I thought fundamentalist meant going BACK to fundamentals. We have different concepts of the word ‘Islamic Fundamentalism’. You think it means retardation of science and underdevelopment, but it doesn’t. Because as I showed you ‘the fundamentals of Islam’ i.e. the Quran and prophet Mohammed’s sayings, urge us to quest Science. So what really happened when Islamic civilization began to falter was giving up Islamic principles. Abandoning Science, unity, and military power, unlike what the Quran orders us to do in clear words. Another saying:
“Quest Science from cradle to grave”
Blaming Islam for current Moslem conditions is like blaming Christianity for the Dark Ages. Not only am I in favor of ‘liberalizing’ Islam as you call it, but it is our duty.
I understand why you call the Quran very repetitive. You must keep in mind that translation not only makes it lose its beauty, but you feel a lot of things are repeated because many Arabic words are translated to the same English word, but the truth is the Arabic words give slightly different meanings (I read the statistics but I don’t remembe them). Also, an Arabic word might have more than one meaning (that could both do), and the translator must choose. So this might give you human error.
I think I now know what you mean. What happened in the 13th century was something concerned with Religious matters, although I’m not sure exactly. In short, it has nothing to do with Science and saying this is completely warped.