Nisar hits out at 'secular' political opponents

[Vazir]

You are the one who alluded to stereotypical conspiracies. Did I burst you ballon of hot air?

LMAO! You don't understand sarcasm, do you?

I do NOT know who you are behind the key board. If you say you r a muslim, fine you are a muslim . If you say you are a liberal, fine you are a liberal. I can't say anything more other than take to for your word. But if a x,y,z person start using verneculars specific to a certain religion then other people amy naturally assume that x,y,z person to be of that specific religion. Common sense.

Sure. So since I'm talking anti Islamism, I'm not Islamist. Since I do follow Islam, I am Muslim. Since my religion is a private matter between me and Allah, I don't need to justify it to you. Problem solved.

You are the one who mockingly raised the issue of origin in a condescending tone saying "since its a english term I must think its western". But since you now realized our ignorance you are saying you do not care about origins.

I still don't care. "****" was not a slur until it was used as one. The use of a word demonstrates its meaning.

And yes it has everything to do with origins. Because the term has NOT deviated an inch from what it actually referred to back in 17 the century which is Islam. For the west Islam is too holistic as a religion to fit their materialistic taste and so they want to somehow water it down and lobotomize it to a state that meets their expectations. "islamism" in essence adds nothing to Islam. The western colonialist had NO doubt in their minds that a reformed Islam stripped of "islamism" won't be islam. This is what British governor of Egypt said about Islamism and Islamic reformation way back in 1870s:

"It is conceivable that, as time goes on, the Moslems will develop a religion, possibly a pure Deism, which will not be altogether the Islamism of the past and of the present, and which will cast aside much of the teaching of Mohammed, but which will establish a moral code sufficient to hold society together by bonds other than those of unalloyed self-interest. The Europeanised Egyptian, as we now see him, is the first, not the last, word of reformed Moslem society. It is possible that, in course of time, some higher moral and intellectual ideal will be developed."

You say you are a muslim eh? Its funny how this anti-islamic british colonialist knew more islam than you.

I don't care about some long gone imperialist. I do know that in the era I live (21st Century, in case you forgot) Islamism is defined as a political ideology which needs serious reform.

Its retarded to try to give lessons in a topic you yourself has absolutely 0 idea off. You specialize in quackery or what?

Personal insults will be ignored.

 

[Vazir]

it is this exact dogmatic conviction that lead to the fall of every communist state in history. they believed their system and ideology was a cure for everything; from social to economic to political problems. but just like any idea, it was not. the only successful state that started out communist today is china, and even they couldn't survive without liberalization.
ironically enough, the best places to live in the world with highest standard of living are countries that are predominantly atheist. I wonder why.....

Communism was bound to doom from the start. It was a dream with Utopia as a result, but it did not take human nature into account. I refuse to make association with Islamism, both of them are different.
And I don't know about liberalism, but I'm not a fan of Western secularism. But let's agree to disagree. This is getting off topic to thread.

 

[Luffy 500]

LOL youre the second person today who has shown this amount of salt literally towards two terms which are supposedly a label reserved to the kuffar and murtad ? Could you please describe what is liberalism ? And okay lets take your suggestion as label liberalism as a seperate religion then what would you want to do to these new "apostates". We all know what your opinion would be. And anyone who would disagree would be a kafir and liberal according to your standards. Everyone should be treated equally. Everyone should atleast have the basic right to live whatever their faith is. If you think this is what "corruption" of our land is, then you are beyond help brother.

PDF is NOT a place for scholastic and academic arguments but still there have been plenty of well informed answers to your questions (that has to do with fundamentals of how one views this life) by knowledgeable Muslim in PDF like @Verve @Zarvan @war&peace @azzo @Dawood Ibrahim @truthseer and many more .

I am not a political science scholar or a philosopher but I am a sinful Muslim who has basic understanding of his faith and Allah (swt) has guided me to differentiate truth from the falsehood of superficial pomp & glitter of western alien ideologies. SO here's my answer to your question of what is liberalism( i covered it before so copy pasting it):

What is liberalism

Europeans after they lost faith in Christianity essentially became materialistic deist or atheist. The society as a whole became irreligious and and the idea developed that all religions are false and have flaws like Christianity. The christian doctrine just like all other non-islamic doctrines obviously has flaws since it has been corrupted by men over time and NO longer the message bought by prophet Jesus (pbuh). Without religion The ideologies they developed to replace Christianity was secularism (separation of church & state) and Liberalism (individual autonomy, equality under the secular law etc) and these ideologies are based on some underlying principles and ideas westerners considered absolute truths:

- Religion (west's trauma with Christianity) is inherently dogmatic and repressive and as such has to be controlled and made irrelevant. Its should be a "personal matter".

