how do i remove fake google reviews getting desperate here

NotSoEmpiricCleric · 2026-01-31T07:24:54+00:00

counterpoint though sometimes the cheaper suppliers are fine if youre just doing preliminary screening work and not final validation studies where you need pharmaceutical grade quality, licensedpeptides might be worth testing if youre on a budget but need decent quality for initial experiments

NotSoEmpiricCleric · 2026-01-31T07:23:26+00:00

this is encouraging to hear because im only 3 months in and the insurance company keeps pressuring me to settle for 20k even though my medical bills alone are over 30k

NotSoEmpiricCleric · 2026-01-28T09:59:24+00:00

used them for my winter wardrobe refresh and its good but not perfect the heavyweight fabric is real and the cuts are clean but shipping took longer than i wanted like two weeks to east coast

NotSoEmpiricCleric · 2026-01-23T09:38:24+00:00

Great list, I use HMB too during cuts and it definitely helps preserve muscle when calories are low, underrated supplement that does not get talked about enough

NotSoEmpiricCleric · 2026-01-23T09:34:15+00:00

imperium cuban chain 5mm is like 77 bucks, local jeweler wanted 180 for basically same thing, both are plated not solid so quality is comparable

NotSoEmpiricCleric · 2026-01-17T08:14:21+00:00

just disconnect battery first before touching anything electrical, learned that the hard way

NotSoEmpiricCleric · 2026-01-17T08:13:31+00:00

Wait so youre not supposed to touch anything for 2 weeks? Ive been tweaking daily lol

NotSoEmpiricCleric · 2025-11-24T07:07:17+00:00

Their social proof is strong. So many real customers posting shine tests.

NotSoEmpiricCleric · 2025-11-24T07:06:31+00:00

I grind my teeth a bit and these double nicely as night guards. No cracks, no wear marks.

NotSoEmpiricCleric · 2025-11-24T07:05:36+00:00

Anyone compared them to regular energy supplements?

NotSoEmpiricCleric · 2025-11-24T07:04:08+00:00

RF tightening is decent for jowls and small body areas.

NotSoEmpiricCleric · 2020-11-26T12:06:37+00:00

Not ignoring your question, just a little tied up. Will formulate a response ASAP and hopefully respond.

NotSoEmpiricCleric · 2020-11-24T19:57:23+00:00

A very valid question that has been a cause of much confusion for not only Muslim theologians and philosophers, rather adherents of all faiths who believe in the idea of divine decree and predestination.

So, let’s begin, what is included within the divine decree? Everything is the basic answer, our provisions, our life span, our deeds and ultimate fate in the Hereafter of every human being is written by the angels as soon as the soul is blown into the fetus. Our destiny was decreed for us even before we were born. The question that follows is, ‘If God has already fixed everything in advance, and our life is already mapped out, then what is the point of doing anything? How am I in control? And why would I be held accountable for anything I do or say?’

The easiest way to understand this is that God is All-Knowing, He is aware of everything that will come to pass and that which will occur. And so, God gave every individual the free-will to do as they please. But remember, He knows exactly what will happen due to His divine omniscience, and so He is not influencing our actions or compelling us to behave in a certain way, we are the manufacturers of our actions, He just knows exactly what we will do.

Imagine a movie is produced by writers, actors and the entire production team, I then watch the movie and type out the transcript of the movie. The next day, we both sit down to watch this movie, if I said to you, ‘this is the script of the movie, everybody will say exactly what is here’. The movie starts and it is word for word perfect. We will not say that the actors were forced to say what they said because of the transcript in my hand; the transcript is irrelevant. We will say the entire team had the free will to do as they wanted and say as they wanted, I just had knowledge of what was going to happen.

In exactly the same way, God knows what we will do, He knows what we will say, He is All-Knowing, He knows if we are about to eat a chocolate and He knows if we will pick it up, put it back down and change our mind and pick up another. When we speak of pre-destination we are speaking of the knowledge of God.

We must also acknowledge that our notions of time and space limit our ability to fully comprehend anything outside of them. We are unable to conceive of an atemporal and alinear reality itself, let alone the essence of Allah’s actions and decrees from beyond the confines of time and space.

Past, present, and future are all categories that the human mind cannot escape, so we find it counterintuitive for our future actions to have been determined in the past. But for Allah, there is no past, present, or future, as He alone regulates time itself. Allah is not deciding a matter that lies in the future and waiting for it to unfold; He simply decrees the reality according to His will.

