These are all interesting points, and I certainly hope that the board will offer you answers to the most pressing queries. Would love to dedicate more time into my replies, but unfortunately, I am pressed for it.
so I am going to address in point style
1- Again 90% of Muslims are sunna, 73 sects doesn't mean, that all of them are present at the same time, some arise, some die down, certainly the nutty A H M M A D I E S, were an invention of British colonialism of India where they chose some rich brat and made him the so-called "reincarnate" of Prophet Mohammed, Jesus, and took the Quotes out of the Quran they didn't like, and voila here is a new religion, this was as recent at 200 yrs ago, and of course now they are all screaming human rights because they feel oh so-persecuted by the rest of the Muslims, who deem them heretics, which they are, and we all know who has interest in that. That is what I meant by foreign interest in our division.... very clearly in the Quran it states, he who desireth a path other than sunnat illah warasoloh, has strayed. The Quran is preserved, unlike the previous, scriptures so it is very hard to stray unless you are intentionally deviant.
In fact I have just had this conversation a few weeks ago with a Lebanese Maronite who is working on a re-interpretation of biblical text. If the original were in tact they wouldn't need all the humbug. But that is an expansive topic and like I said, I really can't delve into something that will take more of my time, than I am willing to dedicate.
2- Shiites were started more with the help of Abdullah ibn Sabb'a than mu3awayas attempts, I think a little history can take care of your most pressing queries, "He"-- Abdullah ibn sabb'a attempted to do for Islam, what "St." Paul did for Christianity.. however, in the Quran it states in 16.43
إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَـزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ
So there you have it, again it is a solo effort even if your community is corrupt. And what I meant prior was, if you were the only non-cannibal in a tribe of cannibals would you join in, just because it was the norm? not a custom, that you were regularly practicing.... a religion in order to convince you, has to be satisfactory to you both heart and mind, and I would recommend you this very short read by Dr. Gary Miller, who was a former priest. I think he is one of the examples I meant by Non-Arabic, former Muslims, who seem to value Islam more than we do his book can be found
Here!
3- you are right, Islam is very much like medicine or pharmacy or any career path that requires you to have continuing education to maintain you license, it is a life time effort, not an over night change. I never suggested you are Muslim over night. It is a jihad with self and a struggle.
4- I am not sure what you mean exactly by your neighbors finding some practices immoral, I think in a society that boasts freedom, the question of morals has become a non-constant. What defines morality? This topic has been discussed here in some 33 page thread, and you are welcome to read it and participate in it.
5- Am I satisfied with what G-D gave me? I try to be, I believe that all that is good is from G-D, all that is bad it from within ourselves. It is human to not be thankful when things are honke dory, but the minute it all goes down hill, then it is "Oh- G-D why are you doing this to me"?
Certainly if you count the blessings that you have, you wouldn't be able to count them... you know the things people take for granted... you know things like your glycolysis , Krebs cycle your electron transport chain, your Cori cycle, your urea cycle, your Gluconeogenesis, your freedom from Lysosomal storage disease, your rods, your cones, your frontal lobes, your cranial nerves, your hippocampus, if you knew how much could go wrong in one tiny cell, you'd appreciate how much goes right, every day! etc etc etc etc.. do you will your body to do any of those things for you? did your parents? your parents only donated two cells. You'd pay $60,000 for a new heart from a donor should yours mal-function, that minus doctor fees, hospital fees, rehabilitation time etc how many times are you grateful that yours works on its own volition? so beautifully engineered that it wouldn't succumb to tetany if the rest of your body did.. would keep on beating even if your SA node gave up, your AV node takes over, when your Av node gives up, there you have your purkinje fibers... contemplate those things sometimes and stroll down impoverished provinces, it will cut down on the "greed" a little...
Lastly and in closure, NO, I am not perfect, far from it, it is a struggle for me as much as the next guy, I just find it a shame really, that a Muslim would have all this and choose to avert his eyes. Even to contemplate nature with some gratitude in your heart is a form of worship...
Good luck to you
:w: