英文自修131：摩苏尔：改信伊斯兰教，否则格杀勿论（20140724）

本系列内容英文原文取自BBC Thought for the Day节目网站，朋友们也可以下载节目录音收听。

译者：王宥轩

审读：武太白

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Thought for the Day 20140724 - Professor Mona Siddiqui

Over the last few days, I've been watching the excitement as thousands of visitors arrive in Glasgow 格拉斯哥(英国城市名) for the commonwealth games 英联邦运动会. It’s a celebration of hospitality and diversity. But the contrast with what’s been going on in another city, Mosul in Iraq 摩苏尔(伊拉克北部城市), couldn't be greater. The violence there has meant a gradual exodus 大批出逃 of Christians from their homes, but this weekend, the militant group ISIS伊拉克和大叙利亚伊斯兰国 gave them an ultimatum 最后通牒– convert to 皈依 Islam or face death. Most of the Christians fled by the Saturday deadline becoming refugees in nearby Kurdish 库尔德的 towns.
最近几天，成千上万的人来到格拉斯哥观看英联邦运动会。此次盛会热情洋溢、丰富多彩。而在另一个城市——伊拉克的摩苏尔——发生的一切与此形成了极大的反差。暴乱本已导致大批基督徒逃离家乡，但本周末，武装组织ISIS又向他们发出了最后通牒——改信伊斯兰教，否则格杀勿论。大部分基督徒都在最后期限周六之前，逃到库德族所管辖的地区避难。
[ISIS，即伊拉克和大叙利亚伊斯兰国(Islamic State of Iraq and al Shams的缩写)，是一个基地组织下属的极端组织。这一组织打算消除在第一次世界大战结束后，由温斯顿•丘吉尔在一个世纪前所创建的现代中东的国家边界，并在这一地区创立一个由基地组织运作的酋长国。]
[库尔德人是西亚最古老的民族之一，是中东地区仅次于阿拉伯、突厥和波斯民族的第四大民族，总人口约3000万。]

2013年7月13日，ISIS组织的成员和加入的志愿者坐在车上。

The patriarch 长老 Louis Sako said in a moving statement that, ‘the fraternal life between Muslims and Christians had together built a civilization and a heritage, and for the first time in the history of Iraq, Mosul is now empty of Christians.' Some families talk of returning one day to their homes and churches, others speak sadly that no longer will the call of the minaret 宣礼塔, and the sound of the church bells be heard together in this city. Surely the Christian presence and that of other persecuted 迫害；困扰 minorities guarantees the Muslims too, a better life and it seems to me that the loss of Christian communities should be seen as a scandal to the Muslim conscience. This kind of vicious extremism knows no boundaries, and if people and governments don't speak out, then it’s only a matter of time before such groups move onto their next target.
伊拉克大主教撒高在一份令人动容的声明中说，“穆斯林与基督教徒之间的兄弟情谊共筑了我们的文明，也留下了珍贵的遗产。如今是伊拉克史上摩苏尔第一次再没有基督徒的存在。”有些家庭还在说未来某天要回到家乡、回到教堂；也有人悲伤地表示，在摩苏尔，再也不可能同时听到宣礼塔上的呼唤和教堂的钟声了。毫无疑问，基督徒和其他遭遇迫害的少数群体的存在，确保了穆斯林也能够享受更好的生活；而基督徒群体的消失，我认为，是对穆斯林良知的践踏，是一大丑闻。这些恶劣的极端分子完全无法无天，如果人民和政府不敢发表言论，那么这些团伙迟早会瞄准下一个目标。
[由于《古兰经》要求穆斯林每日要做五次礼拜：日出时、正午、下午、日落和夜晚，在古代没有时钟的情况下，很难掌握统一的时间，因此在清真寺外建有宣礼塔，每到礼拜时间，要有大嗓门的人在塔上大声呼唤通知教徒们做礼拜。]

All this is being done in the Month of Ramadhan 戒斋月, sacred and observed by millions, and coming to an end this weekend as Muslims prepare to celebrate Eid. But at a time when hundreds have lost their lives in conflicts around the world, including areas where Muslims are killing Muslims, how do we celebrate? These are not distant wars; they touch our lives in all kinds of ways, often dividing our relatively peaceful societies here in the UK. At a time when Islam and extremism are conflated in the minds of many, how can we instill hope that religious faith can bring about the best in us, as well as the worst? The Qur'an 可兰经 says, ‘God will not change the condition of a people, until they change what is in themselves.' At the very least, this demands that we show courage and care for the flourishing of others, as well as our own.
这些都在这个戒斋月发生，数百万人参加了这神圣的节日，并将于本周末结束，到时候穆斯林会庆祝开斋节。但是，全球各地的冲突已导致数百人死亡，甚至有些地方的穆斯林相互残杀，在这种情况下，我们还能庆祝吗？这些并非遥远地方的战争，而是影响着我们生活的方方面面，常常在英国相对平静的社会造成分歧。当伊斯兰与极端主义在很多人脑中已成为同义词，我们要如何播种希望之花，相信宗教信仰能够唤起人们最好的一面，尽管也可能是最恶的一面？古兰经中有句话，“上帝不会改变一个民族的处境，除非他们改变自身。” 这至少提醒我们，关注自己，也要勇于关心别人的生存。

Whoever lives next door to us is our neighbor, and we have duties of hospitality towards them, whether it’s in the ravaged city of Mosul where people are being driven out, or at the celebrations in Glasgow. Kindness and friendship, or violence and discrimination, either way the impact runs deep. When Eid arrives, we should be thankful for the freedom to worship in our cities across the UK, even as we remember and pray for those who are being denied this very right.
不论谁住在隔壁，都是我们的邻居；所以我们应该以礼待人，不论是惨遭破坏、人们到处流亡的摩苏尔，还是正在庆祝的格拉斯哥。善良与友好，或是暴力与歧视，这两种对待方式都会影响至深。等开斋节到了，我们应该庆幸自己还能在英国各个城市自由地礼拜，但我们更应该记住那些被剥夺这一权利的人们，我们要为他们祈祷。