1276.    The danger of the full-blown secularist who says he will use his mind is sometimes less on the Muslim community than that of the “Muslim” who says he accepts the Nusoos but only by the interpretations he himself gives the texts.

1277.    One has to see how the matter of social engineering carried out by many nation-states is related overtly or covertly to a form of “Jihad” either as a struggle, coercion or both.

1278.    Note that the people of Bid’ah did not reach the general people except by reviving something of the Sunnah that was previously left unattended by the (otherwise) true people of Sunnah. Thus, the masses followed such deviants due to the nice form they had and the one or two Sunnahs they revived, even if their logical evidences (and other types of evidences) were in fact generally lacking.

1279.    We need to consider whether the Christian view that the office of priesthood remains pure even if the priest is evil has been transferred over to secular academia concerning religious studies and how this is so different from the Islamic perspective on Ulamaa’, their required knowledge and their required character.

1280.    It seems to be of importance to note the similarities between the violent measures taken to impose “Reformist Christianity” in certain parts of Europe, and what we found among Kharijis throughout history.

1281.    One of the nullifiers of Islam is believing that Prophethood can be attained by working hard and doing more ‘Ibaadah. This is so, since this thought leaves open the door for future Prophethood, thus it is a nullifier of Islam.

1282.    There is a point to learn from very successful companies like Apple, who said that while they saw how their customers used their products, they did not do “customer surveys” and build their products based on those surveys, since the customer doesn’t know what is possible given the existing and potential technologies. As far as Islam is concerned, it shows that specialized knowledge is of the essence, the laity and their knowledge or intuitions are not enough to move the Ummah or the effort of Dawah forward.

1283.    Many of the images of (for example) the American Revolution are in fact good story telling, true research would not back them up in an academic setting.

1284.    We have to see how the Lutheran (early Protestant) form of hierarchy in church had an influence on the democratic secular liberal forms of organization, thinking, and beliefs which came later on. Meaning again, this secular liberal setup is not universal by a longshot, rather it comes from a particular historical framework and background.

1285.    (As mentioned) Tawbah for unknown slips can be made generally, but for sins we know we committed it should be a specific repentance.

1286.    Research projects of an academic kind take much longer than what can be commercialized; Muslims should take heed of this rule also as far as their Da’wah is concerned and not make efforts to spread Islam so that it becomes mere small commercialized endeavors.

1287.    There has to be better collaboration between traditional Muslim scholars and Muslims operating in the “outside world” (in terms of answers to objections raised, ‘secular fields’ and how they interact with the Islamic sciences, etc.) This is somewhat analogous to how American universities and businesses are so close, giving rise to amazing economic growth decade after decade – had each one stayed within their narrow confines, such growth would have never been seen. So likewise the growth and progress in Islamic studies, Muslim answers to objections, and so on, has to be seen with a similar outlook, while not diminishing the importance of Islam in and of itself.

1288.    A general observation: The secular view may be that religious leaders are good for reminding/reproving, but politicians should put our collective will, whether good or bad, into action, so they should not lecture us about how we must improve (for example, Jimmy Carter’s 1979 Energy Talk is seen as a blunder in this paradigm since he was basically lecturing the American public on how to behave regarding Energy consumption). However, even this characteristic of religious leaders is being eroded through the pull of popularity, so much so that religious leaders have often become more like politicians simply regurgitating what the people want to hear.

1289.    The matter of anathematizing or making Tab’di of visiting the Prophet (ﷺ) is very serious: if one puts himself far from the Prophet (ﷺ) (or as an Ummah this is done) then every opportunity is opened for the enemies of Islam to do with us as they please and to even put us at the precipice of apostasy.

1290.    A general observation: It seems that all speech could be perceived of as hate speech to some group, individual, or race, until it gains currency and becomes normalized (since society is organized in ways that preclude certain things and favor/establish others, and make certain things obnoxious, hateful, etc.)

1291.    (As a point against the Shia) We know the narrator of the narration of the 12 Khulafaa’ and that more clarification was given in the narration itself– the Prophet (ﷺ) would not have used ‘Quraysh’ if he meant the twelve Alid Imams or even Banu Hashim.

1292.    People need to study the Islamic texts with teachers. An example is that even technical texts may use Wujub an-Nadb and it means, Sunnah Muakkadah in Fiqh terminology, not Waajib, so one should study this properly before getting confused, confusing others, and making false claims based on a faulty understanding.

1293.    One has to see that being centered on individual rights to the extreme – as the basis for all laws – is not in fact a neutral or natural position, it is in fact an absolute extremist position and we could say it is an extremist construct as well.

1294.    A general point: One could say a major difference between progressive and merely developing countries is that the former, even if they cover up military and financial blunders, will eventually come clean and the truth will come out one way or the other usually quite rapidly (in a few years’ time) while in the latter countries the system of corruption will merely perpetuate itself. So this is a call for countries and peoples to become more open about their mistakes, whatever they may be. A certain faction or person may be able to stay in power for a few decades while covering up their misdeeds and the rot within the polity, but it will not last for too long, eventually the consequences will be dire, and the people he claims to defend and support will most likely be overtaken by the very same enemies he claims to be against.

1295.    Something for us Muslims to consider: The current economic super-structure dominating the world and its culture, geopolitics, etc., is not “natural” per se, so that one would have to pigeonhole Islam within its requirements, so that otherwise Islam is seen as “corrupt”, “outlandish”, or “against humanity and all logic”, etc.

1296.    If one says ‘individual goals or freedom’ is the supreme paradigm, how does one know that this paradigm is, in the long run, favored over a society where “group goals” are given the advantage? That is a big unanswered question even from the naturalistic paradigm itself.

1297.    We Muslims forget at times that Western society is not a monolith, the vague principles of freedom, diversity, truth, etc., play themselves out quite differently in Western society both historically and in today’s various polities.

1298.    One matter for us Muslims to consider is that the opposition uses arguments which are in effect mutually contradictory – for example, someone may say a religion like Islam must be banned since it is against secular logic and order, yet from another angle he considers everything to actually be naturalistic and secular in origins, including religion– thus he is only using the first argument as a kneejerk reaction against Islam.

1299.    The matter about (for example) “Islamic feminism” in its modern manifestation is that the Islamic texts can be read by all, yet if the context is looked at very wrongly, the zeitgeist says “So what? It is an acceptable interpretation nevertheless”.

The overriding principle is assumed to be freedom – yet don’t think that freedom prohibits the possibility of thinking you may kill others without any rules whatsoever attached to it – that is, there is a warped and wrong interpretation of the Islamic texts which allows wanton killing of people, yet the proponents of it think it is good because it is their “freedom” to interpret it in such a way. Thus the principle of “freedom of interpretation” can become very problematic if allowed to run loose.

1300.    A general observation: Look into how technology is having an almost religious-like effect on people’s psyches and their institutions. Weakening of traditional faith is seen, since technology is claimed to always work, even people think death will eventually be solved with the proper technology.