But, if I had started off as a non-Muslim, I *may* not have ended up becoming a Muslim. In fact, if I had not been exposed to the Islamic books I’ve been exposed to, I may not have continued being a Muslim.

The predominant attitude towards Islam is faith-based, and seeks to invalidate reason to a very large degree. It would have been almost impossible for me to discover a rational attitude towards Islam, if I had not read the teachings that I had.

What I suppose I am asking is- Is your quest for true understanding based in your idea that the Koran is the Truth? Or is this a pure adventure of self-discovery, by understanding the religion that has so shaped your society?

I have recently shrugged off my native religion, difficult as it was to do. I just wonder if your mental journey is similar to mine.

The problem is, even with the Holy Koran itself, there are many verses that are vague in meaning, that can either be difficult to understand or have several potential interpretations.

Many Muslims are bound by what’s written in the Holy Koran, and so they would question why you chose to quote one verse and not another, why you chose one meaning and not the other, etc.

I wouldn’t completely dismiss the hadiths, but it’s important to know how they should be used. Some hadiths address this very issue.

I am currently working on what now appears to be a lengthy book on Understanding Islam, which will hopefully deal with the subject of interpretation, in the hope of presenting a more objective criteria for the interpretation of Islam.

I put my faith into question. Not taking anything for granted and questioning every aspect of my faith. I will try to make things short and give you the main ideas of what i have come to find out from my own personal journey of religious phelosophy.

I have found out that the quran is the absolute truth. If you are a perfectionist you will find it perfect in a miraculious way. If your a scientist you will find miracles of science within the text. If your a phelosopher you will find faith in its perfect metaphysics etc. If your a musician you will find it to be lyrical and musical like no other rythm or song. Whatever your direction is you will find truth in the quran if you read it with an open mind.

I also discovered that the quran did not cause me to feel misrable or bad towards myself or even guilty from any of the things that i do. I discarded the interpretations i previosly knew and made my own judgements when reading it. And i discovered that the teaching contained within are something trully “bil fi6ra”. It is easy and natural to follow it, bassically to just be your “good” self.

However i could not say the same for Hadith or Shari3a. Now some may think this blasphemous. But in the end those hadith/sunna books are not quran. they are not absolute truth. They are simply man written books that have been changed and modified as time goes by. They went through wars and “fitna”, and therefore most likely have been altered and tampered with. so is it even reasonalble to govern our lives by thier teachings?

I discovered that all my internal conflicts were caused not by anything said in the quran, rather it was caused by iether some 7adith or odd interpretation of part of the quran. When i disregarded those, and went back to look at the whole of the segment of the quran and looked at the context an aya was written in. It made a whole new meaning that has nothing to do with what i have been taugh by religious figures.

I have therefore abandoned my faith as a “Sunni” and now i proudly say I am just Muslim.

In summary, the quran is the truth. The a7adith and sunna are likely to have been altered and changed because of wars and corruption etc. Im not saying to abandon them but keep in mind that they may not neccesarily be accurate or true like the quran, if something feels wrong in islam or does not make sence to you, it very likely has nothing to do with islam but is simply a misinterpretation of quran or a false/altered/misinterpreted 7adith or sunna. Also notice that muslims are torn apart by non other than this aspect of faith. if we rely on the quran and appreciate that it is deep and complex, and that one part of it may mean something to a person and a compeletely diffirent thing to someone else (both bieng correct), rather than ask religious figures to think for us and tell us what the quran means we would be more harmonious and happy.