Iran
Akhond
SAVING ANIMALS
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Tabatabaei和他收容的流浪狗 （图源：AP News）
在今天的伊朗，戴头巾的神职人员能在Instagram上吸引大批忠实拥趸，是一件很罕见的成就，而本篇报道的主人公Sayed Mahdi Tabatabaei却做到了——因他不惜违抗当地禁忌，营救了大量的街头流浪狗。
It’s rare these days for a turbaned cleric in Iran to attract a large following of adoring young fans on Instagram, but Sayed Mahdi Tabatabaei has done it by rescuing street dogs in defiance of a local taboo.
伊朗什叶派阿訇Tabatabaei在流浪动物收容所 （图源：AP News）
Tabatabaei的收容所中有很多只狗，而这些狗子几乎每条背后都有一个令人心碎的故事，它们中不乏被抛弃、虐待者。Tabatabaei定期向自己的8万多粉丝分享这些狗子的故事。他的每条动态都能收到几百条评论，在评论中，他的年轻粉丝们请他继续更新营救的后续，并且为他送上祝福。
Tabatabaei posts regularly — to his more than 80,000 followers — heartbreaking stories of abused and neglected dogs that he has treated in his shelter. His young fans ask for updates on the rescues and send well wishes in the hundreds of comments he receives on almost every post.
在诸多穆斯林国家的一些地区里，狗被认为是不洁的存在。人们如果看见狗，会对它们大喊大叫，会用棍子打狗，也会用石头砸狗以驱散它们。而有时，如果控制不住流浪动物的数量，城市工作人员甚至会用枪射杀流浪狗。
In some parts of the Muslim world, dogs are considered unclean, driven away with shouting, sticks and stones, and sometimes even shot by city workers in failed attempts to control the feral population.
而在政教合一的伊朗，养狗被视为一种西化堕落的标志，强硬派一直在推动相关法律，禁止在公共场合遛狗。
Iran’s ruling theocracy views keeping dogs as pets as a sign of Western decadence, and hard-liners have been pushing for laws that would prohibit walking them in public.
但这并未妨碍Tabatabaei在库姆（Qom）市开设一处收容所。库姆市是伊朗几所主要宗教学校和圣地的所在地，而他在那里收留流浪狗和无主的宠物，并护理它们恢复健康。
Tabatabaei与同仁在收容所救助流浪狗（图源：AP News）
在伊朗，宗教指导一切公共生活，因此社会中往往会产生很大的分歧。而就在这样的社会中，Tabatabaei这位神职人员却偏偏成为了一名倡导保护动物权益的人。
伊斯兰教禁止虐待动物，并且提倡喂养挨饿的动物。横跨整个中东，人们为流浪猫提供食物和水，经常能看见流浪猫在公共场所进出自如地闲逛。但在伊朗和一些其他国家，许多人对狗避之不及，而地方当局会定期射杀或毒死它们。
Islam prohibits animal cruelty and promotes feeding those in need. Across the Middle East, people put out food and water for stray cats, often seen safely wandering in and out of public buildings. But in Iran and other countries, dogs are shunned by many and local authorities periodically shoot and poison them.
自1979年伊斯兰革命以来，伊朗的神职机构一直保持着执政地位，他们宣布狗是“不洁的”，并主张不要把它们当作宠物饲养。然而，许多伊朗青年无视了这些呼吁——正如他们无视其他的宗教法令一样。
Iran’s clerical establishment, which has ruled the country since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, proclaimed dogs to be “unclean” and advocates against keeping them as pets. Many younger Iranians ignore such calls, as they do other religious edicts.
身处社会漩涡中心的神职人员Tabatabaei，偏偏又是一位动物爱好者。他所戴的什叶派的黑色头巾，象征着自己是伊斯兰教先知穆罕默德的后裔，而他试图通过自己的行动来弥合社会中愈演愈烈的分歧。
他说：“对年轻人而言，看到是一个宗教人士在做这些事情，既非常有趣，也有点奇怪......我的视频似乎给人们留下了良好的印象。网友说通过这些视频，大家感受到了善意、和平和友谊的浪潮。”
“It’s pretty interesting and kind of weird for them to witness a religious figure doing this stuff,” he said. “My videos seem to leave a good impression on people too. They say they feel a wave of kindness, peace, and friendship coming through those videos.”
Tabatabaei收治流浪狗的行为被视为触犯了当地禁忌
（图源：AP News）
Tabatabaei所做的事情，让他和其他神职人员惹上了麻烦。2021年，一张他身着宗教领袖长袍照顾狗的照片流出，导致一家宗教法庭下令解除他的职务。虽然这条裁决之后被暂时搁置，但他不得不继续保持谨慎。如今Tabatabaei穿着普通的衣服，在他两年前建立的名为Bamak Paradise的收容所，继续照料流浪狗和打扫狗窝。
It’s gotten him into trouble with fellow clerics. When pictures surfaced of him tending to dogs while wearing his clerical robes, a religious court ordered him to be defrocked in 2021. The ruling was later suspended, but he remains cautious. These days Tabatabaei wears ordinary clothes while tending to the dogs and cleaning their kennels at Bamak Paradise, the shelter he established two years ago.
