Nadeem Arif is a life-long student of truth. From an early age he has dedicated himself to finding truth amidst all the competing claims of philosophy, science and religion.
He graduated with a BA (Hons) in English & Social History from the University of Birmingham in 2005 and has worked in information science based roles at College and Secondary School level.
His primary interest however, has always been religion, spirituality and questions of truth.
He has had articles on religion and current affairs previously published in various newspapers and on the internet. His first book ‘God and the Quran’ was published in 2012 (AS Noordeen, Malaysia). This presented arguments from cosmology, biology, philosophy and the Qur’an that underline the failings of an Atheistic explanation of Reality.
He is currently engaged in an advanced Islamic Studies Programme, alongside Quranic Arabic.
His second book “The Prophet of Mercy” has been under development since 2013 and was finally published in 2020. He was inspired to write it after seeing the Prophet Muhammad (on him be peace) in his dream, and realising that the world needs to see the spiritual beauty, the moral excellence and the pinnacle of humanity which is epitomised by the person of the final Prophet of God.
He can be contacted at nadeemarif@live.co.uk. His website is ‘Thinking Islam’ (nadeemarif.com)
My Journey
Born with a curious mind and an insatiable thirst for knowledge, I was immediately intrigued by the existence of religions other than Islam. At a precocious age, I decided to seek out the holy texts of mine and other religions.
My aim was then, as now, was not to accept something as fact without a basis in truth. I would only be a Muslim, if Islam was indeed the truth. Blindly following my family, elders or community was totally alien to my basic nature.
By the time I was a teen, I had become convinced that Islam was indeed true based on the scientific, linguistic and historic features of the Qur’an that allowed no human explanation.
Then, I started to study the Qur’an in translation as well as any books by authors Muslim and Non-Muslim on Islam, that I could find during my weekly visits to the local library. By then the World Wide Web was also opening up new avenues of exploration into truth.
The sectarian nature of Muslim society became increasingly apparent to me over time. As I reached the cusp of adulthood, I found myself motivated to get to the bottom of the truth behind the differences in doctrine and belief in the Muslim community.
I however could not find answers to many of my questions within the framework of traditional Islam.
It soon dawned on me, that whilst the Qur’an was totally consistent, many of the Ahadith reports were contradictory with each and other and the Qur’an. I became increasingly dissatisfied by the failure of traditional Islam to answer difficult questions about Hadith, such as the marriage of the Prophet to Syeda Aisha when the latter was a child.
Equally while the Quran focused on character building, many of the Hadith reports talked of severe punishments for small misdemeanors or huge rewards for small acts of worship. Worse there were reports that compared women to donkeys and dogs, espoused a violent interpretation of Islam and presented Prophets Muhammad, Moses and Abraham (Peace be upon them) in a manner that seemed blasphemous.
Unimpressed by the emotional arguments of Muslims who claimed infallibility for certain compilers of Hadith or who sought to declare as infidels anyone who questioned Islam as taught by the particular scholars i.e the argument from authority, I become convinced that if Hadith had been essential to Islam the Messenger would have himself left us a volume with his direct words for our guidance.
I thus sought out Quranist interpretations of Islam, to the exclusion of all traditional forms of Islam. I spent much time seeking to understand Islam from the works of Ghulam Ahmed Parvez, as well as the newly emerging groups online that claimed a Quranist position.
Over time, it became clear to me the Quran if intepreted individually without reference to the common practice of Muslims, would be utterly vandalised and nothing of Islam would remain.
Thus Hajj could not happen, Salah could not be performed, Zakat could not be paid because every Quranist was individually reintepreting what each word even means and following a different intepretation from the other. So for some Salah means creating a fair society, for others it is prayed twice a day, for others three times and for some it means going to war against injustice!
The Quran asks Muslims to unite and clearly expects them to understand its instructions without each person, trying to reconstruct each meaning for themselves. I thus found myself estranged from Quran only Islam.
By the grace of Allah, I found a website called ‘Understanding Islam’ by a Pakistani scholar Moiz Amjad. He presented Islam as rational and spiritual, full of wisdom and beauty and my faith in Islam was strengthened as never before. Many of the doubts I had about Islam were clarified here.
Above all, I came to learn about the Pakistani scholars Amin Ehsan Ellahi and Javed Ahmed Ghamidi. These scholars had convincingly argued that the Sunnah was essential to Islam but it was based on practices handed down from each generation to the next, not isolated narratives that form Hadith.
These can only serve as historical information about the Prophet or clarify certain matters of implementation not give indepent laws in Islam.
Over time I came to understand and believe that Islam is a rational, peaceful, tolerant and compassionate religion. Also that Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was the greatest, most humble and compassionate person in history.
However the Muslim community had allowed the views of individual scholars and isolated Hadith reports to overule the Quran and the established Sunnah, and create a emotionalised, factional and often extreme form of Islam that was based on a complete travesty.
This form of Islam was obsessed by petty matters and bigoted attitudes at variance with the comprehensive outlook of the Quran.
Today, I am aware many students of Islam are being led away from God’s final Message for the reasons above. I am particularly interested in sharing my answers with doubting or ex-muslims as I too could have been one of their number, but for the grace of Allah.
My journey continues, I hope this site helps you with yours.
And ALLAH knows Best