獨裁的

Now that is pretty authoritarian,

並且我對此很持批判態度

and that's something I'm very much critical of.

但是當我意識到

But when I realized that the non-Muslim,

這一地區的非穆斯林

or the non-Islamic-minded actors in the same geography

或者說非伊斯蘭信仰者

有時也這麼做(指戴頭巾)

sometimes behaved similarly,

I realized that the problem maybe lies

我就意識到這個問題可能

in the political culture of the whole region, not just Islam.

不僅是伊斯蘭的問題，而是這一地區政治文化的問題

Let me give you an example: in Turkey, where I come from,

我來給你舉個例子：我的家鄉土耳其

which is a very hyper-secular republic,

是一個極度世俗化的共和國

until very recently, we used to have what I call "secularism police,"

直到很不久之前

在土耳其存在著一些我稱作世俗警察的人

這些人不讓戴頭巾的

which would guard the universities against veiled students.

學生進入校園

In other words, they would force students to uncover their heads.

換句話說，他們強制學生

不戴頭巾

And I think forcing people to uncover their head

我認為，強制人們不戴頭巾與

is as tyrannical as forcing them to cover it.

強制人們戴頭巾是一樣的暴政行為

這應當是每個公民自己的選擇

It should be the citizen's decision.

But when I saw that, I said,

當我看到這樣的現象的時候，我就說

"Maybe the problem is just an authoritarian culture in the region,

“可能問題

只是這一地區的獨裁政治文化，

and some Muslims have been influenced by that.

並且一些穆斯林被這樣的文化所影響。”

一些很世俗化的人也會被這樣的文化所影響

But the secular-minded people can be influenced by that.

Maybe it's a problem of the political culture,

可能這就是一個政治文化的問題

我們應該來思考

and we have to think about how to change that political culture."

如果改變這種政治文化

Now, these are some of the questions I had in mind a few years ago

這些是我幾年前

開始寫書的時候

when I sat down to write a book.

想到的一些問題

I said, "Well, I will do research

我就想，“讓我來對於

伊斯蘭是怎樣發展到今天來做一些研究，

about how Islam actually came to be what it is today,

經過了怎樣的發展道路

and what roads were taken and what roads could have been taken."

本來有可能向哪些方向發展。”

我的書的題目是《無極端伊斯蘭：穆斯林的自由研究》

The name of the book is "Islam Without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty."

And as the subtitle suggests,

書的副標題點出了書的內容

I looked at Islamic tradition and the history of Islamic thought

我從個人自由的角度

from the perspective of individual liberty,

研究了伊斯蘭傳統跟伊斯蘭思想史

and I tried to find what are the strengths with regard to individual liberty.

並且我試圖去找個人自由的

優越之處

And there are strengths in Islamic tradition.

同樣，伊斯蘭傳統也有其優越之處

伊斯蘭，作為一個一神論的宗教

Islam, actually, as a monotheistic religion,

which defined man as a responsible agent by itself,

將人定義成為一個自身責任的個體

created the idea of the individual in the Middle East,

在中東創造了"個人"這一概念

並保護這一概念不受社群主義

and saved it from the communitarianism, the collectivism of the tribe.

與部落集體主義的侵蝕

You can derive many ideas from that.

你可以從這一概念中衍生出很多內容

But besides that, I also saw problems within Islamic tradition.

但是除此之外，我也看到了伊斯蘭傳統中的問題

But one thing was curious:

但是有一點很值得我們思考

most of those problems turn out to be problems that emerged later,

那就是大部分的問題都是伊斯蘭發展後期產生的

not from the very divine core of Islam, the Koran,

不是基於伊斯蘭的神聖核心，可蘭經

but from, again, traditions and mentalities,

而是，就像我們前面講到的，從一些中東地區中世紀的傳統

跟心理現象

or the interpretations of the Koran that Muslims made in the Middle Ages.

或者對於可蘭經的解讀而來的

比方說，可蘭經

The Koran, for example, doesn't condone stoning.

並不支持石刑

There is no punishment for apostasy.

叛教不會受到處罰

There is no punishment for personal sins like drinking.

對於一些個人行為，比如飲酒，也沒有處罰

這些在伊斯蘭法中的規定

These things which make Islamic law,

the troubling aspects of Islamic law,

特別是伊斯蘭法中令人不安部分

were developed into later interpretations of Islam.

是後來從伊斯蘭的一些後期解讀中發展而來的

Which means that Muslims can, today,

這就意味著當今的穆斯林可以

look at those things and say,

這樣理解這些伊斯蘭法的要求

"Well, the core of our religion is here to stay with us.

“嗯，我們宗教的核心

與我們同在

It's our faith, and we will be loyal to it.