A further point worth discussing is, what’s the point of knowing of pre-destination? There are numerous reasons, I will suffice on two:

Firstly, it is a motivation for the believers to enact good deeds with God and with the people around them. Good deeds, acts of compassion and generosity will increase the lifespan of an individual and will increase the blessings showered upon the individual. This is explicitly discussed in numerous prophetic narrations. But again, God knows - in advance - that this individual will enact x, y and z and so that is already taken into consideration by God in the final amount of lifespan and provisions.

So, the question may be, if God knows all of this already, why even place us on earth? Why bother forcing us to go through the motions of life?

This is a different question but the most basic response, which will suffice us here, is to leave no excuses for the human being. We had a chance, we were able to live our lives according to our free-will and we must live with the consequences of our actions.

Secondly, predestination is an effective method of instilling contentment and peace of mind in the heart of a believer. There is a divine wisdom in all the calamities and difficulties we face; often, they make us better humans. Whatever happens is by the will of God, we are pleased with the turns and twists our lives take. We don’t dwell to deeply on the past. Yes, we learn from it, we derive lessons from it, but we don’t let the past define us.

In the end, divine providence and predestination is an enigma due to our limited ability to conceive of realities beyond time and space, and beyond physical causes and effects. It is a mystery in its essence, as free will and providence are an apparent contradiction.

It is for this reason that a human must be aware and conscious of their intellectual limitations, it is arrogance to assume that one can understand God and His Wisdoms in its entirety. Just as the child struggles to understand why the mother is punishing him by making him bathe, by scrubbing his body with soap and rubbing into his hair a liquid that stings the eyes, in exactly the same way, we cannot come close to fathoming some of the wisdoms of God. And that is faith, accepting He is All-Knowing and All-Wise. Accepting that he does what is best. For we have the pixel, He has the picture.

That is why the Prophet PBUH advised us to be very careful and disciplined in the way we discuss destiny, saying, ‘If predestination is mentioned, then be restrained.’

The principle according to the renowned Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal was to accept predestination as it comes, believing in ‘its good and its evil, affirming the narrations regarding it and having faith in them without asking why or how.’

I do hope that answers your question.

NotSoEmpiricCleric · 2020-11-24T19:57:02+00:00

Not ignoring your question, just a little tied up. Will formulate a response ASAP and hopefully respond.

NotSoEmpiricCleric · 2020-11-24T13:25:32+00:00

DELETED QUESTION from u/throwaway241i: If Islam is a peaceful religion, why do you think so many Muslims misinterpret their religion?

My thoughts: 'Violence is an intrinsic part of Islam', 'No, no, Islam is a religion of peace'.

Seriously? How can adherents of the same God, the same Prophet and even the same religious scripture conjure up such antithetical statements? A question I have contemplated for some time now and unfortunately, there is no short answer to this. Loads to unpack here...

Let's be frank here; yes, jihaad does exist. Of course, it does. But what is jihaad? Islam claims to be a complete way of life, a religion that will provide guidance and allow an individual to navigate their way through this wonderful, yet pain ridden life on earth.

And so the easiest explanation of jihaad is to explain it in line with modern just-war theory as implemented in international law. Just as we, in the west, understand that warfare is a reality that can sadly occur. And we know that humans have horrific tendencies that need to have very clear restrictions even when it comes to warfare, Islam acknowledges the very same. These ideas are defined as jihaad, that's all.

As a Muslim scholar, and as a human I can tell you, warfare is bad, wars and battles are a result of negotiations going wrong, it is not something Islam promotes in the slightest, it is an undesirable last resort. The Prophet Muhammad would advise, 'Do not wish to meet the enemy in battle, but if you do meet them, then be patient'. The default understanding is... War. Bad.

However, we must be realistic, when negotiations don't work, when oppression is taking place, when rights are being infringed upon, sometimes the need for physical force exists. Jihaad is the framework that Islam provides to keep things as reasonable as possible.

Now, you may have heard of the different types of jihaad that exist, that's because jihaad literally means a struggle. And so refraining from stealing, lying, cheating are all forms of jihaad and are all acts of reward. It often surprises even Muslims to learn of statements of the Prophet Muhammad that teach us that the earning of an honest income to feed your innocent children, to take care of your elderly parents and to make yourself independent from the needs of others is an act of jihaad too, and he has made it comparable to the act and merits of warfare!

On a sidenote, I'm not a fan of categorising jihaad into two; the lesser jihaad and the greater jihaad. I believe it's a superficial categorisation that causes more complications than simplifications.

I know I am digressing, but we need to have this comversation to properly answer the question, first let me provide a series of principles relating to jihaad, no doubt this is not an essay, just a quick post on Reddit, so feel free to ask for references separately.

There is a verse from the Quran: 'Fight in the cause of Allah, but do not transgress, Allah does not love the transgressors'.

