I guess it depends on whether one views the Qur'an as a document of directives or a document to provoke change; do you follow the spirit of the book or to the letter? is Islam viewed as an evolving civilisation or one stuck in time?
Just wanted to point out that the questions you raise were discussed extensively by the poet/philosopher
Muhammad Iqbal in a series of lectures known collectively as
The Reconstruction of Religious Thought.
The following are excerpts from the sixth lecture,
The Principle of Movement in the Structure of Islam.
Iqbal dedicated his life to the spiritual and temporal revival of Muslim civilization. He argued that Islamic law was initially and inherently quite dynamic.
The only alternative open to us, then, is to tear off from Islam the hard crust which has immobilized an essentially dynamic outlook on life, and to rediscover the original verities of freedom, equality, and solidarity with a view to rebuild our moral, social, and political ideals out of their original simplicity and universality. Such are the views of the Grand Vizier of Turkey. You will see that following a line of thought more in tune with the spirit of Islam, he reaches practically the same conclusion as the Nationalist Party, that is to say, the freedom of Ijtihad with a view to rebuild the laws of Shari'ah in the light of modern thought and experience.
And convinced himself it was also capable of evolution.
The question which confronts him today, and which is likely to confront other Muslim countries in the near future is whether the Law of Islam is capable of evolution - a question which will require great intellectual effort, and is sure to be answered in the affirmative, provided the world of Islam approaches it in the spirit of 'Umar - the first critical and independent mind in Islam who, at the last moments of the Prophet, had the moral courage to utter these remarkable words: The Book of God is sufficient for us.
He took a heretical stand when it came to re-interpreting the Quran for the modern era.
The primary source of the Law of Islam is the Qur'an. The Qur'an, however, is not a legal code. Its main purpose, as I have said before, is to awaken in man the higher consciousness of his relation with God and the universe. No doubt, the Qur'an does lay down a few general principles and rules of a legal nature, especially relating to the family - the ultimate basis of social life... The important point to note in this connexion, however, is the dynamic outlook of the Qur'an.
And even suggested it would be best if Muslim scholars simply ignored some of the more unsavory hadith as no longer relevant.
[About Hadith] we must distinguish traditions of a purely legal import from those which are of a non-legal character. With regard to the former, there arises a very important question as to how far they embody the pre-Islamic usages of Arabia which were in some cases left intact, and in others modified by the Prophet.
He comes pretty close to making the same suggestion about Quranic injunctions, but stops himself.
Can the Ijma' repeal the Qur'an? ... There is not the slightest justification for such a statement in the legal literature of Islam. Not even a tradition of the Prophet can have any such effect.
However he offers an unequivocal endorsement of progressive Muslims and their efforts to reform Islam.
The claim of the present generation of Muslim liberals to reinterpret the foundational legal principles, in the light of their own experience and the altered conditions of modern life is, in my opinion, perfectly justified. The teaching of the Qur'an that life is a process of progressive creation necessitates that each generation, guided but unhampered by the work of its predecessors, should be permitted to solve its own problems.
And even predicts the resistance they would likely encounter.
Unfortunately, the conservative Muslim public of this country is not yet quite ready for a critical discussion of Fiqh, which, if undertaken, is likely to displease most people, and raise sectarian controversies.
Granted, Iqbal was not even close to being a classically trained scholar and affirmed that by his own admission, but if someone of his stature could get away with such heterodoxy, then there's reason to have hope.
Frankly I'm somewhat surprised that Pakistani ulema haven't condemned him for holding opinions that many would consider to be kufr. But then again, Iqbal with his hagiographic approach to medieval Islamic history and skepticism towards secular democracy, has been quite useful to the country's religious right-wing in establishing a reactionary Islamic state.
Topic: Council of Ex-Muslims CANADA?