這是我們的信仰，我們會對我們的信仰忠誠。”

But we can change how it was interpreted,

但是我們可以改變我們對於宗教的解讀

because it was interpreted according to the time

因為現在宗教是基於中世紀的時間與環境背景而解讀的

and milieu in the Middle Ages.

我們現在生活在一個不同的世界裡

Now we're living in a different world,

有不同的價值取向以及政治體系

with different values and political systems."

這樣的想法是很有可能並且行得通的。

That interpretation is quite possible and feasible.

Now, if I were the only person thinking that way,

但是如果只有我一個人這樣想

we would be in trouble.

就有麻煩了

But that's not the case at all.

但是不是這樣的

Actually, from the 19th century on,

事實上，從19世紀開始

there's a whole revisionist, reformist -- whatever you call it -- tradition,

已經有了一個修正主義的，改良主義——

隨便你怎樣命名——

這樣的一個傳統

a trend in Islamic thinking.

一個伊斯蘭思想界的傾向

These were intellectuals or statesmen

並且有一些19世紀20世紀的

知識分子與政治家

of the 19th century, and later, 20th century,

which looked at Europe, basically,

他們對於歐洲進行了一些研究

and saw that Europe has many things to admire,

發現歐洲有很多值得學習借鑒的東西

like science and technology.

比如科學技術

But not just that; also democracy, parliament,

但是不僅如此，還有民主，議會

"代表制度"這一個的想法

the idea of representation,

the idea of equal citizenship.

平等公民權的概念

These Muslim thinkers, intellectuals and statesmen of the 19th century,

這些生活在19世紀的穆斯林思想家

知識分子，以及政治家看到歐洲有這些東西

looked at Europe, saw these things, and said,

他們就說，“為什麼我們不能有這些東西呢？”

"Why don't we have these things?"

他們回頭研究了伊斯蘭傳統

And they looked back at Islamic tradition,

他們發現了有問題的方面

and saw that there are problematic aspects,

but they're not the core of the religion, so maybe they can be re-understood,

但是這些方面不是宗教的核心，所以說不定他們可以被重新理解

可蘭經可以被重新解讀

and the Koran can be reread in the modern world.

在一個現代的社會背景下

That trend is generally called Islamic modernism,

這個趨向

被統稱為伊斯蘭現代主義

and it was advanced by intellectuals and statesmen,

由知識分子與政治家推動

not just as an intellectual idea, though,

並非一個純粹的知識分子的想法

but also as a political program.

而是一個政治運動

And that's why, actually, in the 19th century,

這就是為什麼在19世紀

the Ottoman Empire, which then covered the whole Middle East,

覆蓋整個中東地區的鄂圖曼帝國

做出了很重要的改革——

made very important reforms --

reforms like giving Christians and Jews an equal citizenship status,

改革包括給予基督徒與猶太教徒

平等的公民身份

制定憲法

accepting a constitution,

accepting a representative parliament,

建立代表制度的議會

advancing the idea of freedom of religion.

推廣宗教自由的觀點

That's why the Ottoman Empire, in its last decades,

這就是為什麼鄂圖曼帝國在其最後幾十年裡

turned into a proto-democracy, a constitutional monarchy,

有了早期民主的跡象

建立了君主立憲制

and freedom was a very important political value at the time.

自由，在當時是一個非常重要的政治概念

Similarly, in the Arab world,

同樣的，在阿拉伯世界裡

there was what the great Arab historian Albert Hourani defines

有被偉大的阿拉伯歷史學家阿爾伯特 胡拉尼

稱為自由時期的一個階段

as the Liberal Age.

He has a book, "Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age,"

他寫過一本書，叫做"在自由時代的阿拉伯思想"

他定義下的自由時期

and the Liberal Age, he defines as 19th century and early 20th century.

包括19世紀及20世紀早期

很值得注意的是，這是20世紀早期

Quite notably, this was the dominant trend in the early 20th century

在伊斯蘭思想界，政治界，以及神學界

among Islamic thinkers and statesmen and theologians.

佔有主導地位的一個趨向

But there is a very curious pattern in the rest of the 20th century,

但是20世紀的後半期

有一個非常有趣的現象

because we see a sharp decline in this Islamic modernist line.

那就是我們看到一個很顯著的

伊斯蘭現代主義發展的下滑

And in place of that,

取而代之的是另一個趨向，那就是

what happens is that Islamism grows as an ideology which is authoritarian,

伊斯蘭變成

一個集權思想

which is quite strident,

一個弔詭的

which is quite anti-Western,

帶有反西方思想的

並且想要改造社會

and which wants to shape society based on a utopian vision.

根據烏托邦版的意識形態

So Islamism is the problematic idea

所以伊斯蘭主義成為了一個

that really created a lot of problems in the 20th-century Islamic world.