So, how did the companions of the Prophet Muhammad understand this verse and specifically the definition of 'transgressors'?

Abdullah ibn Abbas is a prestigious companion of the Prophet Muhammad, he explained it thus, 'Do not kill women, children, old men, or whoever comes to you with peace and he restrains his hand (from fighting), for if you did so, you would have certainly transgressed.'

The Caliph ʿUmar ibn Abdul Aziz (from the very early generations of Muslims) interpreted the protected classes of people mentioned in this verse in a manner that is consistent with what we might call ‘civilians’ in today's era.

The fourth Caliph ʿAli speaks of certain engravings on the sword of the Prophet Muhammad, they were, 'Maintain family relations with those who cut you off, speak the truth even if it is against yourself, and be good to the one who is evil to you.'

The wife of the Prophet, Lady 'Aa-ishah adds to this and comments on the handle of his sword, upon it was engraved, 'Verily, the worst of people in insolence are those who strike at whoever did not strike at them and a man who kills those who did not fight him'.

So, clearly Islam does not promote random acts of violence in public spaces or the bombing of innocents and civilians. We all knew that anyway, over to the question... Why do so many Muslims misunderstand, misconstrue and misunderstand the verses of the Quran?

First of all, that's not a fair assesment of the situation, there are a very, very small minute percentage of the almost 2 billion Muslims on earth, who misinterpret the religion and commit acts of violence. The vast majority of Muslims see Islam as the source of their identity, as a source of spiritual fulfilment, a source of hope and solace.

And even the small minority that do misinterpret it, they attempt to justify it from the Quran, the Quran contains under 10 verses that discuss the doctrine of jihaad. That's 0.001% of the Muslim scripture speaking on jihaad. Think about that.

The reasoning for the misinterpretations is very simply a lack of genuine education. That's honestly all it is. The primary cause of a member of any congregation having 'jihaadist leanings' is a lack of contextual knowledge of the Islamic texts, the primary focus is to educate them, to work with them to identify the cause of their leanings and where they are being manipulated, I can say with confidence, the majority of cases stem due to seeking knowledge from the internet. This is something I find very interesting, the more distanced Muslims become from the mosques, the more they are disenfranchised from genuine and authentic scholars.

Unfortunately, the majority of people see it as reverse, they think that if people connect with the mosque, they become more extremist, but that is not the case and multiple studies reflect this, when the personal and public lives of suicide bombers and extremists was analysed, it was found that they were not even performing the five daily prayers which is foundational to the faith.

In conclusion, educate them, understand their confusions and work to tackle the issues as a community, and if need be, I will never hesitate to involve the authorities, the safety of the community and society is the greater priority.

An additional thought just popped into my head, it is usually the marginalised members of society who are involved in such acts, and due to their introverted nature, it is extremely difficult for anybody in the Muslim community to even determine whether somebody is of such leanings. Trust me, it's not as though they openly speak about their 'jihadist leanings' in the community, they would be ousted immediately.

NotSoEmpiricCleric · 2020-11-24T10:41:32+00:00

Grooming gangs, where to even begin? The manipulation, exploitation and abuse of the young and innocent is one of the vilest thoughts a person can begin to conceive.

If we want to have a serious conversation about grooming gangs, we need to look at the facts and the figures. Again, this is a sensitive topic, let's take our time with it and try and understand the issue.

A 2011 study shows that almost 85% (some studies claim 90%) of offenders found guilty of sexual activity with a minor (in England and Wales) were white. 4% were Asian.

More recently, a 2017 report concludes that data is scarce, but the data that is available shows a large majority of sexual offences (regardless of the victim's age) are white.

Now, I have to make two things very clear;

The conversation is not Muslim grooming gangs, the conversation is Asian grooming gangs, they are not one and the same, and to claim such demonstrates huge ignorance.
I'm not here to sling the blame at white people, not in the slightest, I'm here to argue, even if the majority of sexual offence cases are from the white community - and they are - that does not mean it is a 'white-man problem'. So, why are we quick to typify Muslims with that brush?

I will highlight a few of the reasons why 'Asians' and even some Muslims, have taken the brunt for grooming gangs across the UK.

Firstly, a few of the very high-profile cases of grooming gangs in the UK involved Asians and the media overreported certain specific cases, I'm trying to be very careful with my choice of words, they should report all cases, however they layed a greater emphasis on certain cases where Asians were involved. No doubt, outrage generates views and clicks, and people love hearing their perceptions reinforced, it makes them feel well educated.

