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WHAT DOES A MUSLIM LOOK LIKE?

The Quran is Sufficient. I Reject Hadith

Will You Not Reason is a book I came across after watching the author’s YouTube video. I was searching for truth and tired of the voices in my head that haunted me. Voices of Muslims telling me what I can and cant do.

I was embarrassed to be a Muslim because of all of the stupid rules and stupid things that Muslims did. Kill people, blow up cars and buildings, then say Allahu Akbar (God is Great). They treat their women like slaves and inferiors. They kill non Muslims because they have a different religion. They hate Jews and Christians. They kill people at public malls in the name of God. They brainwash their children and force them to pray. They force their wives and daughters to cover their face and head. What kind of religion is that?

I began to consider abandoning Islam and becoming a Christian. I could not be proud of my religion when the rest of the world had every reason to fear and dislike Muslims. My own people (Latino community) asked my why am I in this religion?

When I was confronted by non Muslims about Muslim stupid behavior and violence against innocent people, I had no reply. I became angry and I decided to leave Islam and consider Christianity but deep in my heart I felt the words of Quran speak to me and I am convinced the Quran is the word of God.

I realized that the stupidity I was seeing on the news and the voices that haunted me in my head were the voices and actions of the “HADITH MUSLIMS” the sunnis the ones that claim to follow tradition of the prophet Muhammad.

Here’s the thing ….. Hadith were not written until 200-300 years after the death of Prophet Muhammad. The books of Hadith are LITERALLY NARRATIONS. from one person to another and so called Imams and Scholars decide if they are reliable.

Countless Hadith contradict the verses in the Quran and countless Hadith are spooky illogical and make no sense. That’s when I learned about Quranist Muslims.

I learned that the majority of the Muslim world follows innovation and scholars and so called holy men with beards and never read Quran or study for their selves. They blindly trust and follow Imams scholars and books -INSTEAD of studying Quran. They dont ask questions and they are afraid to or dont disagree because they think it is wrong.

Every Quranist Muslim I found told me what he thought and then said to me, “Do your own research. It is the duty of every Muslim to study and read the Quran. He always said, The Quran is Sufficient, do your own research.

These people are trapped in time. They follow ancient tribal and cultural traditions. Traditions that have no basis in true Islam or The Holy Quran. They follow what they are taught and they are not allowed to ask questions. A girl is told who she should marry and that she must cover her head and that she has no opinion in the matter.

Yet the Quran makes it clear “There is no compulsion in religion” 2:256 “You are forbidden to inherit women against their will” 4:19. I remember my girlfriend took me to her house to meet her family. I had no explanation for the questions that they asked me about extremist Muslim behavior.

Why does the woman wear all black and why is her entire face covered and why does she have to walk behind her husband? Why cant she work and go to college? Why did Muslims blow up The World Trade Centers and kill thousands of people and then sing and dance and say Allahu Akbar (God is Great) on television? I could not answer their questions about how women are treated so inferior in Islam. I could not explain why Muslim militants kill innocent Jews and Christians and then yell Allahu Akbar (God is Great). I could not explain honor killings of fathers on their daughters. I was fed up with social media and all the Muslims with long beards dressed like holy men debating about issues that had no value.

With such conviction they would say a woman can only wear black and dark blue and no clothes with light colors because it would arouse a man. If a woman plucks her eyebrows she will go to hell. If I shake a woman’s hand I will have an iron rod penetrated through my skull in the hereafter. If I eat with the left hand it is a sin if I enter the bathroom I must enter with the left foot.

Who are these people? Their in America USA and they dress like Arabs and they tell other people how to live and criticize and condemn out freedom. Yet here they are, enjoying our freedom of choice and free speech. I was literally having psychological conflict because in my heart I fear God and I fear hell and I choose to be a Muslim.

I have been Muslim almost 50 years and there is so much that I refuse to believe or agree with. It turns out that I was brainwashed. Most of the Muslim world is brainwashed and hijacked by “RELIGION” they follow man made rituals that are based upon Hadith (sayings and traditions) of the prophet Muhammad.

They become Muslim and they throw away their name and take an Arabic name. They begin to dress like an Arab. They begin to throw away the friends and family they have because they are told that Muslims are brothers. And non Muslims are not good people.

These books of Hadith (sayings and traditions) of the prophet Muhammad.

These things were written by other human beings 200- 300 years after his death. They contradict verses of the Quran. They are illogical and spooky and they scare people away from the religion of Islam.

They follow the ways of their fathers and their grandparents and the ways of ancient mentalities. They are frozen in time in a modern world.

