Sometimes the challenges of the Muslim people appear on the surface to be different from the Quran. But if you look deeply, you will see that it is the same matter, which is dealt with in the Quran.  The answer is always in the Quran.

The Quran is the Criterian.
The Quran is the Standard.
The Quran is the Undeniable Truth.
The Quran is the final say in all matters.
The Quran differentiates between right and wrong.
The Quran is that which we use to understand everything.
The Quran is that which we use to make all our decisions.
What we say is the illusion, what the Quran says is the only Reality.
The issue is not what we think about the matter, it is what the Quran thinks about the matter.

Allah (SWT) has put everything into harmony by giving us revelation. It puts our relations with our friends, our family, with ourselves with Allah into harmony.
Denying the Quran, means denying one’s own nature.

O you who believe! obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority from among you; then if you quarrel about anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you believe in Allah and the last day; this is better and very good in the end.
( سورة النساء , An-Nisa, Chapter #4, Verse #59)

Hadith cannot be separated from the Quran, because it is used in the interpretation of the Quran and through it is the only way we can "Obey the Messenger".

Allah willing, everything said on this website will include verses from the Holy Quran and substantiated by words from those learned scholars who have studied all the principles and evidences surrounding these verses in order to derive their correct meanings.

Once we have agreed that the Quran is the criterion for correct judgement, everything on this website becomes relevant, otherwise we will have to debate this issue, until we come to the correct understanding.

"There is nothing but our life of this world! We die and we live! And we are not going to be resurrected!
Surah Al-Mumenoon [Verse 37, Chapter 23]

What is secularism ?
The dictionary meaning of Secularism is "a system of political or social philosophy that rejects all forms of religious faith and worship."  It goes against every religion. This is it’s purpose.  When a person is secular, he is saying, I have nothing to do with divinity. Everything is about this world.  Resurrection, accountability, all these things have nothing to do with me. It is about here and now. The material is all that is relevant and all that counts.

Secularism turns Muslims into Hypocrites
There were times when communism was the challenge.Those who were clear about their aqeedah and those who understood the revelation, their matters were simple and straight forward. Those who were not clear about Islam, started confusing the issues of communism and Islam, and lost their deen and direction 

Most of us go through the systems and institutions of learning the Aqeedah of secularism. When we come out we want to be Muslims, but we carry the Aqeedah of secularism. What happens is that you call yourself Muslim, but you carry the beliefs and structures of another religion, so you land up, no question about it, as a munafiq (hypocrite).

Most Muslims today carry the religion and aqeedah of secularism.

Yes, Secularism is a religion
The Prophet (SAW) came with an educational system, the Quran and Sunnah. He said this is where you start, this is how you build yourself, this is your ambition, this is what you give to your children, this is what you do you entire life so you learn the truth from the falsehood.  This is what a religion is.

Securalism has a judicial system, it makes Halaal and Haraam. It has laws which tell you what is permissible and what is not permissible. It says that this is right and this is wrong. There is no Allah (SWT), the human being is the Lord and all the structures will revolve around that.

It has an economic system based on riba(interest). You will be educated as to how their system works, what are you supposed to do, what are you not supposed to do, how do you succeed and how do you fail. You will spend 15 years of your life going through this entire process of education to learn all these different things in detail.

Securalism is a system with an Aqeedah. It has a belief behind it. It has an intent behind it. It hopes to take the human being to a certain point. That is it’s purpose. This is what a religion is. It is what takes up the entire persons life. From childhood to old age, the human being works within that system. Everything in his life is governed by that system which he is educated in.  We cannot imagine ourselves outside of this system. We think we will all starve to death. Everything will go wrong if we leave this system which is upon our heads, from the time of colonialism.

All of this is based on the fundamental principle that there is no divinity.  Is it possible, that something that has a corrupt fundamental principle, impure and based on falsehood, blossom into something good and pure, something realistic and something that is Haq (Truth)?

Some solutions to this problem have been proposed:
Let us take the good from it
If we are going to find out what is good and what is bad, we have to go to the Furqan(criterion), the Quran and Sunnah. It does not make sense to extract good and bad from a source which in any case will be governed by the ultimate criterion, the Quran and Sunnah. We might as well go directly, and put Secularism aside.

Our times have change and circumstances have changed
The Lord was the Lord of the universe and will always be the Lord of the universe. He will always be the bestower of favours. Nobody and nothing gives us what we have, only Allah (SWT) gives us what we have.  Times haven’t changed, people and devotees have changed. We eat from the earth, there is no new food. Material things have changed, but human beings needs are the same from the time of Adam (AS) till now. We only get smaller and weaker over time, but other than that, we remain exactly the same.

And whoever desires a religion other than Islam, it shall not be accepted from him, and in the hereafter he shall be one of the losers.
( سورة آل عمران , Aal-e-Imran, Chapter #3, Verse #85)

The straight path undermines their entire Aqeedah, so there will be prepared for a lot of resistance.

When they talk about co-existence they are saying, the law belongs to them(kufr), the law is not negotiable or debatable, now let's talk about everything else. They are staying that the standard has been decided which is Secularism, now let’s coexist.  They are also saying leave out all of these things which we don’t find pleasing in your Shariah then we can co-exist.

