Two Reformations Needed – Islamic & Secular
The world needs two new Reformations. Both the Western and Islamic worlds urgently need reform. But for opposite reasons. One to be more religious, the other to enter the ‘new’ world. A better balance is needed.
The Western secular world needs to re-find those beliefs and principles from which their whole society is based and developed. To then move away from a secular, hedonistic, selfish, greedy society and find God again.
The Muslim world needs to have a Reformation searching for the enlightened outcomes that eventuated from the original Reformation and Renaissance periods of the 14th to 17th centuries. Islam needs to be challenged by such activists and dissidents, such as Ayaan Hirst Ali, a fellow at the Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Ali notes five areas needing specific reform: Muhammad's status and the literalist reading of the Qur'an; life before death; Islamic law and its enforcement and the imperative to wage jihad (p27).
God and religion are a necessity and need to be an integral part of our world. Otherwise, our lack of direction from God will see the world end as we know it.
© Copyright 2017 Bryan W Foster
Photo: Vatican Museum © Copyright 2017 Bryan W Foster
Ayaan Hirst Ali, 2016, Heretic: Why Islam Needs A Reformation Now, Fourth Estate (Harper Collins), NY.