Neo-Muslim (neomuslim)

If I claim to be a surgeon because my father was a surgeon, am I sane or insane? If I argue to be a dentist because my mother was a dentist, am I right or wrong? Being a surgeon or dentist requires hard work, perseverance, and time investment of several years. I must deserve that position, rank, and title. Medical knowledge, skills, and experience do not pass on through DNA from parents to children.

If I claim to be a Muslim because my father was a Muslim, am I sane or insane? If I argue to be a believer because my mother was a believer, am I right or wrong? Being a Muslim or believer requires hard work, perseverance, and time investment of several years or a lifetime. I must deserve that position, rank, and title. Ethical and religious knowledge, skills, and experience do not pass on through DNA from parents to children.

If you are born in a Muslim family, then you are not a Muslim. At most, you are ‘a cultural Muslim,’ i.e., ‘pseudo-Muslim,’ but you are not ‘a scriptural Muslim.’ Being a Muslim is a choice. Being a Muslim is not an inheritance. Therefore, I propose a new category of Neo-Muslims.

Who is a Neo-Muslim? The Neo-Muslim is a person who believes in God and the afterlife after studying the evidence, i.e., the Quran. The Neo-Muslim is a person who hand-writes the entire meaning (translation) of the Quran and then chooses to believe or disbelieve. Thus, a Neo-Muslim must be able to present the written evidence of her belief, i.e., the hand-written copy of the meaning of the Quran.

Why hand-writing? Because hand-writing is the worship of God and connection to God (96:4). Hand-writing is much slower than reading, and this slowness allows time for thinking. For example, the meaning of the Quran with annotated interpretation in modern English by Ali Ünal is about one-thousand-three-hundred pages.1 If a person reads one hundred pages per day, then she finishes it in thirteen days, i.e., two weeks. If a person writes one page per day, then she finishes it in three and a half years (1300÷365=3.6). Two weeks is not enough time to make an informed decision, and three to four years is a long enough time to make an informed decision without being influenced by various external factors.

Why meaning (translation) of the Quran? Because the Quran deserves to be understood, not recited blindly (54:17). Most Muslims are not Arabs, and most Muslims do not know the Arabic language. Muslims deserve to understand the book they claim to follow without the handcuffs and gags of clericalism. Clerics cannot and should not have a monopoly on the meaning and interpretation of the Quran. All Muslims have the right to understand and interpret the meaning of the Quran according to their particular conditions and specific needs.

The process of hand-writing the meaning of the Quran can be an initiation ceremony for adolescents. For example, a teenager starts the process at the age of fourteen years. This means she finishes it at the age of seventeen or eighteen. Thus, during those four years, she thinks about accepting or rejecting the faith based on the information presented in the meaning of the Quran, and finally, she makes an informed decision. At the end of those four years, parents or community organize an initiation ceremony for the teenagers who decide to accept the faith, and this ceremony becomes a symbol of transition from childhood to adulthood.

The benefits of this four-year process are obvious. Adolescents that hand-write one-thousand- three-hundred pages become the masters of the language and gain enormous vocabulary, and sharpen analytical skills by discussing the vague points of the text with other people. This four-year process can be shortened and condensed to one or two years for adults. A person has the right to be called a Neo-Muslim only after she finishes the process of hand-writing the entire meaning of the Quran. Otherwise, a person is a pseudo-Muslim. You cannot inherit the state of being Muslim from your parents, but you must earn it with your hands, heart, and head.

How many Neo-Muslims are there in the world now? Most probably, zero. Traditional Muslims, aka pseudo-Muslims, think that they are Muslims because their parents were Muslims. Pseudo-Muslims have no idea what the Quran is, what topics does it speak about, what goals does it aim for, what its function is, etc. They muted the Quran by becoming deaf to its meaning. We can cure acquired deafness to meaning through delving into meaning.

Dear God. Let me upgrade from being a hypocrite to being a Neo-Muslim.

2:111. … Say: “Produce your proof if you are truthful!”

25:30. And the Messenger says: “My Lord! Surely my people have made this Qur’an something worthy of no attention.”

-İman isteyen münafık

References:

1. Ünal, A. The Qur’an with Annotated Interpretation in Modern English.