What is Islam-Proper?

Generally what is represented by ‘what is Islam’ are the following;

What is Islam?

[list]Islam is the religion articulated by the Quran, a text considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of God (Allāh), and, for the vast majority of adherents, by the teachings and normative example (called the sunnah, composed of accounts called hadith) of Muhammad (c. 570–8 June 632 CE).
Islam is a Abrahamic monotheistic religion that upholds that God is one and incomparable[8] and that the purpose of existence is to worship God.[9] Muslims consider Muhammad to be the last prophet of God. wiki[/list:u]

Who is a Muslim?

[list]A Muslim, sometimes spelled Moslem,[1] relates to a person who follows or practises the religion of Islam,[2] a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion based on the Quran. Muslims consider the Quran to be the verbatim word of God as revealed to the Islamic prophet and messenger Muhammad. They also follow the sunnah teachings and practices of Muhammad as recorded in traditional accounts called hadith.[/list:u]

The above are a general understanding of ‘what is Islam’ and ‘who is a Muslim as a believer of Islam’.
However when we engage on issues related to “Islam” we are often bombarded with a varied plethora definition and understanding of what-is-Islam in relation to specific interests of various parties.

For example, the majority of Sunni Muslims [apprx 80% of all Muslims] will often claim the Islam they followed is the original precise Islam, while those followed by Shias, Ahamdiyas, Sufis and any non-Sunni Islams are not Islam-proper. The consequences is many non-Sunni Muslims are killed for reasons merely because they are not Sunni-Muslims.
Even within the Sunni Muslims themselves, the majority will claim some Sunni groups are not following Islam-proper, e.g. ISIS and certain Sunni groups are denounced as non-Islamic by the majority and vice-versa.

The following is a presentation of what Islam-proper is in perspective;

1. Islam-Proper
To be very precise, Islam-proper is a religion conditioned upon solely by the Quran’s 6,236 verses that were revealed to Muhammad within the period 610 to 632 AD.
A Muslim-proper is a person who has entered into a covenant with Allah via submission, and thus obliged to comply with all terms and conditions of the covenant within the 6,236 verses of the Quran and no where else.

2. Pseudo-Islam
Pseudo-Islam is;
Islam-Proper + additional texts other than the Quran.
E.g. Sunni-Islam = Quran + Ahadiths + Sira.
… Shia-Islam = Quran + Ahadiths

The Ahadiths are recognized as having divine authority from Allah via Muhammad.

3. Fringe-Islam
Fringe-Islam is;
Pseudo-Islam + Fringe elements.
Fringe elements are the claim of Messiah after Muhammad [Ahamadiya], incorporating elements from other religions, e.g. Sufism.

From the above, whatever is claimed to be Islamic, it must have its central core represented by Islam-proper.
Thus pseudo-Islam and fringe-Islam are fundamentally Islamic at their core, they are not purely Islam-proper because they have added other elements to the core of Islam.

Are there Muslims who practiced Islam-proper?
There were probably rare individual Muslims who practiced Islam-proper in the olden days, but in the early part of the 20th century there were groups emerging as claiming to follow Islam-proper, i.e. relying on the verses of the Quran only and nothing else.
At present, there are many groups and individual[s] who are claiming to be practicing Islam-proper, e.g. the Quranites, Quranists, the Submitters, Quran-Only, the anti-hadith, etc. Muslims.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quranism
quranists.net/
submission.org/
ahl-alquran.com/English/main.php
& many other Quran-Only groups and sites.

I believe when we discuss Islam, we need to present Islam in the above perspectives, otherwise we will discussing pass each other all the time.

Views?

Somehow this posts excellence makes it irrelevant to its own topic.

“A miracle” we shall say.

How so?

While Islam is the faith of 1.4 billion people, Islamism is not a form of the Muslim faith or an expression of Muslim piety. Rather, it is a political ideology that strives to derive legitimacy from Islam.

Your above views are a complete botch.

You had been very aggressive in asking for definition.
Now where it is relevant I have provided definitions but you have not acknowledge them nor counter them before giving your views.
Why have you not taken into account definition of ‘what is Islam [the faith]’ and ‘who is a Muslim’.

Note my basic definitions;
1. Islam-Proper - the fundamental faith
To be very precise, Islam-proper is a religion conditioned upon solely by the Quran’s 6,236 verses that were revealed to Muhammad within the period 610 to 632 AD.

2. Muslim-Proper
   A Muslim-proper is a person who has entered into a covenant [a spiritual contract] with Allah via submission, and thus obliged to comply with all terms and conditions of the covenant within the 6,236 verses of the Quran and no where else.

From the above the legitimacy from Islam by a Muslim is when s/he comply with the terms and conditions as best as s/he can with the terms and conditions of the covenant which is confined to the 6,236 verses of the Quran.

Whatever name we call that set of behaviors [Islamism, ideology, etc.], a true Muslim is one who has fully exercise his side of the obligation of the covenant and complied with the stipulated terms and conditions of the Quran.

I argued the members of ISIS and other Islamic terror groups are Muslims [as defined above] and they do comply with the terms and conditions as stipulated in the Quran and [for the pseudos] Ahadiths where relevant.

Based on my observations and information from the News, despite the atrocities, the members of the majority of terror and violent groups are more truer Muslims than the so called moderate Muslims because they [Jihadists and fundamentalist] comply with more terms in the Quran [and other texts] as expected from them within the covenant they have entered into with Allah.

As a rough example, there are 6,236 verses in the Quran as representing the words of Allah.
My rough guess is the fundamentalists [jihadists, etc.] comply with say with 5,500 verses while the moderate comply with 4,000 verses. In this case, it is objectively true that the fundamentalist [jihadists] are truer Muslims to Islam than the moderate Muslims.

