Islamic Thoughts

• ANALYSES
• 1 Behavior code of Muslims toward non-Muslims
• 2 September 11 (2001) attacks on America not compatible with Islam
• 3 Ways To Defuse Religious Tensions
• 4 The Value Of The Ten Commandments
• 5 Bright Spot Of The Us Constitution: Religious Freedom
• 6 Lessons from the prophet's hudaibiah treaty.
• 7 Rulers' roles in promotion of christianity.
• 8 Exploring a model definition of 'religion'
• 9 Where islam stands as a civilized religion?
• 10 Proving god's existence through experimental science.
• 11 Roles of man as necessary & God as sufficient condition.
• 12 Human kindness is a shadow of god's kindness.
• 13 Why islam is the best choice for the Africans?
• 14 In Old Age, All Roads Lead To Death.
• 15 No Creations Are Without Purposes & Uses.
• 16 Prayer Prevents People From Bad Actions.
• 17 When Haram May Be Excusable: Five-Step Conditions.
• 18 Islamization Of Some Un-Islamic Cultures.
• 19 Greater The Faith, Tougher The Test.
• 20 How Science Can Make A Difference For Muslims?
• 21 The Time Gap Reality Between Sin & Punishment.
• 22 Good & Bad Days Alternate In Cyclic Order.
• 23 Let Moon-Sighting Unite & Not Divide The Muslims.
• 24 Faith Crisis Among Some Intellectuals.
• 25 Islamic Policy Toward Animals.
• 26 Improving The Muslim Performance (Aamal) Standard.
• ARGUMENTS
• 27 How Middle Course Better Than Conservative And Liberal Extremes?
• 28 Why God Is The Best One To Be Worshipped?
• 29 Costs And Benefits Of Belief In The Afterlife
• 30 Bible Is Similar To Hadith But Different From Quran
• 31 Defaming Islam: Freedom Of Speech Or Violation Of Rights?
• 32 How Islam Compares With Democracy?
• 33 Who Is Responsible For '0' Small Pox Since 1980?
• 34 Timeliness Is The Leading Condition For Prayer.
• 35 Ten Arguments For Women's Education.
• 36 Why Physical Fitness Matters For The Muslims?
• 37 Homosexuality Vs Adultery: Which Is Worse And How?
• 38 Countering Abortionist Argument
• 39 Which Is Better: Open Or Secret Prayer?
• 40 Small Or Large Recitation: Which Is Better In Prayer?
• 41 Personal Or Social Suffering: Which Is More Painful & Why?
• 42 Cultural Slavery Vs Cultural Diffusion.
• 43 Why Should America Ban Religious Defamation?
• ASSORTMENTS
• 44 Visible Action Of Invisible God: From Author's Diary.
• 45 Optional Good Deeds Are Like Bodyguards For Compulsory Ones.
• 46 The Gravitation Law Of Performance (Not One Of Newton).
• 47 The Theory Of Relativity (Not That Of Einstein).
• 48 In Good Deeds
• 49 "Rob Peter to pay Paul" is not for islam
• 50 Muslims Cannot Be "Penny Wise And Pound Foolish".
• 51 Islam Endorses Salad Bowl & Not Melting Pot Theory.
• 52 100% Homosexuality Means Prospect Of 'O' World Population.
• 53 Sinning In Teens To 40's & Suffering From 50's To Death.
• 54 Revenge May Be Lower But Not Greater Than Harm.
• 55 Why Karl Marx Is Irrelevant Forever?
• 56 Is God The Same One For All Religions?
• 57 How God Controls Economy And Livelihood?
• 58 How Muslim Repression In Myanmar Violates Buddhist Principles?
• MISCELLANEOUS
• 59 Grim Reality of Death: Unfailing Lesson for Everyone

27 : HOW MIDDLE COURSE BETTER THAN CONSERVATIVE AND LIBERAL EXTREMES

The Muslims across the world practice Islam with a range of variations from (a) conservative or fundamentalist extreme to (b) moderation or middle course to (c) liberalism or unlimited modernism. Such diversity is not always unlawful as the Prophet in many cases used to practice same thing differently at different times. The purpose was to protect his people from rigidity, in order to make Islam easier by giving them much desired flexibility. For example, sometimes the Prophet chose to eat less or no food at all to ally with the hungry while at other times he ate delicious and nutritious food to show that both the extreme practices are within legal bounds.

Now his Muslim followers are divided on the question of which of the above three varieties to pick from while remaining firm on the true path of Islam. Some choose to be conservative by practicing Islam with less enjoyment and more patience (ex: eating less or frequent optional fasting, praying devotedly) for gaining more in the Afterlife. Others belong at the other end of extremity by adopting pro-liberal and pro-consumption trait of Islam (ex: eating rich, wearing nice to praise God). In between the above two extremes lies the moderation or middle course which is arguably the better of the two.

The conservative extreme combined with lack of Islamic knowledge may lead to many problems. These may include (a) focusing more on less important thing to the neglect of more important ones (ex: praying all through a holy night and then succumb to sleep immediately before mandatory morning prayer), (b) lack of progressivism by denying the utility of science, female education etc. and (c) hardship from rigidity may force you to step back from Islam in worst case.

Liberalism, on the other hand, may mean deviation from perfect Islam or compromising with crucial Islam values.
Compared to the above two extremes, the middle course is more preferable. This is likely to stay out of the weaknesses typical with the above two extremes. Without giving up any Islamic essentials, you can practice Islam with relative ease and better adaptation to the world around you. With these benefits in mind, the Quran and the Hadith stand for moderation by insisting "Adopt a middle course in your dealings" (31: 19). The Quran further elaborated the point by advising against use of excessively higher or lower voice in prayer recitations (17:110). It also tells you to avoid spending extremities known as extravagance and misery. For his part against excesses, the Prophet also forbade you from optional fasting every single day; instead you fast every alternative day if you very much like to. It therefore can be concluded without doubt that you will qualify for divine blessings by following the middle course in your actions unless it is otherwise justified.