Punishments by God in this world

Question:
You made the following reference to a quote from the Qur'an:

Would it be okay to replace the expressions "Jews and Christians", in the following Qur'anic verse, with "Muslims" to understand the Divine policy in the present times?

The Jews and the Christians say: "We are sons of Allah and His favourites." Ask, "Why then does He punish you for your sins?" Nay, you are mortals from among those He has created. He forgives whom He pleases and punishes whom He pleases. And to Allah belongs the Kingdom of the heavens and the earth and what is between them, and to Him shall be the final return. (Al-Maidah, 18)

I have the following questions and comments. Accepted that God is punishing the Muslims for their failings, however, should not the fanatics who are creating chaos and disorder be punished rather than innocent men and children. Also, if the blame be on fanaticism, none was witnessed in Bosnia or Gujarat to cause so many to be tortured, raped and burnt alive.

My comments are:

a) innocent Muslims are already suffering from many brutalities; and

b) on top of this, we blame them for their sufferings.

So, in the portion of the verse: 'He punishes whom he pleases -----', there is no criterion for punishment. This would then not be the work of a Just God. Ideally the fanatics should be punished and people like me who do not follow God's commands in spirit. But I observe contrariwise.

Response:
I think the punishment on nations in this life is based is on the general attitude of a nation, good as well as bad people included. However, the treatment in the Hereafter would be based on individual performances. Those who were dealt with harshly for no fault of theirs shall be adequately compensated in the Hereafter. As for the present world, it will remain unfair, more or less. My worry is about those who don't believe in an Afterlife. How do they explain all this?

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