1326.    We as Muslims in our Da’wah to all (Muslims and non-Muslims) need to propound the important idea that a status quo could be risky. This is especially so in terms of our beliefs, since the status quo is in fact an anti-Islamic push in many directions, and this is absolutely detrimental to Muslims and gets worse year after year as more anti-Islamic laws and methods are adopted by countries the world over.

1327.    There is a contradiction in saying that ALL existents and their intentions are governed by mindless laws, yet also saying that one definitely needs an organized mind and rational abilities to decipher these supposedly mindless laws. In effect, the naturalist is saying all things are mindless and disorganized, yet he has the means to analyze these existents and phenomena. This is not an oversight or a slip of the tongue, this is a mistake of the first order the naturalist is committing.

1328.    Our position as Muslims is that Allah has given us the faculty of reasoning, not for all matters and for all of their details, but enough in order to accept belief. This is crucial, that we accept the limitations but also accept the true positive reality of our faculties, not becoming fanatical on either side.

1329.    We see that people (our opponents) discuss a lot about our “idiotic” beliefs, while in their own naturalistic viewpoint, the humanity of ourselves is a coincidence, and thousands or millions of years from now we (or rather our descendants) will not even be recognizably humans – thus what can be said about our ‘rationality’ or lack thereof now or in the future, as humans or as something else? There is no basis from their worldview for such claims, other than bombastic emotionalism.

To expand a little bit on the above, the empathy issue is important. Our opponent does not empathize with us since our Muslim beliefs seem to be way off the mark for them. OK, they also do not empathize greatly with gorillas or monkeys (our supposed cousins), but also our descendants will not empathize with us humans of 2023 a great deal either. So the naturalist’s claims need to be seen from this angle.

1330.    People may say the Usool methodology is too conservative. The truth is that yes we Muslims and our Ulamaa’ will stick to a principle or interpretation until and unless some hugely and more obvious truer interpretation becomes inevitable; we will not swerve away from the original view just for the fun of it. Also, the goals or Maqaasid are quite different, trying to succeed and progress economically in this one life is an interesting idea, but Islam cannot and will not be reduced to this goal.

1331.    The rule is that love for the Prophet (ﷺ) is the basis for all other loves; if this is not there first and foremost, there will be ruin in our love for our sons, daughters, parents, spouse, etc., and it will turn into great injustice from our part towards them.

1332.    With regards to “culture” and ethos, it is in fact this characteristic which keeps society centered. That is why with regards to Islam and Muslims, the outside forces of non-Muslims know it is so important to undermine this sense of culture and ethos; then, whether the overall situation is good or bad, the Muslims cannot center themselves appropriately and everything seems to be collapsing, even when things are materially well – the reason being there is no anchor or center to refer back to.

1333.    It is of importance to see the Temperance Movement, how it failed to curb alcohol consumption and sale even though it campaigned for years to do this, and how this failure made the American nation change the Constitution again. Plus, now we have Marijuana legalization; thus it seems that within the secularist paradigms people are uncomfortable being told that what they do is wrong, and will even rebel and become law-breakers before changing themselves substantially.

1334.    (As mentioned) There is a set of lessons from the Banu Israil era story of Manna and Salwa: Today, Muslims have the Qur’an, the Last Shariah, and the whole of Islamic scholarship, but their eyes sometimes go East and West for solutions. Thus, the question becomes do we wish to exchange what is lowly and despicable for that which is good and best or vice versa, what do we really want to do? If other than the Islamic framework is chosen, definitely we will drive ourselves to any Misr since the lands and the verities of Islam are not what we are pleased with, if we take the wrong decisions.

1335.    (As mentioned) Yes, Jihad is a last resort to uplift that which is blocking Islam- but the matter of the end destination of disbelievers is another issue. Thus, Verses like 2:256 or in Surah al-Kahf (18:29) are for Tahdid (i.e. threatening the disbelievers) they are not for perennialism, or promising them a “so what?” approach to the truth of Islam.

1336.    The problem of being in an illusion is perhaps best descriptive of the secular capitalist (and this includes modern ‘communists’). The issue is he must be in a state of growing production and progress, yet the truth is that when the economy collapses as it has time and again, his mentality is one of illusion, thus he feels the need for vengeance, glory that never existed, paranoia about foreigners and immigrants; then racism and xenophobia raise their heads, and on and on his illusions increase.

1337.    The issue with corporations like Facebook, Google, and others storing data is that it shows consent is a fickle matter. Definitely, in most contexts people would not want to be embarrassed by mistakes and gaffes they have put behind them; but if the medium of interconnections is itself e-life and cannot be deleted easily, people will develop consent very differently as a meta-category in their perception, and will approach their big mistakes very differently as well.

1338.    General observation: We need to see the way in which fear of crime affects housing decisions, economic choices, and job choices, even more so than judicial segregation or related de jure pronouncements do.

