Ex-Muslim
Ex-Muslim:-
I am often asked, Why I left Islam?. As absurd as it may be, some Muslims cannot even allow themselves to think that leaving Islam is an option, or even possible.
Comment:-
No. It is possible all right. And, indeed, these days when Western education and culture dominate, it is not at all unusual.
The Quran does tell us why and how it is possible.
Ex-Muslim:-
Not until few years ago I used to think that my faith in Islam was not based on blind imitation but rather was the result of years of investigation and research. The fact that I had read a lot of books on Islam, written by people whose thoughts I approved of and delving into philosophies that were within my comfort zone, emphasized my conviction that I had found the truth. All my bias research confirmed my faith. Just like other Muslims I used to believe that to learn about anything one has to go to the source. Of course the source of Islam is Quran and the books written by Muslim scholars. Therefore, I felt no need to look elsewhere in order to find the truth, as I was convinced that I have already found it. As Muslims say "Talab il ilm ba'di wossule ma'loom madmoom". The search of knowledge after gaining it is foolish
Comment:-
If you had understood Islam it would have been difficult to leave. There are few books on Islam which can deal with the kind of intellectual problems western thinkers pose and most people do not make the necessary effort to deal with them.
But there might have been strong causes as well as motives why you would want to leave and these would have obstructed your efforts to understand Islam also. Among the causes are conditioning by your educational system. Other causes are the desire to be regarded as "modern", "enlightened" or "civilized" or "rational" or "scientific" or "westernized" and to be accepted by a community who you saw as the source of "power" and "excellence". Or you wished o dissociate yourself from those who were regarded as backwards. Or you found the Islamic discipline too difficult to perform or its values to high for comfort and wished to get out of it and get rid of guilt feelings and needed some excuses.
Or you wanted to indulge in certain appetites which were forbidden. So you looked around for excuses and rationalizations why it should be abandoned. Or you hated some person or group who professed to be a Muslim but was a hypocrite in action or was cruel or too strict or an embarrassment. Or your Ego was too strong and you preferred your own subjective opinions over the Quran. .......... I can go on and I know all these from personal experiences and the experiences of others.
Ex-Muslim:-
I suppose it was my acquaintance with the western humanistic values that made me more sensitive and whet my appetite for democracy, freethinking, human rights, equality, etc. It was then that when I read again Quran I came across injunctions that were not al par with my newfound humanistic values, I was distressed and felt very uncomfortable to read teachings like these.
Comment:-
Yes. If you accept one set of values then another set which contradicts them will be uncomfortable. But what are the grounds for accepting these man-made ones? Mere subjective bias?
Ex-Muslim:-
Quran 3: 5 says "But those who reject Faith after they accepted it, and then go on adding to their defiance of Faith,- never will their repentance be accepted; for they are those who have gone astray".
Quran .16: 106 says "Any one who, after accepting faith in Allah, utters Unbelief,- except under compulsion, his heart remaining firm in Faith - but such as open their breast to Unbelief, on them is Wrath from Allah, and theirs will be a dreadful Penalty."
These ideas are unacceptable.
Comment:-
Correction: Unacceptable to you - You write as if your opinion was an objective fact. This leads to self-deception.
What if these statements are true and not inventions? What if they tell us something about the nature of human psychology?
If you do not understand them, then you can only reject them if you have already made up your mind that they are not revelations.
Ex-Muslim:-
One may think that the dreadful penalty mentioned here pertains to the next world. But Muhammad made sure that these people received their penalty in this world as well. See the following: Sahih Bukhari Volume 6, Book 61, Number 577:
Comment:-
Obviously you did not receive the penalty in this world.
The Hadith you quote are reports of what happened, not instructions, and refer to the conditions which existed at the time and you do not have all the facts to make any judgment about them.
The Quran gives us the instructions and these have to be understood. Certainly Muslims have departed from Islam and misinterpreted and misapplied it, or ignored it altogether. This has been done by adherents of all religions. Why pick on Muslims?
There is a fallacy in supposing that because a person or group is called Muslim, Christian, Buddhist etc., therefore, all their deed must be attributed to the faith which they profess or practice sometimes rather than human weaknesses and perversities. Seekers of truth are not swayed by the misdeeds of others.
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