Quoting from Ali Sina's "Why I left Islam" article (see Naresh's links and click on "Leaving Islam")
Until few years ago I used to think that my faith in Islam was not based on blind imitation but rather was the result of years of investigation and research. The fact that I had read a lot of books on Islam, written by people whose thoughts I approved of and delving into philosophies that were within my comfort zone, emphasized my conviction that I had found the truth. All my biased research confirmed my faith. Just like other Muslims I used to believe that to learn about anything one has to go to the source. <b>Now you may thing that the source of Islam is the Quran and the hadith. That might be so in theory. But in practice few Muslims read these books to understand them. Muslims get their their information about Islam by reading the books written by scholars of Islam. These are apologetic books that deceitfully try to portray Islam in the best lights, showing that Muhammad was a holy man and the Quran is a "scientific book". </b>Therefore, I felt no need to look elsewhere in order to find the truth, as I was convinced that I have already found it. As Muslims say âTalabe ilm baâd az wossule maâloom mazmoomâ. The search of knowledge after gaining it is unwise.
Until few years ago I used to think that my faith in Islam was not based on blind imitation but rather was the result of years of investigation and research. The fact that I had read a lot of books on Islam, written by people whose thoughts I approved of and delving into philosophies that were within my comfort zone, emphasized my conviction that I had found the truth. All my biased research confirmed my faith. Just like other Muslims I used to believe that to learn about anything one has to go to the source. <b>Now you may thing that the source of Islam is the Quran and the hadith. That might be so in theory. But in practice few Muslims read these books to understand them. Muslims get their their information about Islam by reading the books written by scholars of Islam. These are apologetic books that deceitfully try to portray Islam in the best lights, showing that Muhammad was a holy man and the Quran is a "scientific book". </b>Therefore, I felt no need to look elsewhere in order to find the truth, as I was convinced that I have already found it. As Muslims say âTalabe ilm baâd az wossule maâloom mazmoomâ. The search of knowledge after gaining it is unwise.