Reddit mentions of Islam and the Destiny of Man

I had a similar experience and found two books by Gai Eaton to be truly transformative to my understanding and also faith: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0946621845/ref=mp_s_a_1_sc_2?qid=1465289838&sr=8-2-spell&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=remembrring+god

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0946621470/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1465289866&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=islam+and+the+destiny+of+man&dpPl=1&dpID=61JR91V8FEL&ref=plSrch

"Islam and the destiny of man" is something I think absolutely every Muslim should read as a beautifully written view of both the Islamic outlook and Islamic history in an easy to read, compelling mentally stimulating way.

As an aside, like everything in life, experiences are significantly "flavoured" by the filters and beliefs of the observer. What you bring to the Quran in terms of where you are mentally and your doubts and beliefs and experiences generally will naturally bring focus particularly to those areas with which you find "problems" or difficulty. That's natural of course. It just shows that it's likely that your worldview and view of Islam as a religious tradition has (understandably) become tainted by your particular experiences and so the reason I recommend the above books is so that hopefully you can gain or regain or refresh(!) a much more balanced and healthy perspective. We're living in a world that is extremely hostile to Islam as a worldview and way of living in what ends up often being an overhwelming experience of being pushed further and further into a corner. It's not easy. We're not necessarily physically brutalised (in the West especially) as we historically were but we're psychologically brutalised in the sense that we're repeatedly forced to deal with relentless and daily attacks on the Islamic worldview and are mostly (endlessly) presented with a grotesque and twisted representation of how (some) non-believers (and misguided Muslims) view Islam and the effects of that in a visual and visceral way that embeds in the mind. This is extremely effective at breaking down a sense of certainty and its my belief that this is precisely the goal. Those books if you do read them will bring insha Allah some sense of stillness and clarity to you and from there you can of course continue seeking answers to the questions you have if they aren't by then answered.

One more thing: I think its absolutely crucial for you (and us all) to get right down to the point of it all: What/who is Allah? How does he or does he interact with my life? Where is Allah? These questions are glossed over by many people. And those who answer them usually give pre-baked unsatisfactory answers. Glossing them over provides shaky ground for understanding and faith. Think deeply about them and i recommend setting aside for a while reading the Quran in a linear way. I'd more recommend researching the Quran in the light of understanding context and meaning.

May Allah guide you to an awareness and feeling of His prescence in your life (He's much closer than you think which is key! - the Quran alludes to this) and may Allah bless you and all of us with Love and a warm nourishing hug to the heart this Ramadan insha Allah.

If you have any questions about what I've said please feel free to ask.

Salaams!