These Muslims will argue that they have a system of verification but in the final analysis all Hadith are simply hearsay and subjective to if you or I or the so-called scholars believe and accept them. I am under no obligation to follow or believe Hadith my obligation is to obey the Quran.

These Muslim profess righteousness and dress like holy men and have long beards. They call themselves Sheihks (Wise Men) yet they cant handle a debate without yelling or calling you stupid or calling you a fool and even go so far as to call you ignorant and a Kafir (rejector of faith). Their behavior contradicts the teachings of Quran and the life of the prophet Muhammad who they claim to follow.

Many of these hadith directly CONTRADICT verses in the Quran and many of these Hadith are simply stupid spooky and scare people away from Islam. Most of the wars and terror that exist in extreme Islam is based on Hadith.

I followed my heart, and I decided to become a Quranist Muslim and that is my personal decision, and I conducted my own research. I am accountable for my own soul, and I refuse to put the eternity of my soul in the hands of men with long beards that dress like Arabs and quote scholars and Hadith more than they quote Quran.

It is an impossible debate or conversation with these Muslims they yell at you they call you ignorant stupid and they call you an infidel (Kafir) they say we Quranist simply want to do what we want.

I fear God I seek the truth I do not want to do what I want. To each his or her own. The debates will never end; these people have too much invested in their YouTube channels, books and counseling sessions and their job as an Imam. They live from donations. You cannot reason with a person whose mind is already made up.

It’s like President Trump. No matter how much good he does or how smart he is, those who dont like him will never see the good he has done as a president.

I was so embarrassed and angry by what I saw as a Muslim that I decided to become a Christian or leave Islam. But in my heart I felt the words of The Quran and I am convinced those words are from God. The problem is in the Hadith. (sayings and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad) . Those books are fabricated and they were written 200-300 years after the death of Prophet Muhammad.

This means that him marrying a 6 year old and all those justifications for killing non Muslims are all fabricated and have no basis in Quran. The problem is, “what good is the truth if a people refuse to see it?”

I can make a big list of contradictions between Hadith and Quran. This is not the place for it. This website is for my own book My Islam My Choice but I feel obligated to promote the message of the Quranist above my own book. Links below.

In the middle East you are killed or imprisoned for asking questions or expressing yourself. You are not allowed to ask questions and women are treated as servants who must please their or else they will go to hell.

My book My Islam My Choice addresses these subjects and that’s what this website is about. However, I will not put my own interest over an opportunity to spread the truth and please Allah.

After finding this book and these You Tube Channels it is my obligation to share what I have learned. Your duty to Allah as a Muslim and sincere seeker of truth is to conduct your own research. It is your life your death and your eternity in hell or in heaven. Do your own research.

Available on Amazon

If you fear Allah / God, ask for guidance. Study the videos on these channels.

My Islam My Choice by Samuel Arcelay

My Islam My Choice by Samuel Arcelay is thought provoking and written by a Muslim. Buy on Amazon FREE Delivery.

I became Muslim at age 16, I chose it I was not born into it. I was a child looking for God. One day I became fed up with the voices in my head of other Muslims judging me and telling me what I can and cannot do. For decades I lived as if I was not good enough and I lived in fear of going to hell. I asked myself, is this piety or politics? These people talk as if they spoke to God directly and they know what He thinks.

No matter what we read, Bible Quran or a comic book, it's all personal opinion. Do you see the moon? So do I. We each have our personal point of view. I say it's partly sunny you can say it's partly cloudy. You have no right to outcast me or kill me or cut off my head or blow up a building because you are mad that I don't share your point of view. You can sugar coat it all you want, the scholars this - the great imam that. The Hadith this - the Hadith that. It's all second hand information - FILTERED by a BIAS. A tribal tradition a culture. If I read a spooky Hadith and I choose not to believe it. That's my choice.

I don't want anyone to turn away from Islam and God because they see the corruption in other people that claim to be holy and pure.

REad the Quran and come to God as you are, humbe and pray, remeber Him. There is too much negative representation of Muslims and Islam today because of radical extreme Muslims.

There is corruption among religious leaders and there is hipocrisy in the people. We are entitled to avoid those people and

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What would happen if I entered a mosque looking like this, that's me, in the above picture? What do Muslim men say to Muslim women that don't cover their head? It's always judgment. They say we are not real Muslim they say we are going to hell. Basically what they are saying is that we shouldn't even pray and fast and read Quran or give charity. We are evil and we are going to hell. Forget that we wake up at dawn to make morning prayer and forget that we gave a poor person $100 when we ourselves are poor and in need.

