Islam According to Some Muslims

No, Islam calls on Muslims to build a civilization, to earn wealth in a lawful manner, to be the most knowledgeable in every field of knowledge, and the wisest of scholars. To enjoy the good things in life so long as they are permissible.¹

— Ali Al-Tantawi

A sign say on the other side of a valley reads: Islam, Take the Leap. Two people on the other side. Captions reads: It looks like a trap.

After reading the Koran I decided to also read some books written by authors who are Muslims and see the Koran as the holy word of God (Allah) and Muhammad as his prophet.

I was interested in a couple of things:

How they presented Islam to the general reader
If they attempted to explain the difficulties that many in the West have with Islam as practiced around the world.

On Amazon I looked for introductory books with high ratings and authors who were educated Muslims. I decided upon these two to begin with:

A Brief Introduction to Islam by Jamaal Diwan
In part here’s what the book says about the author:
“Jamaal Diwan received a Bachelor’s Degree in Third World Studies from the University of California, San Diego in 2005. He then traveled to Egypt where he spent the next 6 years studying Arabic and Islamic Studies. In 2012 he completed a law degree in Sharia from al-Azhar University in Cairo. While in Egypt he also began an MA program in Islamic Studies at the American University in Cairo but was not able to complete it due to the revolution in 2011. He is a regular speaker at local universities on issues pertaining to Islam and Muslims in America and some of his writings have been published in the OC Register and other newspapers.”²
A Critical Introduction To Islam: The Purpose Of Life by Ali Al-Tantawi
In part here’s what the book says about the author:
“Ali Al-Tantawi (1909-1999) was educated in Damascus University, graduating in 1932 with a law degree. Al-Tantawi combined formal education with private learning under renowned Syrian Islamic and Arabic language scholars. Shaikh Al-Tantawi served as a teacher in different parts of Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon before joining the Judiciary system in Syria, and was involved in formulating family laws during the unity between Egypt and Syria.”³

Neither of these books are academic in nature. They are introductions meant mainly to give a general idea of what is required to be a Muslim and what Islam is. There’s nothing in either of the books that addresses the issues that so many of us (considered unbelievers, kafirs, infidels) are concerned about: Islamic terrorism, invasion of countries by Muslims, refusal to assimilate into host cultures, sharia law and general life in Islam majority countries among many other things.

These books are about general behavior expected in Islam: prayers, life style, what to believe about the Qur’an and Muhammad and, especially in the second book, advice on how to live a good, moral and meaningful life as a Muslim, some of it good advice for anyone. They also cover forgiveness, patience, requirements to be a Muslim and much more. There’s nothing in these books that would make a reader, at least a reader somewhat familiar with religions, surprised. For example here are a few quotes from Al-Tantawi’s book:

The truth about humans is that we possess the potential for both good and evil. God has given us both paths and endowed us with reason to distinguish between them, along with will power and faith to choose one over the other.⁴
And so many people go through life on autopilot, never pausing to ask the most important question
What is all this for? And Who am I, really?⁵
Faith and action are inseparable; sincere belief naturally leads to good deeds and unwavering commitment.⁶

Any Muslim practicing their religion peacefully as prescribed in these books would be no danger to society except for the possibility of becoming, what some call, “a radicalized Muslim.”

Neither book mentions “Islamophobia” and only the first, published in 2014, mentions that there is a lot “misinformation” about Islam, though Diwan gives no details about what the “misinformation” is.

There is no shortage of misinformation around the beliefs of Islam and Muslims. Some misinformation is intentional and some unintentional, some propagated by Muslims themselves and some by those who do not subscribe to the teachings of Islam.⁷

After reading these books what I really wanted to find were some Muslim writers addressing some of the hard issues in Islam: punishments in Islamic states, honor killing, child marriages, killing of unbelievers (i.e. infidels) and apostates, invasions of other countries, attitudes toward unbelievers and more.

Alice in Islamicland: Of with her to the marriage ceremony! No! I will not marry and old geezer. You marry him.

The first book I found was Refutation of the Alleged Contradictions in the Qur’an Resolving Alleged Contradictions – An Unveiling of the Critics’ Delusions by Timurlenk Chekovikj. I read very little of it. The “contradictions” were things that were not important whether true or not. For example:

What will be the food in hell?
Was the Sky or the Earth created first?
Was Pharaoh Drowned or Saved?
Can Allah have a Son if He Wants?
How Ants Can Talk to Each Other?

