In all honesty, ElRafa, you don't come across to me as being very different from most of us who identify here as "ex-Muslim." You've had the opportunity to think and conclude for yourself, in an environment free from threats, intimidation, or (metaphorical) insistences that you should be eternally tortured for disagreeing. That's really what it's all about at the end of the day.
We're talking about a man who lived in a culture over a thousand years ago whose reality we will simply never appreciate or know, no matter how much we read in books or debate online.
We're talking about a god that, empirically at least, has been MIA for ages, since illiterate shepherds last saw him do his best tricks in a patch of dessert eons ago.
We're talking about the world of imagination. The world of belief. The world of conjecture. The world of faith. It's a world that only exists in a retreat that you've created for it in your own mind. Whatever you choose to believe in that space should be entirely up to you.
I wish more ex-Muslims and progressive Muslims would recognize this and recognize how much we actually share in common. To quote a wise Abyssinian king, the difference between you and us is as thin as a line.
What you are saying is absolutely true. I don't like the term progressive/ regressive personally, rather i prefer, free thinking or open minded as opposed to narrow, ignorant and arrogant.
Just because i've met some inspirational sheikhs and teachers who were open minded and tolerant but themselves conservative
Free thinking believers and free thinking ex muslims are very similar indeed. Look at people like Irshad Manji, Maajid Nawaz. Never renounced their faith but openly and highly critical of Islam. Our community hate them more than they hate critics from the outside. Whilst their largest fan base is found amongst neo-conservative critics of Islam. I think the way some muslim communities treat critical thinkers is abysmal, and the fact that we shun and silence the voices we disagree with, abhorrent. Of course as a believer, Its distressing to see people renounce faith, but whilst the Salafis are in their dungeons musing about how horrible your eternal punishments gonna be, I'm wishing you guys could be invited back into the community so that you may have a voice.
I guess at the end of the day, I may disagree with what you have to say, but you should at least have the chance to say it.
The problem is not disagreement, rather it's the inability of some muslims to tolerate it.
Of course its all a matter of faith, and i cling tight to mine because i'm certain it helps me to be a better person. It instills in me a social conscience, gives me a sense of purpose, community, identity and helps me to subjugate my imperfections through reminders such as Salat, with the ultimate aim of becoming a balanced, just and respectful person. The Qur'an says exactly this:
"O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous" Al Baqqara :21
More tolerant and respectful voices will be empowered within our ummah in the future Inshallah,
On a personal note, I really wish you guys still classified as Muslims, you guys could really do lots in terms of showing the world we aren't all backwards, and that we are as diverse and nuanced as the western world.
Topic: Is islam compatible with modern human rights?