DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - Human Evolution and Islam, confused and worried.

**Michmant** · 04-15-2012, 02:22 AM

I am constantly trying to learn; I believe in using reason and intellect to understand the world around me. Moreover, I was very close to becoming a Muslim. Two things deterred me from it: (1) the death penalty for apostacy and (2) the irrationalities - to me anyway - in hadith (I've only read the Quran and half of Bukhari). I took a week "vacation" and thought about Islam and my life and purpose, and ultimately - for now anyway - decided to remain non-Muslim.

I wish I was paid by the hour for being on Sunniforum. That said, I read most of the threads here (some of the topic just don't make any sense to me because I simply don't have the background knowledge to understand) and still think with an open mind.

Regards,

-Jason

Reading half of a literal translation of Bukhari without learning anything about how to study hadith (using your reason/intellect) probably removes things from your understanding rather than bring new things into your understanding.

If you give Islam another shot, apply reason/intellect to it too (such as realizing understanding a 1300 year old tradition will take a bit of time). I would recommend reading the Ma'ariful Qur'an commentary which is one of the best English-language books on the subject. The hadith literature in English is scanty but there are translations being done. Learning Arabic would probably make things much quicker (so you don't have to wait for translations).

04-15-2012, 02:22 AM	#32
Michmant Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 503 Senior Member	I am constantly trying to learn; I believe in using reason and intellect to understand the world around me. Moreover, I was very close to becoming a Muslim. Two things deterred me from it: (1) the death penalty for apostacy and (2) the irrationalities - to me anyway - in hadith (I've only read the Quran and half of Bukhari). I took a week "vacation" and thought about Islam and my life and purpose, and ultimately - for now anyway - decided to remain non-Muslim. I wish I was paid by the hour for being on Sunniforum. That said, I read most of the threads here (some of the topic just don't make any sense to me because I simply don't have the background knowledge to understand) and still think with an open mind. Regards, -Jason Reading half of a literal translation of Bukhari without learning anything about how to study hadith (using your reason/intellect) probably removes things from your understanding rather than bring new things into your understanding. If you give Islam another shot, apply reason/intellect to it too (such as realizing understanding a 1300 year old tradition will take a bit of time). I would recommend reading the Ma'ariful Qur'an commentary which is one of the best English-language books on the subject. The hadith literature in English is scanty but there are translations being done. Learning Arabic would probably make things much quicker (so you don't have to wait for translations).
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