20世紀在伊斯蘭世界

帶來很多麻煩的一個思潮

And even the very extreme forms of Islamism

以至於最極端的伊斯蘭主義

led to terrorism in the name of Islam --

帶來了打著伊斯蘭旗號的恐怖主義

在我看來，這是違抗伊斯蘭的

which is actually a practice that I think is against Islam,

but some, obviously, extremists, did not think that way.

但是很明顯，有些極端主義者不會同意我的看法

But there is a curious question:

但是這裡我有一個問題

If Islamic modernism was so popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries,

既然伊斯蘭現代主義

在19世紀與20世紀早期這樣盛行

why did Islamism become so popular in the rest of the 20th century?

為什麼伊斯蘭主義在其餘的20世紀

變得如此風行

我認為這個問題

And this is a question, I think, which needs to be discussed carefully.

需要認真考慮

In my book, I went into that question as well.

在我的書裡，我也對上述問題進行了思考

And actually, you don't need to be a rocket scientist to understand that.

而且，你不需要才高八斗才能理解這個問題

Just look at the political history of the 20th century,

你只需要看看20世紀的政治史

就會發現這一時期發生了很多事情

and you see things have changed a lot.

時代背景不同了

The contexts have changed.

In the 19th century,

在19世紀

when Muslims were looking at Europe as an example,

穆斯林把歐洲當作一個樣本

they were independent; they were more self-confident.

穆斯林獨立且有自信

In the early 20th century, with the fall of the Ottoman Empire,

在20世紀早期，隨著鄂圖曼帝國的衰落

the whole Middle East was colonized.

整個中東地區淪為了殖民地

And when you have colonialization, what do you have?

有殖民，就會有？

You have anti-colonialization.

反殖民

So Europe is not just an example now to emulate;

這樣歐洲就不再是一個被模仿的範本

it's an enemy to fight and to resist.

而成為了要抗爭的敵人

So there's a very sharp decline in liberal ideas in the Muslim world,

所以穆斯林世界就有了一個顯著的

自由主義思想的衰落

更多的是一種防禦的

and what you see is more of a defensive, rigid, reactionary strain,

激烈的，反抗性的反應

which led to Arab socialism, Arab nationalism

帶來了阿拉伯社會主義，阿拉伯國家主義

and ultimately to the Islamist ideology.

最終帶來了伊斯蘭主義的意識形態

And when the colonial period ended,

當殖民時期結束後

what you had in place of that was generally secular dictators,

取而代之的

是世俗的獨裁者

他們建立國家

which say they're a country,

but did not bring democracy to the country,

卻不給予國家民主

and established their own dictatorship.

而是建立了自己的獨裁政權

And I think the West, at least some powers in the West,

我認為西方，起碼是西方的某些政權

特別是在美國

particularly the United States,

made the mistake of supporting those secular dictators,

犯了一個錯誤，那就是支持這些世俗的獨裁者

thinking that they were more helpful for their interests.

因為這些政權覺得支持這些世俗獨裁者有利於其自身利益

But the fact that those dictators suppressed democracy in their country

但是這些獨裁者

壓制其國內的民主

and suppressed Islamic groups in their country

壓制其國內的伊斯蘭組織

actually made the Islamists much more strident.

這樣的壓制使伊斯蘭主義者更加激烈

所以在20世紀

So in the 20th century,

you had this vicious cycle in the Arab world,

在阿拉伯世界裡就有了這樣的一個惡性循環

where you have a dictatorship suppressing its own people,

獨裁者壓制本國人民

including the Islamic pious,

包括虔誠的伊斯蘭教徒

and they're reacting in reactionary ways.

伊斯蘭教徒隨後對於這些壓制做出反抗

There was one country, though,

只有一個國家

which was able to escape or stay away from that vicious cycle.

得以擺脫，或者說遠離

這個惡性循環

And that's the country where I come from, Turkey.

這就是我的家鄉：土耳其

Turkey has never been colonized,

土耳其從來沒有被殖民

所以土耳其成為了鄂圖曼帝國倒台之後的唯一一個獨立國家

so it remained as an independent nation after the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

這點很重要

That's one thing to remember;

土耳其沒有與其他中東地區其他國家一樣的

it did not share the same anti-colonial hype

反殖民的狂熱

that you can find in some other countries in the region.

Secondly, and most importantly,

第二點也是最重要的一點

Turkey became a democracy

土耳其走上了民主之路

earlier than any of the countries we are talking about.

比任何一個中東國家都要早

In 1950, Turkey had the first free and fair elections,

1950年，土耳其舉行了第一次自由公平的選舉

結束了世俗化的貴族統治政權

which ended the more autocratic secular regime,

which was in the beginning of Turkey.

開始了土耳其的早期

And the pious Muslims in Turkey

土耳其虔誠的穆斯林

saw that they could change the political system by voting.