Both systems cannot coexist unless you make one system dominant over the other and you decide that we will select certain parts of one selectively, example salaah, fasting etc.

And the Jews will not be pleased with you, nor the Christians until you follow their religion. Say: Surely Allah's guidance, that is the (true) guidance. And if you follow their desires after the knowledge that has come to you, you shall have no guardian from Allah, nor any helper.
( سورة البقرة , Al-Baqara, Chapter #2, Verse #120)

Dealing with Secularists
Kaafir is one who denies Allah (SWT).  The worst sin is to deny Allah (SWT), therefore a kaafir is the greatest criminal.  With good character, we will always be civil.  Rasool (SAW) traded with disbelievers, you will never love him, you will never trust him, you will never take him into your circles. If you are concerned about the well being of your parent, the enemy of your parent will be your enemy.  He is the enemy of the creator. You are dedicated and devoted to Allah (SWT), and therefore the kaafir is your enemy.

O you who believe! whoever from among you turns back from his religion, then Allah will bring a people, He shall love them and they shall love Him, lowly before the believers, mighty against the unbelievers, they shall strive hard in Allah's way and shall not fear the censure of any censurer; this is Allah's Face, He gives it to whom He pleases, and Allah is Ample-giving, Knowing.
( سورة المائدة , Al-Maeda, Chapter #5, Verse #54)

Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and those with him are firm of heart against the unbelievers, compassionate among themselves; you will see them bowing down, prostrating themselves, seeking grace from Allah and pleasure; their marks are in their faces because of the effect of prostration; that is their description in the Taurat and their description in the Injeel; like as seed-produce that puts forth its sprout, then strengthens it, so it becomes stout and stands firmly on its stem, delighting the sowers that He may enrage the unbelievers on account of them; Allah has promised those among them who believe and do good, forgiveness and a great reward.
( سورة الفتح , Al-Fath, Chapter #48, Verse #29)

The Silent War

The silent war is not the war between the kaafir and the Muslim.  Throughout the Muslim world, the biggest war and the biggest problem is the Secularist Muslim who is destroying the Educated Muslim.In Turkey, Egypt, Somalia and all over the world, the fight is between Secularist Muslims and Educated Muslims.

The Secular Educational System

Likewise did We make for every Messenger an enemy, evil ones(shayateen) among men and jinns, inspiring each other with flowery discourses by way of deception. If thy Lord had so planned, they would not have done it: so leave them and their inventions alone.
To such (deceit) let the hearts of those incline, who have no faith in the hereafter: let them delight in it, and let them earn from it what they may.
Say: "Shall I seek for judge other than Allah. - when He it is Who hath sent unto you the Book, explained in detail." They know full well, to whom We have given the Book, that it hath been sent down from thy Lord in truth. Never be then of those who doubt.
( سورة الأنعام , Al-Anaam, Chapter #6, Verse #112-114)

The problem of our time is that we have been caught up in this decorated speech of deception.  We are what we know.  When your knowledge is correct, that is what you will believe and practice on.  If you want to lead people astray, educate them in a manner that is false and contrary to the revelation.

It becomes very difficult to understand revelation, because they will teach you that your highest level is the intellect, your logic, does it make sense. They will build this up to a point that you will start judging Allah (SWT) by your logic, and if Allah (SWT) does not make sense to your logic, you will deny Allah (SWT). This is where shaytaan wants to take you.

Revelation is beyond reason.

Reason is governed by revelation.

Revelation is not governed by reason.

Allah said he is one, he is one. It does not matter what we think.

Today we spend most of our time learning the way of secularism.  Schooling teaches you some good things, but it also plants an aqeedah (a belief system).  Allah (SWT) did not say Christianity, he says any system other than Islam, will never be accepted.  If you were to take this systems based on all of their desires, Allah (SWT) is no longer your helper.  We have taken the system revealed to us, and put it aside and dedicated to the secular system.  Our primary responsibility is to save ourselves and our family from the fire. There is only one way to save ourselves from the fire. Doing maths and science won’t save us from the fire.

 

"Who is more astray than a follower of his desires?"

But if they do not answer you, then know that they only follow their low desires; and who is more erring than he who follows his low desires without any guidance from Allah? Surely Allah does not guide the unjust people.
(سورة القصص , Al-Qasas, Chapter #28, Verse #50)

Any human being who does not respond to the revelation, to the call of Allah (SWT), is a follower of his desires. If a person is not following Allah's desire, he is a follower of man's desire.  If you break it down, you will come to the desire of someone somewhere along the line, either yourself or somebody else.

Then Allah (SWT) asks, who is more astray than this person who follows something that is not based on revelation?

Is it permissable to live in secular society?

Living in secular society, governed by secular systems, surrounded by people carrying these ideologies is permissable.  But unfortunately, if you live long enough in this environment, you start taking on that system's purpose and beliefs.

Solution: Adults first need to educate themselves

The secular education system is producing people with the same beliefs, which are put into certain places to keep this structure going. If you change the education system, you change the structure of society.  The Islamic Educational System is well prepared to cater for the needs of the world and the hereafter.  It based on Revelation, It is based on Truth.

The adults need the education first. We have to know goodness to teach them goodness. We have to know truth to teach them truth. We have to value Islamic values over Secular values.  We have to truly believe in the Quran and Sunnah.

The earlier we start the better.