Yesterday I was listening to NPR a Mormon preacher repeated something from some other preacher. He said.
‘Faith is a decision.’
Why was he saying that ? Because the interviewer asked some difficult questions to him for which he did not have answers and admitted to it and said this to defend his faith in his church.
Why can’t our Scholars and our intellectuals use the same logic while it comes to answering some difficult questions ?
I will not go into the details of which difficult questions. We all know them and the non Muslim preachers try to cast doubts in our minds using them.
Faith is indeed a decision to accept a certain concept as valid to be implemented or adopted into one's lifestyle...
Unfortunately, in our case, it is done by either subjugating the intellect to accept without questioning at a very early age, or by trying to prove through the presentation of an unadultrated Book (which may very well be true, but not through magic or "miracle"), and an unadulterated tradition preserved by what we call a "oral chain of narration". Many a times, I have seen this as a means to prove that the religion is an authentic ruling by the Creator, i.e. "It is only fair to say that these are miracles and signs from God".
If only we could see the value in the underlying (original) message, that promotes human progress, critical thinking, hope and the the positive utilization of the Will (and the subjected elements of the heavens and earth) given to us by the Creator, we would have our answer in a more pluralistic mindset (which most likely was how it was in the beginning 1400 years ago).
The concept behind the word "Allah" (as opposed to "Ilah") in my opinion does in fact point to this: A Being that ALL humanity calls out to, by whatever name, for whatever matter, at whatever time... the condition in my opinion is that it be done without seeking an intermediary, without violating humanrights or restricting progress, by nourishing freedom of expression, and focus on the growth of collective and individual potential, all in order to reach the ultimate goal of all creation (self actualization)... That would be (and is so in the Quran) a Truely Divine Message.