Reddit mentions of Vision of Islam (Visions of Reality)

I am in a similar boat to you and trying to connect back to Islam coming from an irreligious Westernized liberal Muslim household. My approach is to learn from the lessons of early Islam and how it was gradually adopted by the early Muslims. They focused on the core principles and basics and then gradually adopted more practices. The challenge for new converts or reverts is that it feels that you are literally drinking from a fire hose of things you need to memorize and practice and made to feel guilty for not observing this ritual or the next.

One of the most helpful books on Islam that I have run across is William Chittick's Vision of Islam which provides an excellent overview of the religion's vision for humanity and society. Chittick describes Islam in a way that none of the modern Muslim writers have been able to do who all seem lost in the weeds of rituals, rules and regulations, fear of punishment. https://www.amazon.com/Vision-Visions-Reality-Sachiko-Murata/dp/1557785163/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=vision+of+islam&qid=1570902335&sr=8-1

It gave me a perspective that was more holistic that allowed me to put the big picture into context. My objective is to get the basics of the core beliefs right and the core basic rituals before worrying about the rest. The essence of a man's faith and spiritual path is the inner belief and connection between you (God's creation) and God (the Creator).

I spent my life essentially outside the faith and I am not going to feel guilty that I am not doing enough on my journey back to reconnecting with God. I really don't care what other people or Muslims think of me because their opinions are entirely irrelevant since God is the only judge. I have also learnt that there is nothing that anyone can do in this life to earn enough points or blessings to make it into heaven...even the most devout will be deficient in their deeds and will have to depend on God's mercy. What is important is your personal core belief in the oneness of God (First Commandment) and your personal spiritual connection to God which is developed through prayer and meditation.

Keep it simple. Focus on your connection to God. Don't feel guilty about taking your time to walk your path.

So I had a similar though not exact issue. My problem is my defection was the result of a great deal of biased anti religious literature. To give it a bit more of a fair chance I looked around for pro/neutral to islam books (not just Quranic but around the theology and myth) and found a couple of interesting ones (that have yet to change my mind back):

The first, a bit heavy on rhetoric and logical leaps is: A young Muslims guide to the Modern world

Second interesting but haven't fully gone into yet is Humanism in Islam

*One thats been recommended as dry and information heavy is Vision of Islam (Visions of Reality). This is one I'm going to read into next as it looks promising.

I realise this isn't specifically Quran based but hope it helps.

But do you see the key distinction?

The difference between massacring and executing? Muhammad didn't "rape" anybody (even by today's standards). Take a look at the Hadiths according to Aisha. Do you think if a woman were raped especially one of her age would be in any right state of mind to be talking about what Muhammad did in his personal life?

Moderate Muslims should be able to do whatever they want. But they need to take a really hard look at themselves and adopt the true practices of Muhammad: like greeting strangers with a smile, visiting people who literally lay thorns in his path, praying 5 times a day, speaking kindly to/of people. Point is, if Muslims actually followed the tradition of Muhammad accordingly, there would be no such thing as "moderate" or "extremist" Muslim, they'd just be Muslim. Nobody's holding a gun to anybody's head telling them to marry someone the age of Aisha. Likewise, nobody should be holding a gun/legislation to anybody's head telling them to not practice their faith (so long as it doesn't violate federal laws).

Any Muslim worth their salt will recognize that the true teachings of Islam aren't to practice their faith by the sword (or AK...or C4). Islam places much more emphasis on the soul and the relationship to God.

If you're interested, you should read Vision of Islam by William Chittick and Sachiko Murata. I took a course taught by him at my University. It's a really nice break down of the core of the Islamic faith and talks about the political movements of the 19th and 20th centuries that's led to the warped interpretation of the religion by Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

PM me for PDFs of his other works. I'm not an expert on this but I would definitely like to talk more.

You need to discover the real spiritual Islam to get a better perspective. Unfortunately this is so carefully hidden from most Muslims that they don't even know it exists. A good book that I found very helpful in understanding the big picture was The Vision of Islam, by William Chittick. Brilliant book that provides a macro perspective on Islam's vision for human society. It was developed as a textbook at SUNY for an Islamic Studies course.

https://www.amazon.com/Vision-Visions-Reality-Sachiko-Murata/dp/1557785163

This is very sound advice. The Qur'an is somewhat "deep"—after all, it's humanity's last message. As such, reading it as you would a novel—without reflection, without investigating the time and place of the particular part of the message's revelation—will probably bear few fruit, and may turn you away from it instead.

A book I cannot recommend highly enough is The Vision of Islam. It provides a great, Qur'an-backed investigation of Islam and its three "modes" of practice—islam, iman, ihsan (submission, faith, beauty). It really opened up my mind to the depth of Islam and the Qur'an.

May Allah guide us all.

i'm sorry...but Muslims are not what you are describing...please [everyone] read about islam first and then judge ! [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1557785163/qid=1141978986/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1?v=glance&s=books]