How Islam is interpreted is an important topic in today's world.

We constantly see non-Muslims pointing a finger at Muslim extremists and another finger at a Koranic verse and believe they've made an irrefutable connection between the two.

Let's explore this topic more deeply

My intention is to help both Muslims and non-Muslims appreciate the complexity that comes with interpreting Islam, but to also demystify the process.

Many years ago I asked a Muslim scholar how we can interpret the Koran. He said: The Islamic seminary teaches a 20-year course.

His answer was intended to make the pursuit so overwhelmingly difficult and time-consuming for me that I wouldn't bother trying.

But it's not as complicated as he made it out to be and every Muslim has - to some degree - the ability to interpret Islam on their own.

Let's dig in

If we are to understand Islam, where should we start?

Give it some thought...

Assume you're completely new to the religion and you wish to make sense of it.

There are two likely answers to this question:

1- Read the Koran (Islam's holy book)

2- Ask a Muslim/Muslim scholar

These answers may sound reasonable, but they lead to a great deal of confusion. As we will soon see, there is a way of reading and understanding the Koran, which isn't reading it from cover to cover.

And while Muslims profess adherence to Islam, they're not the best of experts

Lay Muslims have probably been exposed to 5-10% of Islamic literature and teachings, and it's highly likely they've not been taught how to interpret Islam to begin with.

Muslims scholars adhere to different sects and schools of thought. Who will represent Islam?

To be clear: I believe the average Muslim should be equipped with the knowledge to understand Islam on their own, without having to dedicate 20 years of their life for this pursuit.

But as it stands, we must admit that many Muslims are not too knowledgeable about their religion.

Rather than begin with the Koran or with Muslims, I recommend we begin with the beginning of Islam: a man in Mecca claims to be a prophet sent from God.

Do you accept his claim to prophethood or not? What would lead you to accept it and what would cause you to reject it?

This is a fundamental twist on the common approaches to interpreting Islam, but it puts everything in place & helps us avoid intellectual hypocrisy.

Muslims today expect others to be open-minded about religion, yet they don't live up to the same expectations they have of others.

All Muslims should be asking themselves: if I was alive at the Prophet's time, would I have embraced Islam or not? What would I have based my belief on?

Many, many Muslims today begin with the Koran as their starting point to understanding Islam. But that's a false start...

If you wish to honestly review a religion, you can't assume its holy book is true. If you were living in the time of Prophet Muhammad, you don't begin by believing him to be a prophet.

So how do you make the transition? This is where critical thinking is so critical.

With this starting point it becomes obvious that REASON COMES BEFORE REVELATION.

The Koran cannot be the starting point when you need to prove it is divine revelation to begin with.

So how can you prove that? What would lead you to believe in the prophecy of Muhammad?

This is an important scenario to consider and it will reveal many principles of reason we can apply to the understanding of Islam.

Should the prophecy be questioned based on the culture of the time? Most Muslim conservatives today would have rejected Islam for being new

It's very common to hear the expression "this goes against our customs and traditions" within Muslim societies. But this expression is actually un-Islamic. If you were to apply this in the time of Prophet Muhammad you would have rejected his message, not embraced it.

The question (would I have become a Muslim had I lived in the time of the prophet?) is worth exploring. I would like to provide a basic principle to discern between good arguments and bad arguments:

If you wouldn't accept others using it, don't use it.

Simple, but effective.

What does this mean?

- If somebody argues with you based on the authority of their holy scripture, would you accept their argument? No? Then don't quote your scripture as argument.

- What about seeing a vision in a dream?

- What about it going against what you were taught?

For every reason you give yourself to accepting a belief, ask yourself if you would accept the argument from someone else.

Live by the expectations you have of others. That's how you avoid hypocrisy.

And this principle reveals another crucial dimension to understanding Islam...

Muslims expect non-Muslims to be open-minded enough to consider their religion. They expect others to do the research and be honest in reviewing the beliefs they learn about. They even encourage a critical reading of other religions.

But are Muslims doing the same to Islam?

If a Muslim wants a Christian to critique the verses of the Bible, they should be willing to do the same to the Koran.

If a Muslim wants a Christian to question the teachings of their priests and scholars, they should be willing to do the same with the scholars they trust.

The idea "this doesn't apply to us because we're following the true religion" is blatantly false.

The adherents of all religions hold the same conviction in their beliefs. It makes no sense to begin with the assumption you are correct and impose that on others.

Not only that, but Muslims expect the adherents of other sects to question the beliefs and practices they were brought up with, yet they refuse to question their own beliefs and practices.

Again: whatever expectation you have of others, you must first practice it yourself.

This approach leads to continuous course corrections and an ongoing improvement to your method of reasoning. It helps you spot weak and self-serving arguments that only serve in defending your beliefs.

An honest approach to religion leads to an enriching spiritual experience.

Being honest, rational, and critical (in the sense of exploring evidence and arguments on a deeper level, not in finding faults) are all vital prerequisites to understanding Islam.

But what makes up the teachings of Islam for us to study and learn from?

The two primary references in Islam are:

1- The Koran

2- The Hadiths (sayings of Prophet Muhammad)

This doesn't mean they're the only factors shaping our understanding of Islam, and it's important to be honest about other factors at play AND how we interpret these two.

[I reached the limit for the number of tweets I can include in a thread. I'll write Part 2 and append it to this thread. Not sure how many parts this thread will have, but I'll try to make it as simple, practical, and accessible as possible]

To be continued below...

Part 2: https://twitter.com/haideralmosawi/status/1272462181641183233