看到他們可以用選舉投票的方式來改變政治制度

And they realized that democracy is something compatible with Islam,

然後他們意識到民主與伊斯蘭是可融合的

與他們的價值觀一致

compatible with their values,

and they've been supportive of democracy.

土耳其人一直很支持民主

That's an experience

這樣的經歷

that not every other Muslim nation in the Middle East had,

不是每個中東地區的穆斯林國家都有的

這樣的情況直到最近才有所改變

until very recently.

Secondly, in the past two decades,

第二，在過去的20年裡

thanks to globalization, thanks to the market economy,

借助全球化，市場經濟

thanks to the rise of a middle class,

以及中產階級的崛起

we in Turkey see what I define as a rebirth of Islamic modernism.

我們在土耳其看到了

我認為是伊斯蘭現代主義的複興

Now, there's the more urban middle-class pious Muslims

在土耳其有更多的城市居住的中產虔誠穆斯林

他們重新審視穆斯林傳統

who, again, look at their tradition

看到了傳統中的一些問題

and see that there are some problems in the tradition,

他們明白自己需要改變，質疑，改革這些問題

and understand that they need to be changed and questioned and reformed.

他們又研究歐洲

And they look at Europe, and see an example, again, to follow.

他們又一次找到一個可以學習的範本

They see an example, at least, to take some inspiration from.

起碼他們找到了一個可以提供靈感的範本來源

這就是為什麼有土耳其歐盟化進程

That's why the EU process, Turkey's effort to join the EU,

土耳其政府要加入歐盟的努力

在土耳其國內得到了

has been supported inside Turkey by the Islamic pious,

伊斯蘭虔誠信徒的支持

while some secular nationalists were against it.

然後很多世俗化的國家反對這一進程

Well, that process has been a little bit blurred

當然土耳其加入歐盟這一進程由於某些歐洲國家

的反對而變得複雜

by the fact that not all Europeans are that welcoming,

但這個問題我們今天不討論

but that's another discussion.

But the pro-EU sentiment in Turkey in the past decade

但是在過去的10年裡，土耳其國內的支持加入歐盟的情緒

has become almost an Islamic cause and supported by the Islamic liberals

幾乎成為了一個伊斯蘭運動

受到了伊斯蘭自由派的支持

and the secular liberals as well, of course.

當然也有世俗自由派

And thanks to that,

多虧了這些支持

Turkey has been able to reasonably create a success story

土耳其才能不出人意料地創造這個的成功故事

in which Islam and the most pious understandings of Islam

使伊斯蘭和最虔誠的伊斯蘭信仰

have become part of the democratic game,

成為民主的一部分

and even contributes to the democratic and economic advance of the country.

甚至成為了促進國家的民主與經濟

發展的動力

And this has been an inspiring example right now

土耳其現在對於一些伊斯蘭運動

還有一些阿拉伯世界的國家

for some of the Islamic movements

是一個鼓舞人心的例子

or some of the countries in the Arab world.

You must have all seen the Arab Spring,

你們肯定都看到了從突尼斯與埃及

which began in Tunis and in Egypt.

興起的阿拉伯之春

Arab masses just revolted against their dictators.

和阿拉伯的群眾

起義反對獨裁者

They were asking for democracy; they were asking for freedom.

他們要求民主，要求自由

並且他們沒有成為獨裁者

And they did not turn out to be the Islamist boogeyman

that the dictators were always using to justify their regime.

常常用來嚇唬人民不要追求民主

並用來合理化他們的政權

他們說：“我們要自由，我們要民主。

They said, "We want freedom; we want democracy.

We are Muslim believers,

我們是穆斯林信仰者

but we want to be living as free people in free societies."

但我們也希望想自由社會的自由人民一樣生活

當然，這是一條很長的道路

Of course, this is a long road.

民主不是一夜之間可以實現的

Democracy is not an overnight achievement; it's a process.

民主需要一個過程

但是這是一個穆斯林世界

But this is a promising era in the Muslim world.

充滿希望的時代

並且我相信，伊斯蘭現代主義

And I believe that the Islamic modernism which began in the 19th century,

源於19世紀

but which had a setback in the 20th century

由於穆斯林世界的政治動盪

在20世紀經歷了一個低谷

because of the political troubles of the Muslim world,

現在正在復興

is having a rebirth.

我認為今天我想要傳達給大家的訊息就是

And I think the takeaway message from that would be that Islam,

伊斯蘭

despite some of the skeptics in the West,

雖然在西方受到一些質疑

has the potential in itself

還是有潛力

to create its own way to democracy, create its own way to liberalism,

來創造自己的民主方式，打通通向

create its own way to freedom.

自由解放的路

They just should be allowed to work for that.

他們應該被允許為此奮鬥

非常感謝大家愛

Thanks so much.

(Applause)

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