水煙休息室
Hubble, bubble
水煙幻想
Young British Asians have adapted an Arab tradition
年輕的亞裔英國人已經適應了阿拉伯傳統
Does your mother know that you're out?
你的媽媽知道你外出了嗎?
MANY parents lose sleep over thoughts of their offspring staying out late, smoking, boozing and getting up to no good with members of the opposite sex. For years it seemed that Muslim parents could rest a little easier. The lack of alcohol-free nightspots has made going out tricky for their teenage children, who are banned by their religion from drinking. But that gap is rapidly being filled.
很多父母因為擔心他們的子女晚歸,吸煙,豪飲或沉醉于與異性之間的性愛而失眠。多年以來似乎只有穆斯林的父母可以稍微松一口氣。因為宗教原因,缺乏酒精的夜生活使得穆斯林的青少年們連出門尋找享樂的方式都變得棘手。但是那個缺口正在逐步被填滿。

Shisha bars, where people smoke hookahs on heated outdoor patios, have mushroomed since a 2007 ban on smoking in public places. A study of 133 local authorities by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) found that the number of bars had risen from179 in2007 to556 in2012. Phil Johnson, one of the founders of the National Association of Shisha Bar Owners, reckons there are many more. Some can accommodate as many as 400 patrons.
從2007年的公共場所禁煙令的發布之后,一個人們能夠在溫暖的戶外吸水煙的地方—水煙酒吧,迅速繁榮起來。一項由133家地方當局授權的英國心臟協會的研究表明,水煙酒吧的數量由2007年的179家增長至2012年的556家。全國水煙酒吧聯合協會的創始人之一,菲爾·約翰遜表示估計還有更多的酒吧未算在內。一些水煙酒吧可以容納近400人。
Smoking shishas is common in Arab countries such asEgypt. But British Muslims mainly trace their origins to South Asian countries such asBangladeshandPakistanwhere it is rarer. InBradford, one city where shisha bars are flourishing, a fifth of the population is Pakistani. Fewer than 1% are Arabs.
在阿拉比國家吸食水煙是很常見的事,例如埃及。但是像英國穆斯林起源主要追溯于南亞國家,像孟加拉國和巴基斯坦,這些國家是很少提倡水煙。在巴基斯坦人口排得上第五的城市——布拉德福德, 那個地方水煙酒吧生意興隆,但是卻比不上阿拉伯國家的百分之一。
Shisha lounges appeal to Muslims of both sexes who are too devout to go to clubs but not devout enough to hang out at the mosque, says Naweed Hussain, a political activist inBradford. There, and in cities such asBirmingham, the clientele is predominantly Asian. InLondonandOxfordpatrons are a more mixed bunch. But even inBirminghamnon-Muslims are keen. A decade ago there was much worry about Asian Muslims living “parallel lives” that rarely intersected with whites. Shisha lounges are an exception.
布拉德福德的政治活躍分子Naweed Huassain表示,水煙酒吧對那些太虔誠以至于不去酒吧卻不夠虔誠呆在清真寺的群體有著吸引力。在這兒,還有諸如伯明翰的一些城市他們的服務對象主要是亞洲人。在倫敦和牛津顧客們更是魚龍混雜。而且即使是在伯明翰的非穆斯林們都熱衷于水煙酒吧。十年前很多人擔心亞洲穆斯林們那種幾乎不與白人打交道的“平行生活”狀態。水煙休閑室是一個例外。
Few serve alcohol. In the Havana Shisha Lounge inBirmingham, piles of fruit, waiting to be juiced, sit next to lavishly iced cakes and tubs of ice cream. Milkshakes are a common accompaniment to shishas. Young Muslims relish sickly flavours of tobacco such as fizzyberry, gummy bear and blueberry-vanilla much as non-Muslims savour pineapple Bacardi Breezers. Smoking them is cheaper than other suitable activities, such as bowling. A shisha costs about £10 ($16); four or five people can share one for an hour.
水煙休閑室很少提供酒精飲料。伯明翰哈瓦那的水煙休閑室,在華麗的冰鎮蛋糕和管狀冰淇淋旁,成堆的水果等待被榨成果汁。奶昔常常伴隨著水煙而擺上桌。年輕的穆斯林們樂衷于病態口味的煙草,如fizzyberry,軟糖熊和香草藍莓,就像非穆斯林喜愛品嘗菠蘿味的百加地酒。吸水煙比其它合適的休閑活動要便宜的多。(例如保齡球)。水煙的成本約十英鎊(也就是十六美元),四五人可以共享水煙長達一個小時。
Fans argue that, unlike getting drunk, smoking shishas is not haram (forbidden). At worst, it is makruh (detested but not strictly prohibited). Ibrahim Mogra, a senior member of the Muslim Council of Britain, disagrees. The molasses-soaked tobacco used in water pipes damages people's health (the BHF says that one hour of shisha smoking is equivalent to puffing on 100 cigarettes), so shishas are haram. He also frets about what goes on besides smoking: “I dread to think of them becoming the equivalent of bars and pubs where anything and everything goes.” Boys and girls may be out of their parents' sight but not out of God's, he cautions.
支持者們辯解道:與飲酒不同的,吸食水煙不是罪孽的(不被禁止)。最壞而言,它是可惡的行為(憎惡但是不是嚴格禁止的)。英國穆斯林委員會的高級成員Ibrahim Mogra持反對意見:用于浸泡煙管的糖蜜對人的健康有害(BHF表示吸食一小時的水煙相當于吸食100根香煙的膨脹)因此水煙是有罪的。他同時也表達了對伴隨著吸煙所產生的其它焦慮,那就是“我害怕水煙酒吧變成和普通酒吧一樣,一個什么事情都可能發生的地方。他警告,男孩女孩們可以一時逃離父母的視線,但是在上帝的注視下他們無所遁形。
Mr Mogra's fears are not entirely misplaced. One young man who sometimes works in his father's shisha bar says that customers occasionally smuggle in alcohol from a nearby supermarket (his father does not know). Girls come in droves and boys flock there to meet them. But those worried about the integration of British Muslims ought to find all this reassuring. Muslim teenagers are as rebellious and amorous as young people everywhere.
Mogra的擔心并不是空穴來風。一個在父親的水煙酒吧工作的年輕人說道,顧客偶爾會從附近的商場里走私酒精(他的父親并不知情)。女孩們成群結隊而來,男生們涌入迎接。但是那些擔心英國穆斯林的整體形象的人們卻認為這個現象值得放心,因為穆斯林的青少年們的叛逆與風情是世界各地年輕人的代表。譯者:黃佳欣 校對:毛慧