Al-Fatiha: We Begin With An Attempt To Answer A Fundamental Question: What Happened To Islam?

By Muhammad Yunus, New Age Islam 28 July 2025 Once a revolutionary force for justice, equality, and moral excellence, Islam today is often reduced to inherited rituals, rigid customs, and rote memorization. This book dares to ask: What if we return to the Qur’an—not as a relic, but as a living guide? Contrasting the traditional, ossified version of Islam with the Qur’an’s soaring ethical and intellectual vision, the author invites readers to rediscover Islam as it was meant to be: bold, compassionate, rational, and profoundly human. Contrast between the traditional Islam and Islam preserved in the Qur’an A Contrast Between Traditional Islam and Islam Preserved in the Qur’an As with any religion, its founder emerges at a specific moment in history—rooted in a particular geography, culture, tribe, and doctrinal background. As his message crystallizes into a structured religion, it often absorbs the customs, practices, and cultural norms of that era and society. Thus, in ancient Semitic societies, religious practices—broadly understood—were far from uniform. They varied among communities, each following its inherited customs within the Prophet's sphere of influence. Accordingly, even in the Prophet Muhammad’s time, the interpretation of certain Qur’anic verses varied among his companions. The same holds true in Christianity, where the original Injil and its canonical books were interpreted differently by Jesus’s followers (peace be upon him). What sets Islam apart from other Semitic faiths is the textual integrity of its Scripture. The Qur’an has been preserved verbatim—a fact supported by internal evidence and widely acknowledged by scholars of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. This makes it technically possible to read the Qur’an through the lens of its founder, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). This book attempts precisely that—in a structured and readable manner. With that preamble in mind, let us look at Islam as it is taught in traditional madrassas and practiced by devout Muslims in daily life. Islam as Practiced in Conservative Muslim Households and Taught in Madrassas With the explosive growth of human activity, freedom of thought, and civilizational demands, traditional religion—especially one demanding conformity—has largely lost its place as a moral compass or societal moderator. Today, religion, including Islam, is often inherited like a surname: this author was born to Muslim parents and therefore carries a Muslim name, marries a Muslim, follows Muslim family laws, and performs religious customs as expected. His attire tends to reflect Islamic modesty—loose-fitting and simple. He avoids prohibited foods, abstains from intoxicants, and leads a modest lifestyle—at least in theory, resembling that of the Prophet and his companions. When he dies, he is buried in a traditional manner, and the Qur’an is recited over his grave after a short nawafil prayer. From early childhood, he is taught to recite the Qur’an in Arabic, memorizes the Five Pillars and Articles of Faith, and learns a set of short Surahs for daily prayers. By age 6–8, a Muslim child is expected to be regular in praying five times a day and reciting portions of the Qur’an. As he grows, he observes fasting in Ramadan and performs the extended Tarawih prayers. This, in essence, defines the average devout Muslim's engagement with his religion from childhood to adulthood. However, the entire learning process is based on rote memorization—of Qur’anic verses, ritual formulas, and Arabic invocations—without any real attempt to comprehend their meaning. The student–teacher relationship (typically with a Maulvi) is rigid and hierarchical, offering little room for intellectual exploration during this formative phase. Conformity is emphasized over understanding. A boy is told to wear a loose trouser; a girl to veil her ears, chin, neck, and even face—treated as mandatory rules despite being cultural constructs, not Qur’anic commandments. Questioning is discouraged. This breeds passive obedience, not intellectual growth or spiritual vitality. Such a framework stereotypes religiosity in conservative Muslim households and perpetuates a lifelong spiritual stagnation. The gap lies in the devout Muslim’s detachment from the Qur’an’s intellectual and moral trajectories—themes that this book presents accessibly and topically. The Qur’an’s Moral and Intellectual Trajectories The Qur’an, when engaged with as a guide, unfolds a wide canvas of universal ethical paradigms—justice, liberty, equity, good deeds, neighbourly conduct, interfaith respect, wealth-sharing, dignity of women, protection of orphans, kindness to all humans, business ethics, honest trade, care for the needy, and the use of reason and striving for excellence, to name a few. A List Of Such Liberating Themes Appears In The Table Of Contents. Metaphorically speaking, if Islam were a great bird with soaring wings, history has clipped its wings, crushed its torso, drained its blood, and left it lifeless on a barren terrain—fruitless and flowerless. But its soul is alive. It still carries the potential to rise high. If Muhammad, a lone, unarmed missionary, could inspire all of Arabia to accept his vision—leading eventually to a civilization spanning continents with minimal violence (in historical terms), then Islam has untapped promise. But if his followers reduce Islam to ritual repetition—reciting prayers and formulas, affirming abstract beliefs, distributing alms, yet ignoring the Qur’an’s living, liberating guidance—the Qur’an’s verdict is clear: “God does not change the favour which He has bestowed on a people unless they change themselves.” (8:53) “God does not change the condition of a people unless they change themselves.” (13:11) ----- Muhammad Yunus, a Chemical Engineering graduate from Indian Institute of Technology, and a retired corporate executive has been engaged in an in-depth study of the Qur’an since early 90’s, focusing on its core message. He has co-authored the referred exegetic work, which received the approval of al-Azhar al-Sharif, Cairo in 2002, and following restructuring and refinement was endorsed and authenticated by Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl of UCLA, and published by Amana Publications, Maryland, USA, 2009. 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