These types of questions reminded me of something like “How many angels can dance on the head of pin?” or a recent Evangelical newsletter that asked, “Will heaven be the same for everybody?”

There were two questions in the book that interested me.

The first was “Punishment for Adultery?” The apparent controversy is what the punishment for adultery should be as four are listed in the Koran. Chekovikj’s answer is that they are all appropriate (confining women, punishment for sin (what that is, is not discussed), flogging, stoning) depending on the situation. He calls it “gradual revelation.”⁸ What I found interesting is that Chekovikj has no issues with flogging or stoning.

The other chapter I looked at was on abrogation. In Islam abrogation is when later texts in Koran supersede earlier texts that are different. As Chekovikj puts it: “nullifes or replaces.”⁹ Chekovikj argues there are no real contradictions just “different stages and circumstances.”¹⁰

A.C. Rosenthal, in his book The Two Muhammads, writes this about abrogation:

This logic is not accidental. It is codified. The Qur’an states explicitly:
“And for whatever verse We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring a better or the like of it. Knowest thou not that God is powerful over everything?” (Qur’an 2:106, Arberry)
The verse does more than explain sequence; it authorizes irreversibility. Replacement is framed not as correction, but as improvement. Once a later instruction is given, the earlier one no longer carries operative authority. The system does not preserve both options for reconsideration. It moves forward and closes behind itself.¹¹

The last book I read was Apostate – Murtad and his punishment in Islam Let the verdict of the Holy Quran prevail. ‘Let there be no compulsion in religion’, the Holy Quran by Dr Shabir Ahmed Choudhry. Wikipedia says this about the author:

Shabir Choudhry is a British national and a Kashmiri leader, rights and peace activist, politician, academician and writer….He went to United Kingdom in 1966 where he continues his struggle against forces of occupation, terrorism, extremism and religious intolerance in Azad Kashmir and Kashmir….He is a British national as well as a Pakistani/Kashmiri national.¹²

Choudhry is clearly opposed to his fellow Muslims who believe apostasy (leaving Islam) requires a death sentence. He uses the Koran to prove it. He believes there should be “no compulsion in religion.” This phrase comes from Koran 2:256:

There shall be no compulsion in religion. True guidance is now distinct from error. He that renounces idol-worship and believes in God shall grasp a firm handle that will never break. God hears all and knows all.¹³

He realizes what he’s about to present will be controversial:

This topic is very essential, but it is also highly contentious and could possibly lead to trouble and even murder of some innocent people.¹⁴

In Islam it can be a death sentence to question something, to disagree with Muslims who do not read the Koran as Choudhry does. With the question he’s addressing, should apostates be killed, he admits that

the majority of Islamic scholars are of the view that an apostate, murtad, must be killed. Also, they agree that Zandeeq, an apostate who abandoned Islam but has hidden that, must be killed.¹⁵

Choudhry, who confesses he is not an Islamic scholar, nonetheless as a rational, civilized human being knows this is not right. My impression is that he’s a man who wants to keep his religion, who wants to continue in the traditions he’s been raised with, but he cannot understand why anyone would think it is right to kill someone who is exercising their right as a human being to believe or not believe what they want.

He quotes many verses from the Koran and passages from the Hadith that espouse tolerance and the mercy of God.

“Worship God, and ascribe no partners to Him, and be good to the parents, and the relatives, and the orphans, and the poor, and the neighbour next door, and the distant neighbour, and the close associate, and the traveller, and your servants. God does not love the arrogant show-off.”¹⁶
“Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, should not hurt his neighbour, and whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, should serve his guest generously and whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, should speak what is good or keep silent.”¹⁷

He did not quote some of the most problematic passages Islamic critics often cite. I would assume he knows about them? I don’t know. To have his viewpoint he’d have to do exactly what he is doing: choose the best verses, ones that make sense to live by and simply ignore the others, interpret them metaphorically or deny abrogation.