-Religion is man-made anyway and that rather than worry about the afterlife its more important to worry about the material life and enjoy it to its fullest. Religion and obeying God simply makes things difficult and bothersome.

-Human beings can understand everything thing with logic and reason (definition of logic/reason is something they themselves never agreed on) and since people may not agree on anything they came up with the concept of rule of the majority under the aegis of a secular constitution so that mob rule can not harm interest of businesses and elites.

-Science can solve all problems of mankind and scientism increasingly became the new religion. Darwinism later came and gave a big boost & justification to the materialistic philosophy of secularism.

- Society is made up of atomized individuals (individualism) that have no obligation or responsibility to society or family and these atomized individuals are equal under the secular law and only accountable to the state. Every individual is a "master" of their own-selves to pursue materialistic goals as long as it does NOT physically harm another individual . Putting objective morality OR religion would just make the whole structure collapse. This is the gist of what people call liberalism and this idea was developed by western philosophers like John Locke, Voltaire, Hume, Kant, Hobbes. You can call these people the prophets of liberalism and secular liberals in the Muslim world believed in these people's message without even knowing their names - dogmatic blind faith.

- Then they needed to assign some rights to these atomized individuals and since religion for them just does not make any sense - they based those rights on individualism, equality [all white men are equal (initially slaves & women were excluded)] In in their shallow intellect they conflated equality with justice and fairness. The current UN declaration of human rights is a copy paste of this western understanding of human rights - devoid of religion, objective morality and solely based on arbitrary reason & logic.

Make NO mistake every single tenet of these western ideology of liberalism is anti-theical to islam and Islamic world view. Islam is a religion of justice and fairness and the notion that humans can solve anything and everything with reason & logic is a alien concep. Allah (swt) did NOT give humans that ability and that is why prophet's & messengers were sent throughout the ages. In islam reason & logic is guided by divine revelation and muslims are NOT allowed to question divine revelation to suit their materialistic desires and abstract notions. Also islam does NOT grantee equality & equal rights to everyone but it gurantees due rights to everyone. People inherently differ in their gender, religion, languages and Islam takes that difference into consideration.

Another thing you have to realize is that the idea of absolute individual freedom (liberty) goes against Islam. As Muslims were are NOT free. We have submitted ourselves to the will of Allah(swt) and we have, unlike the non-muslims, achknowledged the fact that we human are nothing but slaves of Allah (swt) and we exist to worship Him (swt) alone without any partners. Everything happens by the will of Allah (swt) and everything single aspect of this universe and all that exist is under His (swt) control. This basic fundemental Islamic belief strikes at the very heart of everything liberalism stands for. This religion of secularism is at its core materialistic and is obsessed with control over all aspects of life. For them this life is the be all & end all of human existence and as such they feel a paranoia when they realize that they can't control all aspects of the material world. Anything (Islam) that hampers that materialistic endevour of humans is something they consider to be oppressive and restricting "free will". That is why you see them going ga ga over Islamic dress codes, dietary laws, family laws and Sharia's general emphasis on State regulating public sphere so that humans have an conducive environment to islamically develop them & their societies.

Btw Sharia does guarantee non-muslims unparalleled (compared to today's western liberal world) communal & religious freedom. Islamic dietary, family, financial laws do NOT apply to them. Also islam guarantees freedom in one's private sphere and restricts invasion into one's private life unlike what you find western liberal goverments and secular "muslim" goverments doing now a days. Secular liberals can keep their kufr beliefs to themselves even in a state ruled under islamic principles. They just have to closet themselves to their own communal and friends circle.

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/secu...-says-pti-lawmaker.485224/page-7#post-9321171

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/secularism-is-not-for-pakistan.480250/#post-9245588

----------------------

I am NOT a scholar, so you may not be satisfied with my answers given the unislamic preconceived notion you already developed regarding right & wrong. Try learn about basics of islam before lecturing Muslims on social media about what you consider Muslims should and should NOT believe in. And I say this with all due respect and I do NOT mean to give off a rude vibe. May Allah (swt) guide you and me to the path that pleases Him (swt) the most.

