A friend asked me an important question: "If we accept Quran is fallible; then what religion are we following? Is there a valid religion at all if we all are thinking it doesn't really matter? Why weigh myself down with all these restrictions. Might as well just enjoy my short life?"My reply: Islam is far more than the Qur'an & Sunna. Islam like any major religion is the amassed wisdom, practice and beliefs of millions of believers over many centuries. Religion at it's most fundamental is man reaching out to the unknown. It is a way of seeking comfort, solace, strength, and meaning in a harsh and often cruel world where man finds himself alone and vulnerable. It is not a replacement for reason but an aid to help us get by.
Look at most believers of Islam - or indeed any religion - the vast majority don't even know what their "Holy Texts" say!! They know little or nothing about the intricacies of theology. For them Islam is what their mother and father taught them. The nice, loving and universal elements. Giving charity, helping others, seeking comfort and strength from prayer, sharing in festivals and celebrations. This is Islam for the ordinary man.
The hard-line literalists of today want to undermine and destroy this Islam. They want to reduce Islam to the ancient texts and strip away any semblance of progress, human reason and humanity. They want to strip Islam of the very thing that has made religion relevant to human beings - something to help us along life's rocky road. A way to reach out and seek help, comfort and connection to the unknown. They want to take away its ability to change and develop with time. They want to take us back 1400 years in time to a context and place that has no relevance to us in the 21st century & reduce Islam to a list of Aqeedas and Hudood punishments. That is not what religion is about.
Islam (and religion) at it's best should be about being a good human being. About showing love, empathy and charity to others. About seeking strength and comfort through prayer and community. About reaching out to the unknown and seeking a little help to get us by in a difficult world.
That is what Islam is for the ordinary man and that is what we need to wrestle back from the literalists who are in fact the ones destroying Islam.
You can enjoy your life. You should never be weighed down by ancient rules and regulations. Realising the Qur'an is a fallible human work will not destroy Islam. It will destroy the literalists. For the rest of us it will free us and free our reason so we can take what is useful and helpful from religion and ignore what is not. Not everyone feels the need to reach out to an invisible God for comfort and solace, but very many do. That is what religion is for. It should not replace the mind God gave us and turn us into heartless robots or murderous psychopaths. That is not Islam. That is not religion.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/872095636170933/
Topic: More Agnostic Muslim Ramblings :D