Picabia,

I appreciate your effort for understanding. It is a fair effort. However, your depiction that Islam emphasizes exterior actions rather than, or prior to interior spiritual development is quite mistaken. There is saying in Islam: belief leads to deeds. They are indivisible. The Prophet Muhammad (saaw) spent 13 years in Makka enduring torture, starvation, attacks, assasination attempt, lies and slander all before he established Islam as a state in Madinah. He did not raise a finger in defense or in military action for 13 years. It is noted that Gandhi studied this period of the Prophet Muhammad (saaw) life and adopted his nonviolent philosophy in part with his example a long with the examples of Buddha, Jesus, and others.

But that period in Makka developed the spirituality andpersonalities of the Muslim people, enabling them to later fulfill the commandments and prohibitions that followed, such as no sex outside of marriage, no liquor, no gambling, praying 5 times a day, fasting from sunrise to sunset, and so forth.

These religious acts are all motivated by freewill, internal fortitude and belief, not compelled by violence. But as it goes, these commandments became law of the land as the 10 commandments of Moses (as) did.
And the law of the land includes punishments as well. But the punishment is born of the revelation just as the belief, the command and the prohibition. So again, belief emanates deeds, thought leads to action. And while the the best generation of Muslims consisted of towering figures, there were also those who suffered from their own weaknesses and violated the law of the land. However, in the Islamic society, punishment and repentence are expiation for a major sin such as adultery so the sinner does not go before God on the Day of Judgement with such a terrible sin, or rather God will not grant punishment in hell for that sin: expiation/kaffara.

But in the end, Islam is a way of life for the individual and the society. It satisfied the intellect and fulfills the instincts and needs and governs the affairs of the people.