 

[TheLahoriGuy]

PDF is NOT a place for scholastic and academic arguments but still there have been plenty of well informed answers to your questions (that has to do with fundamentals of how one views this life) by knowledgeable Muslim in PDF like @Verve @Zarvan @war&peace @azzo @Dawood Ibrahim @truthseer and many more .

I am not a political science scholar or a philosopher but I am a sinful Muslim who has basic understanding of his faith and Allah (swt) has guided me to differentiate truth from the falsehood of superficial pomp & glitter of western alien ideologies. SO here's my answer to your question of what is liberalism( i covered it before so copy pasting it):

What is liberalism

Europeans after they lost faith in Christianity essentially became materialistic deist or atheist. The society as a whole became irreligious and and the idea developed that all religions are false and have flaws like Christianity. The christian doctrine just like all other non-islamic doctrines obviously has flaws since it has been corrupted by men over time and NO longer the message bought by prophet Jesus (pbuh). Without religion The ideologies they developed to replace Christianity was secularism (separation of church & state) and Liberalism (individual autonomy, equality under the secular law etc) and these ideologies are based on some underlying principles and ideas westerners considered absolute truths:

- Religion (west's trauma with Christianity) is inherently dogmatic and repressive and as such has to be controlled and made irrelevant. Its should be a "personal matter".

-Religion is man-made anyway and that rather than worry about the afterlife its more important to worry about the material life and enjoy it to its fullest. Religion and obeying God simply makes things difficult and bothersome.

-Human beings can understand everything thing with logic and reason (definition of logic/reason is something they themselves never agreed on) and since people may not agree on anything they came up with the concept of rule of the majority under the aegis of a secular constitution so that mob rule can not harm interest of businesses and elites.

-Science can solve all problems of mankind and scientism increasingly became the new religion. Darwinism later came and gave a big boost & justification to the materialistic philosophy of secularism.

- Society is made up of atomized individuals (individualism) that have no obligation or responsibility to society or family and these atomized individuals are equal under the secular law and only accountable to the state. Every individual is a "master" of their own-selves to pursue materialistic goals as long as it does NOT physically harm another individual . Putting objective morality OR religion would just make the whole structure collapse. This is the gist of what people call liberalism and this idea was developed by western philosophers like John Locke, Voltaire, Hume, Kant, Hobbes. You can call these people the prophets of liberalism and secular liberals in the Muslim world believed in these people's message without even knowing their names - dogmatic blind faith.

- Then they needed to assign some rights to these atomized individuals and since religion for them just does not make any sense - they based those rights on individualism, equality [all white men are equal (initially slaves & women were excluded)] In in their shallow intellect they conflated equality with justice and fairness. The current UN declaration of human rights is a copy paste of this western understanding of human rights - devoid of religion, objective morality and solely based on arbitrary reason & logic.

Make NO mistake every single tenet of these western ideology of liberalism is anti-theical to islam and Islamic world view. Islam is a religion of justice and fairness and the notion that humans can solve anything and everything with reason & logic is a alien concep. Allah (swt) did NOT give humans that ability and that is why prophet's & messengers were sent throughout the ages. In islam reason & logic is guided by divine revelation and muslims are NOT allowed to question divine revelation to suit their materialistic desires and abstract notions. Also islam does NOT grantee equality & equal rights to everyone but it gurantees due rights to everyone. People inherently differ in their gender, religion, languages and Islam takes that difference into consideration.

Another thing you have to realize is that the idea of absolute individual freedom (liberty) goes against Islam. As Muslims were are NOT free. We have submitted ourselves to the will of Allah(swt) and we have, unlike the non-muslims, achknowledged the fact that we human are nothing but slaves of Allah (swt) and we exist to worship Him (swt) alone without any partners. Everything happens by the will of Allah (swt) and everything single aspect of this universe and all that exist is under His (swt) control. This basic fundemental Islamic belief strikes at the very heart of everything liberalism stands for. This religion of secularism is at its core materialistic and is obsessed with control over all aspects of life. For them this life is the be all & end all of human existence and as such they feel a paranoia when they realize that they can't control all aspects of the material world. Anything (Islam) that hampers that materialistic endevour of humans is something they consider to be oppressive and restricting "free will". That is why you see them going ga ga over Islamic dress codes, dietary laws, family laws and Sharia's general emphasis on State regulating public sphere so that humans have an conducive environment to islamically develop them & their societies.

