Dear mquran,
From what you have written, it seems that we agree that the quran is here to guide us.
The quran is not silent on this issue.
As you know, there are numerous verses in the quran mentioning balance, justice, guidance, forgiveness etc. It therefore seems that God is not so taken with punishment in our lifetime, as with guidance to maintain a balanced ?ummat?. How should we act to obtain that goal?
This is why, at the very end of the spectrum, when they are completely out of servitude to Allah (wa maa antum aabiduna maa a'bud - 106/5) , we address them as 'yaa ayyuhal kafiroon' (106/1).
Please check these references again.
If you are a person who tries to live according to the words of God then you may be a ?muslim?. If you don?t, you may not be. But, again, this is not for us to decide.
Oh but we HAVE to decide because being a 'muslim' necessitates certain strategies of interactions from ourselves. Lets say person 'a' is a criminal and says 'in my heart, i submit'. You let him into your house and he kills you. Not a very smart move, was it?
God tells us to use the signs of God, including the quran to guide ourselves in life. God tells us to use our senses and our minds and not blindly follow what others say. Whether a person saying ?in my heart I submit? is a ?criminal? or not, is only visible through his/her actions through life. ?Words are cheap?.
We can not decide whether a person is ?muslim? in ?the eyes? of God.
Correct. And the evidence for this is 9/11 which says 'if they return, establish as-salat and render az-zakaat, SO THEY ARE YOUR BROTHERS IN AD-DEEN'. Therefore, any person who transgresses this, should be chucked out of the domain after any adequate warning.
Again, it is not for us to ?chuck? anybody out of ?the domain?. A person opposing the words of God is not ?in the domain?, it is not something that we decide, it is a result of the person?s actions.
I give these statements the reverence deserved of an eternal truth. Therefore, in an ideal situation, im not about to trust an electorate. I'd rather trust an inspired rasool.
Is your ?trusted rasool? the same as somebody else?s ?trusted rasool?? Or rather, who decides who is trusted and who is not?
You should not trust an electorate because the person is elected; trust has to be earned through actions. Again it is what you do and not what you say that counts.
Do you believe that ?justice is served? if someone who kills another human being is killed as well?
Let us say that a person who is murdered has a family that he/she took care of. Will the family be better off if the perpetrator is killed? Will it make any difference to the one who was murdered?
The perpetrator may also have responsibility towards his/her own family, is his/her family to be punished for the one person?s criminal action?
In short, is balance restored, and justice served, if two families lose their breadwinner due to one person?s actions?
Maybe you could say that balance is restored as both families? means of support would be equally reduced.
Who is then going to sustain these families? lives? Is the community better off by this kind of ?justice?, or is this solution only a question of satisfying an urge for revenge?
In that case, is revenge what God is telling us to seek?
Doesn't this remind you more of a "Cosa Nostra" way of dealing with problems?
Ahsnahu for 'the better of it' doesn't mean what is 'best' but better. When al-quraan is read out, we are to choose the ayaat which better suits our situation. This isn't talking about the literal/figurative dichotomy. If the equivalency laws were figurative, then it would not mention expiation or compensation.
The ?better? of two options is also the ?best? of these options. And you are right; it has to be weighed in accordance with the present situation.
Regards
Ali Omar