However you have to get some fundamental approaches right, else it will veer you into chaos.
For once you should understand that it is not possible to justify or make compatible between themselves all the interpretations available in religion. That is because religion is religion, and not science.
As Muslims, we are bound to comprehensively justify only the Quran, as it is considered the verbatim word of God, and not the fatwas of all the scholars and half-scholars around, and not even all the “sahih” Hadiths. It has been widely acknowledged that there are questionable inclusions even in the Hadith collections of Bukhari and Muslim.
However this is not to underplay the importance of hadiths. Hadiths can be compared to history, which is inevitably contaminated with a bit of spurious narrations and unfair interpretations, but the importance of which cannot be overestimated. Moreover Hadiths stand out in the unparalleled way they have been preserved and compiled, considering that moral teaching are highly susceptible to adulteration.
So it is only possible to deduce general principles and make general observations, supported by Quran and the life examples of prophet Muhammad, rather than try to justify every interpretation and reports that you come across.
For example in the case of approving free will for human beings, you will find very sublime concepts in Quran (There is no single verse in the Qur'an that prescribes an earthly punishment for apostasy - I don’t know which verse in Taubah you are referring to). However you may find it difficult to make all the Hadiths and their scholarly interpretations compatible with this approach. So your only option is to follow the Quran and related interpretations.
This is not just the case of apostasy, but applies to almost everything – including segregation of Men and woman. You may note that Men and women pray together intermingled, without any segregation, at Kaaba during Hajj. Moreover women used to take part even in war during Prophet’s time. So you should learn to avoid any interpretation that appeals contrary to them.
If you want more discussions you can mail me at anonyalkult-at- yahoo.com.
Dear i-moody
Even though I am not a scholar of Islam myself, still I feel obliged to help you out in the way I can since you describes yourselves as "lost".
I don’t want to lecture on Islam’s verdict on apostasy, as it is better you look up scholarly references, say
"http://www.islamonline.net/English/contemporary/2006/04/article01.shtml"
However you have to get some fundamental approaches right, else it will veer you into chaos.
For once you should understand that it is not possible to justify or make compatible between themselves all the interpretations available in religion. That is because religion is religion, and not science.
As Muslims, we are bound to comprehensively justify only the Quran, as it is considered the verbatim word of God, and not the fatwas of all the scholars and half-scholars around, and not even all the “sahih” Hadiths. It has been widely acknowledged that there are questionable inclusions even in the Hadith collections of Bukhari and Muslim.
However this is not to underplay the importance of hadiths. Hadiths can be compared to history, which is inevitably contaminated with a bit of spurious narrations and unfair interpretations, but the importance of which cannot be overestimated. Moreover Hadiths stand out in the unparalleled way they have been preserved and compiled, considering that moral teaching are highly susceptible to adulteration.
So it is only possible to deduce general principles and make general observations, supported by Quran and the life examples of prophet Muhammad, rather than try to justify every interpretation and reports that you come across.
For example in the case of approving free will for human beings, you will find very sublime concepts in Quran (There is no single verse in the Qur'an that prescribes an earthly punishment for apostasy - I don’t know which verse in Taubah you are referring to). However you may find it difficult to make all the Hadiths and their scholarly interpretations compatible with this approach. So your only option is to follow the Quran and related interpretations.
This is not just the case of apostasy, but applies to almost everything – including segregation of Men and woman. You may note that Men and women pray together intermingled, without any segregation, at Kaaba during Hajj. Moreover women used to take part even in war during Prophet’s time. So you should learn to avoid any interpretation that appeals contrary to them.
If you want more discussions you can mail me at anonyalkult-at- yahoo.com.