Islam and heresy
Where freedom is still at stake
伊斯兰教与异端
宗教自由，在斯一举

Aug 6th 2009
From The Economist print edition

Wanted: Islam’s Voltaire
亟待：伊斯兰世界的伏尔泰

TO MOST Western ears, the very idea of punishing heresy conjures up a time four or five centuries ago, when Spanish inquisitors terrorised dissenters with the rack and Russian tsars would burn alive whole communities of ultra-traditionalist Old Believers. Most religions began as heresies. Today the concept of “heresy” still means something. Every community built around an idea, a principle or an aim (from fox-hunting enthusiasts to Freudian psychotherapists) will always face hard arguments about where the boundaries of that community lie, and how far the meaning of its founding axioms can be stretched. But one of the hallmarks of a civilised and tolerant society is that arguments within freely constituted groups, religious or otherwise, unfold peacefully. And if those disputes lead to splits and new groups, that too must be a peaceful process, free of violence or coercion.

对大多数西方人而言，提到惩处异端，便让人觉得是四、五百年前的事情。当时，西班牙的宗教裁判官用拷问台威胁拒绝信奉国教者，俄罗斯的沙皇烧死整个片区笃信传统东正教旧派的信徒。很多宗教都起源于异端。时至今日，“异端”这个概念仍然有一定意义。每一个建立在某种观念、准则或目的上的群体（无论是猎狐爱好者们还是弗洛伊德派心理医生们），都会常常面临该群体的边界在何处，其奠基理念的意义能延伸到何种程度，诸如此类的激烈争论。然而，一个宽容的文明社会的标志是：此类争论必须在自由建立的宗教或非宗教群体之间进行，以和平方式展开。即使这些争端导致群体分裂和新的群体诞生，这个过程也必须是和平进行，不通过暴力或威慑方式的。

How depressing, then, to find that in the heartland of one of the world’s great religions, Islam, charges of heresy are still being bandied about in a violent and threatening way, in the hope of silencing critical voices. The latest figure to face such an accusation is an Egyptian scholar, Sayed al-Qimani, whose profile has risen since he agreed to accept a prize from his country’s semi-secular cultural authorities (see article). Mr Qimani’s work—which would be unremarkable in any Western context—applies the familiar techniques of empirical research to early Islamic history.

但令人沮丧的是，在世界重要宗教之一伊斯兰教的中心地带，为了杜绝批评的声音，仍在采用暴力和威慑的手段随意施加罪名于异端。最近一位遭到指控的人物是埃及学者赛义德 阿 奎马尼（Sayed al-Qimani），此人在接受了埃及一个半宗教文化机构颁发的某个奖项后为人所知。奎马尼的著作在任何西方语境中都极为寻常，采用了我们熟知的经验主义方法，对早期伊斯兰历史进行研究。

As so often these days, he faces not punishment by his own government but the potentially lethal consequences of being denounced as a heretic by several influential groups in the quarrelsome world of Egyptian Islam. To the ears of a zealot, such a denunciation sounds like an invitation to go out and claim a heavenly reward by slaying the offender.

而近来他常常面临死亡的可能，并不是因为受到本国政府的判处，而是因为被内部争吵不断的埃及伊斯兰教中数个有影响力的教团谴责为异端分子。在宗教狂热者看来，这样的谴责如同是号召人们行动起来，杀死罪人以执行天谴。

The deadly effects of heresy charges are only part of the broader problem of fundamentalist Islam’s incompatibility with human rights. At its sternest, Islamic law prescribes the death penalty for anybody who commits “apostasy”—or abandons the faith. In its most obvious sense, that refers to people who openly convert to another religion. In many Muslim countries, law or social pressure makes such a choice almost impossible. That is a severe limit on religious freedom.

指控异端会造成致命的后果，只是伊斯兰极端主义与人权冲突的大问题的一个部分。最严苛的伊斯兰法律规定，对于任何犯了“背教罪”，或者放弃伊斯兰教者，都应判处死刑，最显而易见的是指公开皈依其他宗教的人。在许多穆斯林国家，法律和社会压力使得人们几乎不可能选择其他宗教。这是对宗教自由的严厉限制。

An insidious charge
阴险的指控

But liberty is abused in an equally insidious way when accusers conflate apostasy with heresy—by alleging that somebody claiming to be a Muslim has erred by advancing false interpretations. This is almost impossible for the “offender” to disprove. However strongly the accused may protest that he or she remains loyal to Islam, the accusers can still find some ground on which to prove guilt.

然而指控者却自由得过分，他们阴险地将背教和异端视为一体，宣称：称自己是穆斯林的人，若进行错误的释经，就是犯罪。这让“罪犯”几乎毫无反驳余地。无论被指控者如何强烈声称本人忠实于伊斯兰教，指控者总能找到一些证据证明其有罪之处。

So who will speak up for Mr Qimani and similar outcasts? Statements in his defence would carry huge weight if they came from prominent Muslim figures, especially those who happened to disagree with his ideas on Islamic history.

那么，谁将为奎马尼和其他类似的被排斥者辩护？如果由重要的穆斯林人物，尤其是那些恰好不认同奎马尼对伊斯兰历史看法的人来为其辩护，这样的辩词将造成极大的影响。

Perhaps people living in the repressive atmosphere that prevails in much of the Islamic world can be forgiven if their courage falters. But what of the Muslim diaspora? So far, just a handful of Muslims living in the West have spoken out unequivocally for the rights of coreligionists with dissonant views to live in safety (see article). There should be more of them. Indeed, there is an opportunity here for somebody. It turns out the French thinker Voltaire probably never uttered the words so often ascribed to him: “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.” So the way is clear. Let some Western Muslim sage be the first philosopher to make that pronouncement, and mean it.

对于久居被压抑的空气笼罩的伊斯兰世界的人，也许他们的勇气动摇是可以原谅的。然而那些居住在国外的穆斯林呢？迄今为止，身处西方的穆斯林中，只有寥寥无几的数人明确发言，支持同一宗教中持不同意见者应享有人生安全的权利。更多的人应该站出来。现在正有一个天赐良机。有一句常常归于法国思想家伏尔泰名下的名言，虽然并非真正出自他口，“我不同意你的说法，但我誓死捍卫你说话的权利。”道路就在眼前，某位身处西方的穆斯林圣哲应成为第一位说出这句名言的哲人，并身体力行。