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Walekum-Assalam:

Brother, I don't know if I would qualify under your definition. If you want to know my story, you may read the Thread. However, I do believe I might understand what you are going through. If you want to discuss atheism/agnosticism vs. Islam, I would be happy to do so. Moreover, Brother Nouman Ali Khan, my favorite lecturer on Islam, went through a similar experience to what I underwent, although naturally everybody's journey to Islam is different even if they were born to Islam. Brother, the first and most important thing to realize is that you are not alone in undergoing the struggle of understanding existence, purpose, and the Divine. You are seeking answers, and that to me is the first step to understanding anything about yourself, let alone religion(s). I do not know how much time I would be able to devote to answering questions, therefore I may direct you to better resources than myself depending on how involved and in-depth the answers you may seek are. Also, I want you to please understand that no matter how many questions you may have that others answer, you will yourself be required to involve yourself in deep introspection, reflection, and deep exercises of the intellect because Islam necessarily asks of every knowledge-seeker to take that journey of self-discovery and realization on their own. Moreover, life is a series of steps and missteps, and every misstep can lead you more into a quagmire of the mind which incidentally also confuses the heart. Therefore, both your mind and your heart must be "healthy" and I mean "healthy" to imply "open" because a closed mind is only involved in the process of affirming what it already encompasses to inflate the superiority of the ego and the heart whispers the same affirmation because the ego distinguishes not between truth or falsehood. So, before you even begin, ask yourself how healthy your heart and mind is, because without its health, a person has already failed.