This is the term I use to define a set template of warning outlined repeatedly in the Qur’an. Under this method, a people (usually, the ruling elite thereof) is warned and, if they do not repent, that community is destroyed in an act of God.

My view is that the world is now ruled by a single elite and that as a result it effectively comprises a single society. That society has been made so degenerate by those who rule it that a further iteration of the protocol is not only necessary, it is the only means by which to prevent unending tyranny.

You may download my book The God Protocol free here.

Because no one else had done it to my satisfaction and I wanted answers to my questions.

It depends what you mean. 

If you mean: do I identify uniquely with one of the various schools which call themselves Islamic? — then, not really.

To my way of thinking, it is no more possible to be “a Muslim” than it is for a woman to be “a pregnant”. One is either pregnant or one is not pregnant. The Qur’an’s use of the word muslim is entirely irreconcilable with later applications of it.

But if by Muslim one means one whose heart inclines to God and in Him only finds peace and meaning, then I am Muslim.

No. 

My advice — if you want it — is to read the Qur’an with a view to understanding what it has to say, and use your common sense. That approach will solve most problems.

I have looked at the work of Rashad Khalifa, and I already know as much about it as I have an appetite for. 

If you want to know what my thoughts are in more detail, see the Notes & Commentary to The Qur’an: A Complete Revelation — replicated as notes in the online version of the same (mainly here and here) — or my YouTube channel particularly here.

I no longer receive messages from this site. 

I am not telling you to listen to me. I have simply done my own due diligence upon the text of the Qur’an and present my findings. What you do with that is up to you.

However, I would hope that whether you listen to an Arabic speaker or a non-Arabic speaker you would judge each argument on its merits.

The following is the sum total of the claims I make about myself: 

1. I am able to read a book for myself with my brain engaged and to synthesise the results into a logical output.
2. I am a believing man and — like everyone else at this time — subject to that worldwide system of governance which is a function of the policies of what I call the ruling elites.

I have no way of knowing how 1.5 billion people understand a particular book, but I must assume that there exists a range of perceptions.

From my review of the current literature of various groups which claim the religion called Islam, however, it was clear to me that a quantum leap from the Qur’an to a religion it does not consistently comport is required in most cases. 

Given that the Qur’an challenges the reader to consider it with care — and given that nothing I had seen did that to my satisfaction on a purely Qur’anic basis — I undertook that work myself.

If someone else had already produced a body of work which answered my questions I would never have undertaken this project.

Certainly, aḥādīth are part of that cultural narrative called Islam. If you want to know why that is so, ask the people who represent that narrative and then see if their answers make sense to you.

The Qur’an itself says that it is from God and complete and preserved. I accept that, and then move forward on that basis.

This question is based on an assumed conclusion, namely, that ṣalāt means prayer. But “prayer” is, in the hands of the Traditionalist, a moving target, changing its value depending on what he needs it to mean in a particular circumstance.

If you are interested in my thoughts on this subject, read my article on ṣalāt as part of Addenda to The Qur’an: A Complete Revelation.

That’s true, it does.

But it also provides the protocol for entering his house when invited for a meal. However, that is not possible today for a very simple reason which should be obvious.

That is not my argument. 

I’m saying that their explanations don’t make much sense to me. 

But neither do those of certain Christians, and many others.

I accept that there are many men who — while their doctrines don’t make sense to me personally — are righteous and will receive a good report on the Day of Judgment.

I am concerned primarily with doing my own due diligence on the Qur’an so that I may hope to answer for myself on that Day also.

I have to critique the Traditionalist, however. Firstly, because it is his habits of mind which have closed down intelligent engagement with the Qur’an and, secondly, because he claims monopoly rights over the book he presumes to prevent others from approaching intelligently.

I don’t accept the premise of the question.

Nevertheless, my answer is that the cultural narrative called Islam is full of sects. That the Qur’an is from God, complete, and preserved is about the sum of what those sects say they agree upon; and it is precisely this which I myself focus on.

That assertion is not found in the Qur’an; according to the Qur’an, the majority is always wrong.