To me, when Western Muslims talk about becoming 'modernized', they actually mean that we need to become 'westernized' and are anti-Muslim influenced culture. And no, not all culture is "bad", and the people who throw around cliche statements like, "Deen over Culture" have no idea about the role of various cultures in Islamic Civilization (I was one of those people who would go around saying that, lol!) I personally don't know much about it, but I know for a fact from whatever I learned that it DID play a positive role for the majority part, especially in Da'wah. Blameworthy culture comes and goes, so to those people whose parents do cultural things that contradicts Islam, maybe it IS wrong but there might be a benefit for you yourself in it (Or has some Fiqhi basis for it), and then later in life, these blameworthy cultural things will go away.
Anyhow, becoming westernized comes along with being heavily materialistic. We love things that in reality have NO value or benefit at all. We are heavily engrossed in the most Dajjalic (Is that even a word?) cultures and traditions; especially with the problem of having a great amount of reverence, admiration, and respect along with fanatic obsession over useless celebrities who constantly have their lives discussed on TV and on the internet who are nothing less that shayateen who have ZERO benefit in this life AND hereafter! If we love them, then - God forbid-, we will be with them on the Day of Judgment. Some may say, "Oh well what about praising scholars?" There's nothing wrong with praising scholars at all. Scholars will benefit us in this life for the next, that is why we should love them, learn from them, and keep their company. If you think there is something wrong with praising scholars, visit the scholars with an open mind and heart and these thoughts won't pass your mind again. We yell and scream for the company of a shaytanic celebrity who corrodes the heart as acid does to steel but we can't praise scholars or talk about their feats in their scholastic journey even though they teach us things that bring us closer to Allah and the Prophet? Profound Blasphemy. But all those other actors, singers and celebrities are the heedless idiotic minions of the Shaytan. They have successful Da'wah to failure. They're just mindless fools. And very few contribute to the removal of oppression, starvation, and these type of things. The end is absolutely near. That being said, get out of the thought that Islam needs to be 'westernized', Islam should be avoided from being westernized at all costs. What we need is a renewal, not for Islam, but for Muslims. Criticism?
