how about you answer my question ok.
when christians actually used to follow christianity (i know i did not believe it when i heard it too) that period of time is known as the dark ages, it would seem that christianity brought down the roman empire.
with the muslims the same rule applies (that is that when any faith first begins, its new followers are strict and obedient to the laws of the faith) so why is it that when islam started that instead of the muslims also falling into a similar dark age, they actually fell into a golden age of science and technology.
in case you dont know about the islamic golden age your welcome to look it up, its not just something i am making up.
muslims during the 8th and 12th (some say 16th century) centuries were way more advanced then the christians, only the Chinese could match the islamic world.
now lets look at today, Christians dont follow their religion very well and look how advanced they have got and on the same hand muslims dont follow their religion very well anymore and look how backwards they have become.
and just to give you a small teaser into how life was like in a muslim state back in its golden age.
well they invented street lighting, rubbish collection, universities, public hospitals, restaurants, set meal courses (starter, main and dessert) coffee and coffee houses etc etc
those are just some of the many inventions, what about human rights. well non muslims were not only allowed to practise their own religion but were allowed to be judged in their own courts of law.
for example i am a muslim who lives in the uk, and if i commit a crime i will be sentenced by their courts of law. if you compare you will see that the muslims were even more secular then the west is today. they never banned another peoples beliefs or told them what to wear.
p.s. at around the same time go and check out what Charlemagne was doing to convert europeans to christianity.
"Arab science and philosophy helped rescue the Christian world from ignorance and made possible the very idea of the West" Jonathan Lyons
i am sorry that you think the islam that is practised today is what islam really is because if that is true then i have to tell you that ignorance is holding you back my friend.
after reading this if you feel like you want to know the true answer to your question my advise would be to read or listen on youtube about the life of prophet muhammad and his 4 companions (rashidun) they were the perfect example of what islam is.
i will give you one story from the time of the rashidun, in particular umar ibn al khattab.
ok umar was one of the four companions and become the ruler/caliph after the death of prophet muhammad (pbuh) and abu bakr (another companion).
anyway he lived in medina and it just so happened one day that he was told that he had to travel to jerusalam, so he took his slave and the one camel that he owned. umar decided that he would sit on the camel one day and the next day the slave could sit on it (tell me what ruler did that) anyway so they eventually reach Jerusalem and it is just happened that on the day when he would be entering the city was the same day the slave would be sitting on the camel and umar the ruler of all the muslims and the whole of the middle east would walk in pulling the camel. the slave offered to give his place but umar said it would not be fair.
when he entered all the other muslims said to him, what are you doing, why are you dressed so bad and why are you not sitting on your camel, we have to make a good impression to everybody, your the leader after all. he said “The honour of Islam (i.e., being Muslim) is enough for all of us.” He entered Jerusalem holding the rope of the camel on which was riding his slave. His clothes were dirty and there were several patches on them."
"Yet the abstinence and humility of Umar were not inferior to the virtues of Abu Bakr: his food consisted of barley bread or dates; his drink was water; he preached in a gown that was torn or tattered in twelve places; and a Persian satrap, who paid his homage as to the conqueror, found him asleep among the beggars on the steps of the mosque of Muslims." Gibbon
this is just umar, there is also the prophet muhammad (pbuh), abu bakr (ra), more stories about umar (ra), ali (ra) and all the other companions of the prophet (pbuh).
now ask yourself would the kings of soudi arabia today do the same as what umar did, if the answer is no (which it has to be) then they are not practising islam are you and everybody else seems to think.
EDIT: i think my answer was very relavent to your question. maybe you just did not interpret it right.
what i was trying to get you to see was that, when muslims actually practiced islam they lived in a golden age, now they dont practise islam they are how you see them today.
then i used the example of umar (ra) to show you how muslims should act and i asked you if any muslim king would act the same way today.
i am sorry if this seemed like a history lesson but when you said "Islam which is the inspiration" i had to harken you back to the days when islam was actually practiced to show you that the so called muslims of today dont follow islam, and that if you really want to see islam then you really do have to go and read about those days.
growing up as a muslim i had my doubts about faith, not because i had read the quran, not because i had read about my prophet (pbuh) or his companions but rather because like you and everyone else i thought that the islam practiced by those silly madrasa teachers and tyrants throughout the middle east was really islam.
i actually fell completely away from my faith at one point, only to start reading about the history of islam and what islam really taught did i then come back to islam.
that is why i am telling you the history of islam because it shows the truth of islam.
"I become more than ever convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet, the scrupulous regard for pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers and his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in his own mission. These and not the sword carried everything before them and surmounted every obstacle”. Ghandi
"I believe that if a man like him were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would succeed in solving the problems in a way that would bring the much needed peace and happiness. Europe is beginning to be enamored of the creed of Muhammad. In the next century it may go further in recognizing the utility of that creed in solving its problems." George Bernard Shaw