Btw Sharia does guarantee non-muslims unparalleled (compared to today's western liberal world) communal & religious freedom. Islamic dietary, family, financial laws do NOT apply to them. Also islam guarantees freedom in one's private sphere and restricts invasion into one's private life unlike what you find western liberal goverments and secular "muslim" goverments doing now a days. Secular liberals can keep their kufr beliefs to themselves even in a state ruled under islamic principles. They just have to closet themselves to their own communal and friends circle.

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/secu...-says-pti-lawmaker.485224/page-7#post-9321171

https://defence.pk/pdf/threads/secularism-is-not-for-pakistan.480250/#post-9245588

----------------------

I am NOT a scholar, so you may not be satisfied with my answers given the unislamic preconceived notion you already developed regarding right & wrong. Try learn about basics of islam before lecturing Muslims on social media about what you consider Muslims should and should NOT believe in. And I say this with all due respect and I do NOT mean to give off a rude vibe. May Allah (swt) guide you and me to the path that pleases Him (swt) the most.

I couldnt care less of whoever you are. What I know is youre a bot with pre recorded messages. You fire in 360 degrees just to hope that you hit something. Like seriously my question was intended to ask of you what your mental image of liberalism is and you give me an essay on how it is defined by wikipedia and its history of the past 5000 years or whatever and how it drove christians into the dirt. I dont care buddy. You've turned secularism into a religion, liberalism into a kuffar ideology. I dont even know what to say.

And what do you mean us as human beings dont have free will. Ofcourse we have free will. Its what defines us Allah's best creation. Its what sets us apart from angels who have no free will. When the Quran says we are slaves to Allah it means that that we are an inferior creation compared to his ominous self. That he has power over us and governs all that we do. Had we no free will why would he sent us on this planet. It was a test to see if we submit to his commandments. Also i think you sort of slipped up a fatwah on science in between. You say Allah hasnt given us the ability to understand everything ofcourse he hasnt. But had Allah not wanted us to discover and explore why would he give us the ability to think ? Wouldnt it have been easier if he pre-programmed it into our brains to follow his teachings ?

Also dont lie to yourself you know the muslim world goes alot more gaga over the western standard of life than the other way round. I dont think i need to ask you because you already know that who would have an easier time to practice their lifestyle, A muslim in the west or a westerner in a muslim country. At the end of the day liberalism (how i define it and literally on this forum ever ) is that everyone should be given the right to believe in whatever they want without the fear of being prosecuted. A muslim will prosper in both an islamic system and under a secular system. A non muslim will prosper in a secular system and under an islamic system.....uhhhhh

 

[Vazir]

@Luffy 500
You have made you points. Here's my opinion on it.
I have my disagreements on liberalism as I have with conservativism. I'm not a fan of either. I have the following opinion points you have mentioned on liberalism:
-I do believe that religion should be a personal matter. That it should not be forced on another, nor should one religion be given preference over another in a government. However I despise the secular West, where nowadays (I said before that I prefer to stay in the present) people can shove Muslims repeatedly, and wait for Muslims to get annoyed and shove back so that they can say "see, I told you he/she was a terrorist." I personally cannot accept a system like that.
-Not all liberals say that "religion is man made". Liberal =/= atheist
-terms like logic and reason are relative. They are not fixed. And I agree to your opinion on it.
-as both a science enthusiast and a Muslim, I agree that science can solve all problems. I see science as a way of accepting that Allah exists, since such a well organized universe doesn't simply come into being.
-contrary to your statement, liberals actually support the fact that people in a society should look after those in need. Liberals in America have advocated constantly for beneficial welfare systems and opposed the ideology of people like Trump.
-rights belong to every individual. I'll stand on that.
Now to what you said:
-I don't see why we shouldn't question Islam. Only by questioning can we find the answers. Especially in this era, where several zealots have succeeding in reengineering Sharia and opposing the reform it needs overtime, to suit their personal wishes.
-as Muslims, we may be subject to Allah's commands. But imagine a society where Islam is enforced strictly. Then people will fear the stick instead of loving Allah. They will go to prayers and not eat in public in Ramzan, but they won't do it because they love Allah, but because they fear the religious police. In addition to that, I do not see why we should be enforcing everything, since every human being shall answer Allah for him/her self in the end.
In the end, I disagree with what you say, but I will defend (if necessary) to the limit your right to express it.