There must be a reason that most Islamic scholars believe apostates must be killed: maybe most of them think that’s what the Qur’an says? There are many verses that appear to back this up, probably the most famous one being:

Remember when God revealed His will to the angels: ‘I am with you; so give courage to the believers. I shall cast terror into the hearts of the infidels. Strike off their heads, strike off the very tips of their fingers!’ — Quran 8:12

And this from the Hadith:

Allah’s Apostle said, “The blood of a Muslim who confesses that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that I am His Apostle, cannot be shed except in three cases: In Qisas for murder, a married person who commits illegal sexual intercourse and the one who reverts from Islam (apostate) and leaves the Muslims.” — Hadith 9.83.17 (6878) ¹⁸

My post on my reading of the Koran received far more comments than I’ve ever received on any post. Included in those were many, many Islamic trolls. Most of them most likely were bots or A.I.’s or just some paid interns sitting in front of a bank of phones pasting replies to us infidels.

Sometimes I look at a comment and then go to the profile of the commenter. Many of them are new accounts, with little activity, but sometimes they appear to be real human beings. One such commenter was Stars. The only comment Stars made on my post was this:

christcuck apologetic slop.

Why I chose to look at this profile after that comment will no doubt baffle most of you and if I could explain it I would, but I have no insight on that decision.

Unexpectedly I found some comments by Stars conversing with another Muslim. Stars, who because of the name I want to think of as female, I’m assuming is most likely a male or possibly an AI or a bot. The discussion was about integrating into Western cultures, something Stars is completely against. Stars wrote:

The path forward can be seen more clearly as the opposite of whatever this is. Allah says in the Quran says “Fighting has been made obligatory upon you believers, though you dislike it. Perhaps you dislike something which is good for you and like something which is bad for you. Allah knows and you do not know.” Humiliation and defeat are symptoms of leaving fighting, not engaging in it.[emphasis mine]

After defending “fighting” (think Jihad) a little later Stars wrote:

The bottom line is that the more Muslims integrate with this system, the more the System can punish the Muslims, and the harder it is for doers to free themselves from it. And the more Muslims de-integrate from it, the weaker it gets, and the easier it is for doers to carve out real Muslim sovereignty and ascend to domination.[emphasis mine]
Al-Baqarah (2:155)
“We will certainly test you with a touch of fear and famine and loss of property, life, and crops. Give good news to those who patiently endure”
The fact that fighting may result in the hardships described in the Ayah above, does not mean it is the wrong choice. Allah knows and we do not.¹⁹

This is the kind of discussion that orthodox Muslims would prefer unbelievers not hear until Islam is in power. You don’t see anything like this in the comments on my Koran post. If they’re not insulting me or other commenters, the intent is to soften Islam, to pretend that it is no different than any other religion (it’s hardly a religion), no different than anything Westerners believe.

But it is different. It is way different. And it’s a problem.

Stars is advocating violence, “fighting,” that is, Jihad, physical Jihad to achieve Islamic “dominance.”

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Heads decapitated on table in from of a Muslim reading: Their end justifies our means. One head says, At least he got our pronoun right....another head says....and we're not Islamophobic.

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Notes

Al-Tantawi, Ali. A Critical Introduction To Islam: The Purpose Of Life, Kindle Edition. p. 8.
Diwan, Jamaal. A Brief Introduction to Islam, Kindle Edition. p. 4.
Al-Tantawi, Ali. A Critical Introduction To Islam: The Purpose Of Life, Introductory page.
Ibid. p. 5.
Ibid. p.31.
Ibid. p. 43.
Diwan, Jamaal. A Brief Introduction to Islam, p. 6.
Chekovikj, Timurlenk. Refutation of the Alleged Contradictions in the Qur'an: Resolving Alleged Contradictions - An Unveiling of the Critics' Delusions, Kindle Edition, p. 22.
Ibid. p. 16.
Ibid. p. 17.
Rosenthal, A. C., THE TWO MUHAMMADS: What History and Manuscripts Reveal About the Islamic Dilemma, Kindle Edition. p. 58.
Wikipedia contributors. (2026, May 24). Shabir Choudhry. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 00:41, June 4, 2026, Source
Dawood, N.J.. The Koran Penguin Classics, Kindle Edition. p. 28.
Choudhry, Dr Shabir Ahmed. Apostate - Murtad and his punishment in Islam: Let the verdict of the Holy Quran prevail. ‘Let there be no compulsion in religion’, the Holy Quran., Kindle Edition. pp. 2-3.
Ibid. p. 28.
Ibid. p. 16. (This is Koran 4:36)
Ibid. p. 17. (Sahih -al Bukhari, 6136. Book 78 Hadees 163)
Muhammad alBukhari. The Hadith, Kindle Edition. p. 2434
Stars, "Substack Notes," May 7, 2026, Source