Interpretation Of Quran And Overall Religion As Per One's Own Understanding
There are a number of narrations that are used by the orthodoxy ( those who claim to be orthodox ) to silence disagreement , esp independent thinking. “The hand of God is over the majority” , “Allah will never unite my ummah upon misguidance” etc but it’s clear they are later fabrications that were forged for social unity at a time when the community was rife with political, theological and legal differences. In a way, this narration was used to standardize the religious discourse. If we examine the groups who claim to be from Ahle Sunnah wal Jamah, each group has serious differences with each other. To give an example, take the religious groups we find in Pakistan. Brelwis, Deobandis and Ahle Hadith ( 3 dominant sects ) each considers the other to be misguided. If they ever unite, it’s to attack a common opponent. Otherwise in reality there’s no entity called Ahle Sunnah wal Jamah. This label has found a place in the hadith literature so it’s convenient to label ones sect with it. You don’t really need any great proof to show there isn’t a standard version of Islam. The religion Islam exists in the minds and deeds of the Muslims. If all the Muslims on the earth disappeared and the people left didn’t care to read the Quran or Islamic literature, the religion would die. Islam isn’t a person, it doesn’t eat, sleep or drink and it certainly doesn’t exist in some abstract ideal detached from community. Islam is the sunlight, the people are the prism and the sects are all the different colors that split and emerge from the prism.