Obviously there would be differences in interpretations of the various verses between the fundamentalists [jihadist, etc.] and the moderate Muslims.
The problem with ISLAM is NO humans on Earth can judge who is right or wrong EXCEPT Allah on Judgment Day.
Another problem with Islam and the Quran is there are lots of critical verses with very ambiguous terms and conditions which can be either ‘DUCK’ or ‘RABBIT’ [re the illusion example] where both views are true and correct [antinomy].

Thus if a fundamentalist goes on a rampage to kill non-Muslims arbitrarily based on certain verses in the Quran or Ahadith, he would be doing his duty as a Muslims to please God to go to Paradise expeditiously in accordance to Allah’s command.
Btw, no Muslims [mostly very fearful of Allah] would dare invent their own words against the words of Allah in Quran, else they will go the HELL.
No Muslims in the world can judge and decide whether another Muslim is right or wrong or will go to Hell!

The only judgment that can be made is outside Islam and that is based on basic human morals and values by the majority of humans. But such secular moral values are not recognized by Islam.

The above is the correct legitimacy of Islam which is conditioned by the 6,236 verses of the Quran which unfortunately contain evil elements which influence and inspire SOME evil prone Muslim to commit terrible evils and violence. There is nothing within Islam itself can judge and do anything to stop those evils acts.

To be political correct and insist Islam is a religion of peace per-se is false and thus indirectly complicit to the evils committed by SOME evil prone Muslims.
To rely on the views of Muslims themselves who as believers MUST be emotional and bias, and Muslims-apologists [the lefts] is irresponsible.
That is why it is so critical to understand Islam thoroughly within its full perspective and against reality.

How did I know that you were going to say something like that…

“Islam” is a name formed of the Arabic symbols and concepts S, L, and M meaning “ultimate submission to Allah”.

“Muslim” is a word referring to a “mu-SLM”, a person/lamb who is ultimately submissive to Allah.

And of course, “Allah” refers to the all encompassing spirit of the universe (aka God/“Holy Spirit”/Creator/Source).

The Quran was Muhammad’s attempt at forming the perfect social behavior that would mate with the natural behavior of the universe, much like today’s Global Socialism, Communism, and Secularism propagandae.

I don’t disagree.

I wouldn’t bet on that one, but you need to be very specific with such accusations.

Yeah, but that is merely your ignorance and prejudice speaking.

I don’t agree with the above definition of ‘Islamism’.
The above is a merely statement without any substantiation nor justifications.

The above is the conventional definition one can get any where from the internet or most books. However it is not a precise definition.
Islam per-se is conditioned to Allah and nothing authoritative with Muhammad’s attempt or whatever.
What is Islam is thus conditioned by all the verses, i.e. the 6,236 verses within the Quran, i.e. the words of Allah.

A Muslim is one who has submitted to Allah and entered [explicitly and implicitly] into a covenant with Allah and with its terms and conditions solely within the Quran’s 6,236 verses.

The above definitions are objective as one can get.

Note the fundamentalists go abroad to fight with infidels who occupied Islamic land as exhorted by Allah and perform martyrdom where necessary. This is one compliance better than the moderate Muslims who are described as cowards in one sense in the Quran.
There are many other verses and elements that the fundamentalists comply within the Quran and Ahadiths [for some] which the moderates ignore or are blind to.
I will not go into the details as this moment.

It is your ignorance of not seeing the 500 pounds gorrilla in the room.

Note this which is so evident; [29,367]

Even if we take 10% of the above, that is evidence supporting my point rather than your ignorance and blindness.

In his letter to America Bin Laden justified his evils acts against American by quoting various verses from the Quran.
theguardian.com/world/2002/ … heobserver
Bin Laden was performing his duty as a Muslim in accordance to Islam [as represented by the 6,236 verses of the Quran].

All if not 99% of the fundamentalists are doing the same as what Bin Laden did, i.e. practicing Islam in accordance to Allah’s words.

Btw, I do not agree with the fundamentalists acts of evil and violence. I condemn such acts but we cannot ignore the ultimate root cause of such evil acts originate from the Quran and Islam itself.
Thus humanity and Muslims must recognize the truth, i.e. Islam [in part not wholly] contains evil elements that influence and inspire SOME Muslims to commit terrible evils and violence.

Are you arguing with yourself for some reason?

Allah is a character in Muhammad’s book, the Quran. Islam is specifically about the devotion to the story in the book, within which Allah is merely one “character”/“being”/“spirit”/“principle”.

What the “fundamentalists” do isn’t terribly relevant as they are usually the least intelligent within any religion. If your argument is that the Quran inspires the less intelligent to do terrible things, that is what you should be saying.

Then you shouldn’t go into accusations at this moment.

As usual you are way off with Islam. One character?? The Quran is not a book like one written by Shakespeare.

To Muslims Allah is the God whom they depend for salvation, i.e. avoiding eternal death and with a hope of eternal life.
Such a salvation engages very strong primal emotions in a Muslim and it drives the life of the Muslims.

Again you are ignorant of human nature. Do you think Bin Laden, Al-Baghadadi with a Phd, and many well-learned fundamentalists are lesser intelligent than the average Muslims?
Don’t you know [based on researched findings] there are many psychopaths who are very intelligent within the higher percentile of the IQ range?

The fact is there are evil elements in the Quran influencing evil prone Muslims [could be an intelligent psychopath] to commit terrible evils and violence.

Another …
There is nothing wrong and it is very common thing to raise a hypothesis first [based on abduction*] then research and justify the hypothesis with evidence via discussion like this and other methodologies.

• plato.stanford.edu/entries/abduction/peirce.html