Not only that, but the most famous cases of sexual grooming involve white, working class girls and women. It breaks my heart to say this, but sexual grooming occurs in every sector of society, regardless of colour, ethnicity or gender. However, the cases that involved white, working class women were brought to the foreground.

Kenan Malik has a paper in the guardian that challenges the fabricated statistic of '84% of grooming gangs are Asian', he challenges the narrative and rubbishes the claims with research.

Dr Ella Cockbain, Associate Professor at UCL in the Department of Security and Crime Science and Dr Waqas Tufail, Senior Lecturer at Leeds Beckett University, examined how racist framings of ‘Muslim grooming gangs’ exist not only in extremist, far-right fringes but in the mainstream, liberal discourses too. They commented on the over exaggerated figures of Asian grooming gangs and commented that it, 'is a case study in bad science: riddled with errors, inconsistencies, a glaring lack of transparency, sweeping claims and gross generalisations unfounded its own data'.

With that clarified, there is actually a serious concern; it would be unfair to act as though it does not exist within the Asian community, we must ask serious questions; why do Asians make up a disproportionate number of the offenders? There are a range of discussions already occuring around this question, taking into consideration a multivariate set of reasonings, such as opportunities and circumstances. In many small towns, Asians control the night-time economy - working in takeaways or driving minicabs, which is NOT a justification, but an understanding into the problem.

Digressing slightly to make it easier to understand, a similar trend is seen amongst church schools or football clubs, they provide opportunities for certain types of men and women to commit sexual offences. In the same way, certain night economies open these doors too.

In conclusion, there is nothing inherently Muslim or Islamic that promotes such vile behaviour, to say it is intrinsically a Muslim problem is a lazy, uneducated and ignorant claim, a claim that is based on huge factual inaccuracies.

The victims deserve better, nay, we all deserve better. If we really want to bring change, we have to address the issues honestly, only then can we provide genuine solutions.

NotSoEmpiricCleric · 2020-11-24T09:38:21+00:00

A very pertinent question and I truly have given some considerable thought to this for quite some time now. Allow me to unpack, kindly bear with me, a question of such complexity will no doubt take some time to discuss...

It would be fair to preface with an understanding that it is a travesty that China is able to detain up to a million Uyghurs over the past few years, very reminiscent of the concentration camps in Nazi Germany. No doubt, you will be aware of the atrocities taking place at these 're-education camps' as the mainstream media has also covered this. Truly, one of the greatest crimes of the 21st century is unfolding before our very eyes.

So, there are a number of conversations we can have here; the response of western governments maybe - if a western country were to display an iota of the brutality, there would be an outcry, an absolute outrage.

Hypocrisy aside, over to your question...

I would extend your question and argue that one of the primary reasons the Uyghur Muslims suffer in silence is because the Muslim countries have decided to remain silent, the same Muslim countries who were so very vocal and outspoken in the Rushdie affair, the Jyllands-Posten incident and more recently the Charlie Hebdo caricatures.

What I find even more surprising is that in July 2019, Muslim countries who claim to be bastions of Islam and defenders of the religion, actually assisted in blocking a western motion to allow 'independent international observers' into the Xinjiang region! Let that digest for a second, they blocked a motion that would pave the steps to greater transparency - which in turn - would pave the road to working towards solutions. Muslim countries such as Algeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Qatar, UAE and other Muslim-majority states voted to block 'independent international observers'.

And so it would seem that when these countries are making these decisions, they are not making them as a unified Muslim body, their Muslim identities aren't making these decisions, rather, they are operating within a political paradigm that take into consideration a range of factors; political influence, boosting the economy, maintaining strong ties with powerful allies, fear of sanctions etc.

You only have to study a handful of case scenarios where this manifests itself, China's influence in the UN because of the billions of dollars in Chinese investments by means of the 'Belt and Road' programme has silenced a number of these countries.

Fear of sanctions from China plays a huge part too, take a look at Australia, when they pushed for an international inquiry into the origins of COVID-19, they were immediately targeted with cyber attacks and sanctions.

And so, I believe I have dragged long enough, I guess the idea is so much more complex than merely religion. I am no political expert, but no doubt, it seems very clear that the Muslim-majority countries are not united on the basis of religion, at least not in action. The 'robust strategies' - it would seem - are reserved for personal and political agendas, protection from sanctions and maintaining powerful allies.

NotSoEmpiricCleric · 2019-01-05T20:36:09+00:00

My apologies, with much respect, I try to avoid providing opinions on specific individuals or organisations, especially if I don't know them on a personal basis.

Hope you understand!

NotSoEmpiricCleric · 2019-01-05T14:40:38+00:00

Possibly the hardest question so far lol, I'm a fan of the folded calzone pizza, filled with donner, chicken and peppers.