 

[Luffy 500]

P.S : Anyone reading my post #18 should NOT get confused regarding Islamic concept of Qadr and human free will. We Muslims must believe in Qadr as it is an indispensable article of faith. In a nutshell it means that the will and ability of humans are subject to the will and decree of Allaah, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):


“To whomsoever among you who wills to walk straight.


And you cannot will unless (it be) that Allaah wills the Lord of the ‘Aalameen (mankind, jinn and all that exists)”


[al-Takweer 81:28-29]

https://islamqa.info/en/34732

For more easy clarification on Qadr :

And Allah (swt) knows best.

 

[M. Sarmad]

P.S : Anyone reading my post #18 should NOT get confused regarding Islamic concept of Qadr and human free will. We Muslims must believe in Qadr as it is an indispensable article of faith.

The Holy Quran has offered the generality of divine providence and divine decree and destiny in such a way that it never contradicts with the free will and choice of human .. The idea of compulsion/divine fore-ordainment/pre-destination predates Islam, and the Qur'an in fact has rejected this idea .

From the early days of Islam and into the seventh century, many theological discussions centered around the issue of predestination versus free will. Islamic history is a stage on which two fundamentally opposed intellectual forces have been struggling for pre-eminence — a dynamic, scientific rationalism (Rationalists) pitted against a reactionary, obscurantist gnosticism (Traditionalists)....

It were the Umayyad who argued in favor of predestination and that all events must be God’s Will, a theological position which very nicely justified the righteousness of everything the Umayyad did, since everything is God’s Will. They could then say ‘our actions and their consequences are part of God’s Decree’. Countering this, the Qadaris insisted that man has free will, sometimes doing good but other times not, and that we should not accept lies and injustice as being a necessary part of God’s Decree.

So, please stop presenting your own limited understanding of Islam as the absolute truth and the only acceptable one, and read a few things

Regards


================


On Topic:

Ch. Nisar trying to use religion for political gain ?? ... Not surprising

 

[Verve]

I do know that in the era I live (21st Century, in case you forgot) Islamism is defined as a political ideology which needs serious reform.

1. You only know or you believe this to be true?

2. If answer is you believe, then what reforms those be?

 

[Vazir]

1. You only know or you believe this to be true?

2. If answer is you believe, then what reforms those be?

Sharia is too extreme (to put it in blunt terms) for me. I find it hard to believe that Allah, the Ever Loving Lord that I have come to love, would ever approve of some of the things that are carried out today as part of Sharia. The death penalty for adulterers, homosexuals and blasphemous (last one is arguable), the "eye witness only" policy on rape, etc. Even the term "Sharia" is pretty loose itself. So, yes, I do believe that many aspects of the religion have suffered from centuries of mismanagement on the part of overreacting and selfish zealots. The very fact that chess was recently banned via a fatwa proves my point.
As for the reforms, I can't really say for now. I'm not an expert on Islam, and I won't put in half-*** theories. It needs to be focusing more on "love for Allah" rather than "fear of Allah". The Quran needs to be read, translated accurately, decoded accurately, and finally taught in an environment that encourages questioning so that they can be answered. Iqbal advocated that we must accept modern knowledge and appreciate the teachings of Islam in light of that knowledge "even though we may be led to differ from those before us". Something like that. I don't have more details on that, and will wait for a reformer to handle the technical aspects. Until then, I'll keep playing chess.

 

[Pakistani E]

There are no major political parties that are secular though? Another one of those bogeymans invented to keep the people hooked to the mullah-naswar.

As for the dhoti wala on this thread, he should concentrate on stopping flooding in his tiny, over-populated country before trying to comment on Pakistan, a nation his ancestors fought to separate from based on ethnic nationalism and secularism.

 

[Musafir117]

There are no major political parties that are secular though? Another one of those bogeymans invented to keep the people hooked to the mullah-naswar.

As for the dhoti wala on this thread, he should concentrate on stopping flooding in his tiny, over-populated country before trying to comment on Pakistan, a nation his ancestors fought to separate from based on ethnic nationalism and secularism.

