Die Gedanken sind frei…

He who gives no thought to what is distant will find sorrow near at hand.
Confucius

He who has no goal in sight cannot put any distance behind him.
Ernst Ferstl

It remains to be seen who will write the next chapter in the history of Islam. But it can already be said today who will ultimately win the war between the forces of reform and the forces of counter-reform. When Muhammad set a revolution in motion in Mecca fourteen hundred years ago, in order to replace the archaic, rigid and unjust conditions of tribal society with the radically new vision of God-given morality and social equality, he tore apart the fabric of traditional Arab society. Only after years of violence and destruction could the Hijaz be freed of its "false idols". And it will take many more years before Islam is freed of its new false idols of bigotry and fanaticism, worshipped by those who have replaced Muhammad's vision of tolerance and harmony with their own ideas of hatred and discord. But this liberation will come; reform can no longer be stopped. The time of the Islamic Reformation has begun. We are living in the middle of it.
Reza Aslan

Part of the Islamic reform is winning the hearts and minds of Muslims. The message of reform must be spread. It must be visible, readable, audible. One possibility is leaflets with verses of the Quran showing the reader that Allah could have made everyone into one great umma; but that He wanted to put the possessors of the Torah, the Gospels and the Quran to the test and let the believers vie with one another in good deeds.

The Day of Judgement will come when God wills it, and then He will reward or punish people according to their conduct in their earthly lives.

Media, training, leaflets and conversation must spread the message.

A leaflet in Arabic script could begin like this:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, there is no god but God and Muhammad is His prophet.
And then the appropriate verses, e.g. [2:62], [3:4], [5:48] etc.

All just stupid drivel from unbelievers?

Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy evidence of the fact.
George Eliot

New Column – page 11

Wishing you a productive work cycle, with warm regards