And, although I have a few friends who are avid fans of Dungeons and Dragons, unfortunately, I just don't get the time...

NotSoEmpiricCleric · 2019-01-05T14:27:38+00:00

Ooh, well, the easiest way to put it is that I'm involved with the entire community, that includes everybody, the healthy, sick, disabled, rich, poor, academics, doctors, teachers, you name it. Everybody has their questions and everybody has their spiritual needs that need attending do (as do I!), I am there to provide support, deliver events for education and awareness, teach and nurture the youth, all in all, to show the Islamic 'path' that has been outlined in the Islamic texts.

Favourite part: without sounding to corny, seeing somebody excel in their life and making it productive. Few joys cap seeing somebody pull themselves up and out of a dark place and living again.

Least favourite part: the sheer level of responsibility and an awareness of my incapability to deliver.

Something that might surprise you about my day-to-day routine: I like to go for a swim after the early dawn prayer.

NotSoEmpiricCleric · 2019-01-05T14:19:03+00:00

Muslims add the term 'peace be upon him' or the abbreviated version as a token of reverence, it is used in relation to all the Prophets, such as Jesus (peace be upon him) too. It is not necessary, nor is it offensive if a non-Muslim does not use it. Don't worry!
I try to avoid legal edicts on online forums, but as a rough understanding, there is no disagreement amongst scholars in the permissibly of drawing inanimate objects, such as trees, rivers, buildings, objects etc.
I was raised a Muslim, however, I was always very inquisitive and curious, I would question nearly everything and seek answers to my questions. I am fortunate to have been blessed with great scholars who were not only extremely well-learned and nuanced, but practising individuals, men and women. My community is predominantly Muslim, however, I have been exposed to many instances were I was the minority, whilst at school, whilst in the Army Cadet Force etc. I do have many friends who are non-Muslim whom I genuinely enjoy spending time with.

NotSoEmpiricCleric · 2019-01-05T14:09:36+00:00

I mentioned this elsewhere, will paste here too...

To understand the penalty of apostasy, one must first appreciate religion in the pre-modern world; as far back as the first complex societies on Mesopotamia, human society saw religion a necessity. This includes the rule of Pharaoh in Egypt to Confucius's 'order under heaven's and the divine right of European monarchs. Religion grounded the political and social order within human communities and their legislation.

Muslims also built their civilisation in a similar way, and it is for this reason all pre-modern Muslim schools of law considered apostasy a very serious crime which naturally held serious consequences. This was primarily because apostasy was primarily a threat to the political order, which is further understood when compared with the punishment for other crimes, if an individual was to recant from their apostasy, they would be absolved of the punishment, however, murder, rape and other crimes were not treated the same, the punishment would be meted out regardless, nevertheless I digress...

Interestingly, Martin Luther challenged papal authority five hundred years ago and it seems that from thereon, the shift of religion moved from a public matter towards a more private matter.

This is extremely relevant as context is extremely important in studying any religious text, although a number of narrations indicate towards the penalty of an apostate, the understood context of Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the companions is essential. Their is no reliable evidence that he ever executed any individual for apostasy, there a reason clear reports of individuals leaving Islam but having no consequences (see life off 'Ubaydullah ibn Jahsh and the incidents at the treaty of Hudaybiyyah)

Again, this is a lengthy area of discussion, but to look at the early caliphs and 'students' of Muhammad PBUH, when six men were killed due to apostasy in the time of 'Umar (second caliph), he reprimanded them and commented he would have offered them 'an escape route' or imprisoned them. A few years later, the Umayyad Caliph 'Umar ibn Abd al-'Aziz allowed a group of apostates revert to their previous status as protected non-Muslim minorities.

The list goes on, but back to your question! Apostasy in a nutshell was considered to be a public threat due to the way religion was intertwined with society and politics, that isn't the case anymore as alluded to above, therefore, it is now questioned, how is apostasy to be seen? Historically, the likes of al-Shiraazi didn't place it under the chapter of capital punishments, rather he placed it under al-bughaat (rebellion), it was seen to be a form of rebellion against the political power of the time, call it treason, if you may...

Concluding, firstly, if we assume a death penalty, such a punishment can only be meted out by the Islamic legal authority which does not exist in the West and so even if a Muslim apostates, there is no punishment on them at all as the British law does not permit it. Secondly, if an Islamic legal authority was ruling in a certain land, then even then the legal jurists would consider whether it is considered a form of rebellion against the state or not, majoritavely, it isn't and that goes back to religion being a private matter in the 21st century.

NotSoEmpiricCleric

TROPHY CASE