1339.    People say that Hey, the secularists don’t do offensive Jihad (the equivalent thereof) why do you crazy Muslims have this concept? We say, they don’t do offensive Jihad since most of the world has been conquered by them already, so they now mostly concentrate on Jihad of Difaa’ (defensive Jihad). Even communist nations are basically finished conquering, so they protect what they have, but offense is done perhaps by other means, though military showoffs and prowess are also there with these secular nations from time to time. However, even here we are seeing this principle break down in the past few years, countries might repackage offensive operations as absolutely necessary defensive ones, not as wars but as special operations, or redressing wrongs of the past, even as all outsiders can see that what is really happening is offensive warfare.

1340.    A general observation: People say that in free societies if there is army or police brutality, the laws will change in order for this to become illegal in the future. Perhaps not, I say, because it is known that the “free” populace may simply not have the long-term impact and concentration in its various components to solidify such sorts of changes and keep them as changes for multiple generations until they become deeply ingrained in the fabric of society. Thus, there may be some laws criminalizing these acts of brutality, but then there comes up a law to throw this ‘progress’ back, and on and on it moves back and forth, while police and army brutality become ever more entrenched and much more difficult to remove from the fabric of society.

1341.    Consider carefully that, in the secular ethos, the religious or Deeni institutions of Islam as normative Deen are in fact not a partner for negotiation, compromise, deals, etc. Rather, the disembodied Muslims as individuals are what can be negotiated with. Of course, this is to the secularists’ huge benefit, the body of Muslims divided up infinitesimally so there is no threat whatsoever and no chance for proper organization of the normative Muslim Ummah.

1342.    We must consider that a lot of what goes on as teaching in schools as “freedom” or “opening horizons” is in fact a type of child abuse (i.e., drag queens reading queer stories to children, reading books like My Two Mommies to them, etc.)

1343.    The capitalistic (current credit intensive) economic system is basically tailored to suck people in, countries in, etc. This happened a lot with the 3rd world and their resources, then with the 1st world and millions were affected there as well (an example is the housing crisis, it is a type of abuse to fool people into thinking they can afford a house they really can’t afford, then destroy their lives once it is obvious they cannot repay. It is predatory but the big people are happy, the rest are oppressed to no end). In such cases the distinctions between the first and third worlds disappear totally.

Consider that even Iceland became bankrupt, a place which was supposed to be developed, post-religion, all those things. But evils do happen even within their own paradigms, and they take a very real toll.

1344.    Many things which are “secular-only” are totally wrong or at least incompletely done: Like seat-time grade schooling, why is this not instead by mastery of a subject? This is in fact closer to the Islamic system, you must learn the subject before moving on, not just because you sat for 9 months with other classmates, then it is said: “OK, memorize things for a test, then go on to the next stage”.

1345.    The Verse in Surah Al-Hajj about the permission to fight (Verse 22:39) is not only for a defensive Jihaad; nay, the Prophet (ﷺ) also sent expeditions and excursions, beyond and before Badr, so we must understand this fact. Otherwise the Muslims will be confused about the early history of Islam, the totality of Islamic rules, and lots of damage may be done to many Muslims’ faith.

1346.    An observation: Reform normally does not happen, but once it is achieved, some are too revolutionary for the ‘mere’ reform, so their ‘plight’ and their energy goes elsewhere.

1347.    One sees the paradox of the fully active citizen in a number of ways: For example, the person on the Left may vote for his opposition views, but the Right wins the election and controls the government. The Leftist may be so very convinced and passionate in his views that he tries to block the Right’s government from carrying out its policies.

Paradox: Voting and civil debate are supposed to be means to discuss matters, once decided all should work towards a common goal, yet there is a huge chance that the leftist party members would rather try to move their agenda even if it was by means of blocking the government and shutting everything down. This example is just one, of course the party and ideological roles can very much be reversed.

1348.    A general observation: It is very important to understand that not all peoples obtain their identities from the nation-state period. That is, many (Muslims, but also Chinese, Indian Hindus, etc.) get their core identities, customs, and core thoughts from their previous civilizational period. Even if now they are indeed nation-states, yet their polities and citizens see themselves very differently from what one would consider normal in Western Euro-American norms.

1349.    General observation: We need to see how medical misdiagnosis for very, very serious disorders may affect certain populations or races disproportionately (a diagnosis of schizophrenia rather than depression or anxiety, for example when applied to the Black population, because the Black person may not be able to explain his symptoms in a language and mode “understood” by the medical community, unless another Black doctor understands what the patient is trying to say).

1350.    A general observation: We should remember that in matters like nuclear weapons, small organizations like AQ or ISIS are in fact no match for major superpowers who could potentially destroy the world if they went to war. That is, one crude bomb causes some damage no doubt, but the nation-states getting into war with such major industrial-scale weapons is a much more likely and devastating prospect. This is why bombing AQ or ISIS into oblivion is an acceptable proposition and can be sold to the general public, yet doing the same to nuclear states is not at all easy to promote.