Re: Blasphemy law
If Muslims didn't treat hadith as scripture or divine you may have a point. But tradition, history, culture, unchanged interpretation and a fixation with everything Muhammed (may have) said or did doesn't make Islam much different the religions that supposedly don't have preserved scripture.
I'm not saying to change scripture or forsake your religion - just acknowledge that parts of it were meant for the Arabs of the 7th century. There is no religious or moral justification for slavery, having sex with women prisoners or killing apostates any more. Period. There never will be again unless the world reverts to chaos, anarchy and a moral cess pool on par with Sodom. Then we will all have a lot more things to worry about than the permissibility of eating lobster.
It is my prediction that there will be an upcoming reformation in Islam (just as there was in Christianity 1500 years after its birth) that will take place and these outdated rules will be interpreted as being for a certain place and a certain time.
Perhaps Islam was revealed perfectly. You may believe by the perfect prophet. Perhaps the Quran are the unchanged words of God. But it was still just regular people who decided how it was to be practiced.
It's been over a 100 years since there has been a successful Islamic civilization - and in that time the world has changed more than it did in the previous 1300 years. So how is not changing the interpretation going to bring back the glory when it is already so buried in the past?
Most Muslims say that Islam isn't being followed as it should be and that's the reason for the plight of Muslims today. A very serious question I have - what is going change if it isn't re-interpretation and acknowledgment that culture and tradition have bogged down the practice of Islam in modern society. And that some practices were meant for previous societies.
Moral justification depends on acceptance from a society. Running around in a bikini is morally justified in the west but not in muslim countries. Again your morals stem from your set of beliefs and its purpose. Since humans can believe different things, it is not our privilege to define these moralities, its for the one who gave us these senses to define what moralities are justified.
To answer your question with another question is what practices are holding back Islam from a modern society? Or what is a modern society?