Tabatabaei悉心照料他收留的流浪狗 （图源：AP News）
“我们收容了许多身患残疾，无法在野外生存的狗，费了很大的劲为它们寻找愿意收养的家庭。“他说，”这些狗中间有不少都是我亲自护理，使它们恢复健康的。它们会待在这里休养，直到痊愈并且恢复活动能力。“
“We take in dogs with disabilities that cannot survive in the wild and have a hard time finding adoptive homes,” he said. “Many of them are dogs I’ve personally nursed back to health. They stay here until they fully recover and regain their strength.”
Tabatabaei的事业依靠伊朗国内外动物爱好者的捐赠。他说，近年来，围绕着伊朗所进行的有争议的核计划，美国加强了相关的经济制裁，该国的银行系统几乎完全被外界隔绝，资金转移极其困难，这导致了可供他支配的资金面临枯竭。
He relies on donations from animal lovers in Iran and abroad. He says the funds available for such pursuits have dried up in recent years as the United States has ramped up economic sanctions over Iran’s disputed nuclear program. The country’s banking system is almost completely cut off from the outside world, making it extremely difficult to transfer funds.
伊朗经济已陷入困境，近一年的币值暴跌到历史新低。随着许多伊朗人艰难度日，这位神职人员的毛茸茸的朋友们所剩无几。
Within Iran, the economy has cratered, with the local currency plunging to a record low over the past year. With many Iranians struggling to get by, there is little left over for the cleric’s furry friends.
他说：“我呼吁西方政府，特别是美国政府和其他有能力影响解除制裁的国家，考虑为像我们这样从事人道主义与和平努力的组织破例。”
“I appeal to Western governments, particularly the U.S. government and others capable of influencing the lifting of sanctions, to consider making exceptions for organizations like ours that engage in humanitarian and peaceful endeavors,” he said.
他补充道：“通过允许我们建立银行账户并核实我们的身份，我们将能够从伊朗境外的个人和慈善机构获得援助，而不会因违反制裁措施而摊上复杂的法律问题。”
“By allowing us to establish bank accounts and verifying our identities, we would be able to receive assistance from individuals and charities outside of Iran without them breaching the sanctions and risking legal complications,” he added.
同时，Tabatabaei也希望伊朗国内能有所改变，特别是取消公园遛狗的禁令。
“宠物主人务必带他们的狗或其他宠物出去散步，”他说。“遗憾的是，我们仍然没有保护动物权利的法律，也没有防止虐待动物的法规。”
“Pet owners must take their dogs and other pets out for walks,” he said. “Sadly, we still don’t have laws to protect animal rights, and there are no regulations in place to prevent animal cruelty.”
动荡局势使伊朗社会面临巨大冲突（图源：CNN）
多年以来，在各种抗议和小规模的反叛行动的浪潮中，许多伊朗人，尤其是年轻人，一直在表达对政教合一的当局的沮丧情绪。去年秋天，22岁的Mahsa Amini在受该国道德警察羁押后死亡，引燃了全国规模的抗议示威行动。一些伊朗民众发布在网上的视频显示，年轻人悄悄摸到神职人员的身后，然后一把扯掉了他们所戴的头巾。
Many Iranians, especially young people, have expressed frustration with clerical rule over the years, in waves of protests and in smaller acts of defiance. During nationwide protests last fall, following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in custody of the country’s morality police, Iranians posted videos online showing young men sneaking up behind clerics and batting their turbans off their heads.
尽管最近局势紧张，Tabatabaei仍然是深受大众喜爱的人物。
But despite the recent tensions, Tabatabaei remains a beloved figure for many.
除了狗以外，Tabatabaei也收治许多流浪猫（图源：AP News）
近日，Zehra Hojabri在一处路边发现了一只濒死的小狗。而Tabatabaei，这位温和的阿訇*，是她第一时间想到的能帮助这只小狗的人。“我觉得与其说他是一个人，不如说他是一个天使，我难以用语言形容。”
Zahra Hojabri recently found a puppy dying on the side of the road. The gentle cleric was the first person she thought of to help the tiny canine. “I think he is an angel, more than a human. I can’t put it into words,” she said.
*译注：“阿訇”即Akhond，是波斯语“老师”、“学者”的音译，一般作为对伊斯兰教神职人员的称谓。原文此处的cleric一词则泛指“圣职人员”。
原文链接：
https://apnews.com/article/iran-islam-dogs-humane-cleric-8ee656a5b315591d29a42717c36a3c7d
编译 | 郭宇航
排版 | 郭宇航
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