I'm happy for anyone to call BS on the whole thing.
I tried to do that but wasn't totally at ease - maybe I've just been Muslim for too long.
I'm sure you youngsters will have better luck on just turning you back on it.
I just feel both that I'm happier dealing with it this way - and also happier that doing this may offer a lifeline to those who also struggle to just walk away.
I get what you are saying. And what you are doing, honestly. And why you are doing it. It is primarily a personal thing and I think each of us has to find what works for them specifically. What I appreciate most about this Khutbah is the personal honesty.
For me, as I read through the Qur’an these days, the threats of torture and hell seem much more like the empty threats of someone consciously grasping at ways to control people. It seems manic at times. It’s honestly my biggest obstacle in the way of reconciling or reclaiming any part of Islam with my day to day life. Just as I begin to find the Qur’an beautiful or inspiring or whatever, it starts with the threats of hell. And not in any sort of abstract or easily dismissed way, either. “And if you could only see when they are made to stand above the fire: ‘is this not the truth’!” “The day they will be pushed into the fire of hell with a violent push. This is the fire that you used to deny! Enter into it, have patience or do not have patience, it is the same for you either way, you shall be recompensed for that which you used to do!” And so on, ad nauseam.
I know that you are familiar with these verses and I get how you have dealt with them, but for me, it is as though they stand in the way of even beginning to dismiss those ideas in an honest way that I could personally accept. And ultimately, they can draw you in to their manipulation if you think about them too much.
Sometimes, I personally find it easier to accept that the gods of men are their own creation and reflect their own understandings, morals, goals, and desires. As I stated earlier, those gods certainly do inspire men to do all sorts of things – great things, but as they are entirely relative to the man, they are also indicative of their state of mind. That mind that encouraged people to feed the poor, free the slaves, have patience, and work together towards truth certainly had some good in it. But that mind that threated his family, countrymen, wives, and fellow humans with grotesque torture – simply for not agreeing – was deeply, deeply disturbed. That is why I struggle to call myself a follower of Muhammad, even if I sometimes find myself wanting to.
It’s disappointing. And perhaps I’d find more peace if I could reconcile it all. But I can’t offer the Qur’an any excuses on hell.
Topic: Khutbah about Hell