I am not pointing my finger towards you, just speaking generally here. There are authentic, qualified scholars, who will be happy to answer your questions, without killing you.
Two things. 1) There is no one set rule of qualification. What maybe a qualified scholar to you, might not be to me, because of sects or "leanings" . This is partly what I meant with "bound by books". How many times have you seen a "certified" Theologist who has knowledge of Sunni, Shia Allama, Barelvi, etc sects and other religions and can present different point of views on one topic. Is this type of degree taught in Islamic countries ? Nope. Unfortunately, It is mostly taught in Oxbridge or Ivy League unis.
Let me give you an example; I wanted a degree in microtechnology, thus I read courses such as microbiology, microelectronics, sensors, electromagnetics , etc..and after studying all these, I had to decided on my electives and then present my research paper to 3 professors from different branches. I had to write citations, quotes, read and reference 100s of research papers. Contradicting views and hard penetrating questions were encouraged to, with the correct reasoning, analysis and experimentation to back up my claims.
Now be honest. How many of
our qualified molvis have done such a thing to warrant a status that they hold? I know there might be some really knowledgeable people
but they are only knowledgeable in their own sect and view everything they talk about from a predefined perspective of that they are right and everyone else is wrong,
thus they are afraid of you getting knowledge from other point of views aswell. So science, technology, media, other sects, other religions, anything that is not
them is wronge.
This is in times of Nazi Germany :
Niemöller is perhaps best remembered for the quotation:First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
Please allow me to change this a little bit to
First they came for the non-muslims, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a non muslim.
Then they came for the Muslim minorities, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Muslim minority.
Then they came for the liberals, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a liberal.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me
This is what eventually led to APS Peshawar.
This is the rabbit hole we are all going down in.
If I make a machine which once I feed answers FAQs from different sects and religions, that machine would easily outperform any molvi/mufti.
How is this acceptable?
This is the state of things because asking questions has been always frowned upon in Islam by this mafia (because they dont have answers themselves).
Due to this there has been no new development, old doctrine has been blindly followed and a staunch hardline and primitive approach has led to people
blowing themselves up in the name of religion of peace.
Now researching and properly presenting new ideas doesnt mean you become a kafir or are "destroying our religion".
2 ) Let me write another example, why this way of learning isnt right.
If you move something off center even 1 degree at origin, as you go further down the line that deviation becomes bigger and bigger. I believe that due to this hardline approach, for past 1400 or so years, our religion has deviated from the origin significantly.
This could have be avoided if our preachers thought about correcting themselves and their peers and spoken out loud.
It would've advanced our religion by keeping it close to the principle and core of our religion.
It allows us to expand our understanding of our religion, it wouldve been better for the religion of Islam.
We shouldve not been still stuck between answering most basic of questions.
We cant even solve why are there so many sects with huge followings.
This is why I dont blame Islam, because we have been on the never-correcting trajectory for so long, that we dont know what Islam is.
Man I have always liked you but this is something I think I should point out :
Well everyone has their own beliefs and what not, we cannot say which version or sect of islam is authentic.
And who is to blame for that ? I blame the so called "teachers"
I only follow a more tolerant "salafi" style path, though i am against sects and call myself a muslim only.
That is a contradiction in itself. What led you down this path? Did you ask all your questions to aalims of hanafis sunnis, shias, barelvis, liberal sunnis, even nonmuslims, etc?
Do an experiment.
Take a question. Any decent question. And go talk to ALL the Aalims of every major sect (5 or 6 in Pakistan) and (if you can find one)qualified theologist aswell..and ask them for concrete proof for what they say. Ask them to show you in the book and question them on the lineage of the person who narrated what they said. And just observe what they have to say.
And talking to these people is very hard as they do not understand islam and are very rude to talk to. The gist of it all is that they look at islam and see the final chapter and do not realize the 10 chapters before it and make an astoundingly ignorant judgement, which their ego will never realize. They would talk of the punishments and rules without knowing anything about the basics of islam.
Is this not
EXACTLY what liberals or minority muslims would say about other sects? Who is to blame for this confusion?
I can explain this point forever..I have said all I wanted to say.
Please take care of yourself.