Wohan Hasina bhag gai Hindu ke sath aur ye luffy worried about other mohalla boy
On optic Ch Nisar is full swing molvi but in two faces One who let go Bhensa group free ( as per molvi tolla here in PDF ) the other face protecting mulla burqa posh in ISD.
Now carry on

 

[Pakistani E]

Wohan Hasina bhag gai Hindu ke sath aur ye luffy worried about other mohalla boy
On optic Ch Nisar is full swing molvi but in two faces One who let go Bhensa group free ( as per molvi tolla here in PDF ) the other face protecting mulla burqa posh in ISD.
Now carry on

Ch Nisar is a well known example of the hypocritical members of the elite in this country. On one side they drink and do all the kanjerpana of the phantom liberals they deride, on the other, they protect and inculcate religious terrorists. Another well known example would be Malik riaz who's ties to lal masjid are known to anyone who's interested in looking.

Both these guys have extensive links in the military and bureaucracy. Terrorism in Pakistan will not disappear as long as these freaks are around. I know things about this nisar khusra and malik riaz that would put any decent human being to shame.

 

[EgyptianAmerican]

Secularist are a cancer in the muslim world. It is need of the hour to declare secularism and liberalism as seperate religions. These modern day hypocrites hide behind Muslim label while they propagate the kufr of secularism and cause corruption in the land. They should be officially recognized for what they are - non-muslims espousing a pagan western religion.

You are absolutely crazy. What is your problem with Secularism? Secularism is not state-enforced atheism which is the exact same thing you want except with Islam. I bet you didn't even know that the father of Secularism was a MUSLIM, Ibn Rushd. It was never a "pagan" religion and was basically founded in a ISLAMIC society so you can shove your allegations of "pagan western religion" up where the sun doesn't shine.

 

[Verve]

Sharia is too extreme (to put it in blunt terms) for me. I find it hard to believe that Allah, the Ever Loving Lord that I have come to love, would ever approve of some of the things that are carried out today as part of Sharia. The death penalty for adulterers, homosexuals and blasphemous (last one is arguable), the "eye witness only" policy on rape, etc. Even the term "Sharia" is pretty loose itself. So, yes, I do believe that many aspects of the religion have suffered from centuries of mismanagement on the part of overreacting and selfish zealots. The very fact that chess was recently banned via a fatwa proves my point.
As for the reforms, I can't really say for now. I'm not an expert on Islam, and I won't put in half-*** theories. It needs to be focusing more on "love for Allah" rather than "fear of Allah". The Quran needs to be read, translated accurately, decoded accurately, and finally taught in an environment that encourages questioning so that they can be answered. Iqbal advocated that we must accept modern knowledge and appreciate the teachings of Islam in light of that knowledge "even though we may be led to differ from those before us". Something like that. I don't have more details on that, and will wait for a reformer to handle the technical aspects. Until then, I'll keep playing chess.

Selective review will always be a lost cause and cause confusion. One needs to look at the full system (i.e. Deen) that Allah has prescribed and how the whole system works.

As for 'love of Allah' versus 'fear of Allah' ... yes The Quran needs to be read. Second Ayat of 2nd Surah (Surah Baqarah), the command is very clear.

Science does not contradict anything that is in The Quran so use of scientific evidence is not prohibited. As you or another has pointed out as well and to add to it, scientists (who are mostly out of faith these days anyways) are reluctantly reaching to conclusions that a supreme being designed everything and all this is no chance of probabilities.

 

[TMA]

Sharia is too extreme (to put it in blunt terms) for me. I find it hard to believe that Allah, the Ever Loving Lord that I have come to love, would ever approve of some of the things that are carried out today as part of Sharia. The death penalty for adulterers, homosexuals and blasphemous (last one is arguable), the "eye witness only" policy on rape, etc. Even the term "Sharia" is pretty loose itself. So, yes, I do believe that many aspects of the religion have suffered from centuries of mismanagement on the part of overreacting and selfish zealots. The very fact that chess was recently banned via a fatwa proves my point.
As for the reforms, I can't really say for now. I'm not an expert on Islam, and I won't put in half-*** theories. It needs to be focusing more on "love for Allah" rather than "fear of Allah". The Quran needs to be read, translated accurately, decoded accurately, and finally taught in an environment that encourages questioning so that they can be answered. Iqbal advocated that we must accept modern knowledge and appreciate the teachings of Islam in light of that knowledge "even though we may be led to differ from those before us". Something like that. I don't have more details on that, and will wait for a reformer to handle the technical aspects. Until then, I'll keep playing chess.

Why not learn Arabic? Online with Bayyinah? They make it easy for non-natives to learn the language of the Quran.

Why do you find it hard to believe in the punishments? True that religion has been abused for ulterior motives by one and many however this does not mean throw out the baby with the bath water.