These Muslims are so self righteous and have their head so deep into the Quran and Hadith and what ancient scholars say that they ignore that we fasted 30 days in the blazing summer to please a god that we cannot see, feel smell touch taste or hear.

Yet it is these same Muslims that walk over a hungry person on the street and don't give him or her a dollar because he or she is from a different country or he or she is not a Muslim.

Basically to them it means nothing that I am a Muslim despite being from a infidelic culture and a nationality where Islam is looked upon as a thing of evil. I get no credit for that but yes, I wear a gold chain or I dress nice and my name is Sam and not Abdullah and for that I am not a real Muslim.

Do you preach righteousness and fail to practice it yourselves, although you read the Scripture? Do you not understand? Quran 2:44 Yet these are the same people that cut off people heads for daring to ask a question and they kill Jews and say Allahu Akbar, (God is Great). Think about it. If you and I have a difference of opinion on a political or religious issue and I refuse to see it your way. You cut off my head or put me in prison for a moral crime. You outcast me from the land. Yet you preach righteousness you pray you quote religious scripture and you kill Jews and Christians you cut of their heads and say Allahu Akbar (God is Great). How stupid is that?

I fear God / Allah and I pray and I am a Muslim. On my terms and what I do or do not do is between God and myself. That's what this book is about. It's not necessary to abandon your religion or stop praying or reading Quran because you are confused or because you don't believe in something. Come to god as you are.

Does that mean my prayers and my fasting and my good deeds are no good? The guy tells me "If a woman plucks her eyebrows she is going to hell" "Woman can only wear black and dark blue, not light colors because she may entice a man to feel sexual". I met a guy in the mosque, after a nice chat he asked me, "whats your name brother?" I said, Sam. He said, "I don't know about that SAM STUFF, I'm going to call you Abdullah.

I'm Muslim since 1976, 48 years, I think that's bullshit. I don't believe in these stupid traditions. I am fed up with the bullshit but I will never abandon my religion or stop making my prayers or reading the Quran. I will never use peoples foolishness as an excuse to not pray and abandon the remembrance of God. That's why I wrote this book. It's OK to say, I EMPHATICALLY REJECT that Hadith. That's between God / Allah and myself. But no! These people block me from a Facebook group. Outcast me in the mosque. Stop talking to me. And in some countries, they would cut off my head. That shit is so stupid. Oh, I cursed, am I going to hell.

These self righteous people have their head so deep into book and the Quran they they miss the spirit of the true message. They are out of touch with reality and too many Muslims are frozen in an ancient mentality in a modern time. They rely on ancient scholars and people whose perception of Islam is FILTERED by bias, tribal tradition and male chauvinistic mentality. Their foundation is rooted in a tribal culture where it is not permissible to disagree or ask questions.

Dismissing women's opinions or contributions
Believing women are “naturally” less capable in leadership, logic, or independence
Expecting women to serve, obey, or exist only in domestic roles

As an American Muslim convert, I, Samuel Arcelay share how freedom in Islam only came when I filtered tradition through the Qur'an—not people. I decided to ignore the voices in my head of Muslims imposing their beliefs and opinions on me. I got tired of people telling me what I cant do and what I have to do. It was as if these people had one goal in life, "to look for fault in others and judge".

His-lam or Islam?

In pre-Islamic practice women were treated as property and “inherited” by male relatives after the death of a husband. Islam corrected this, affirming the dignity and autonomy of women. Daughters were traded by their fathers to settle debts with neighboring clans and fathers gave their child daughters away in marriage to old men because they needed money, cattle, or to enhance tribal relationships. This was not a Muslim practice, this was and is the practice of tribalism culture, country.

Because a Muslim does something does not mean it is a Muslim or Islamic thing. This is what Quran says “O you who believe, it is not lawful for you to inherit women against their will” Qur’an 4:19 “There is no compulsion in religion” Qur’an 2:56

“Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given one more [strength] than the other, and because they support them from their means” Qur’an 4:34

This does not say woman cannot be judge lawyer doctor or neurosurgeon. It does not mean woman must stay home barefoot and pregnant. She can work and go to school.

My Islam My Choice by Samuel Arcelay clarifies how these practices are tribal traditions and that these ancient mentalities claim to be following Sharia law (Islamic Law) but they are not, this book proves this with clear evidence from the Quran. Buy now Amazon FREE Delivery.

I am not saying I agree with child marriage but lets be real. It was happening before Islam and before Christianity. If a farmer or a tribesman was poor and could not feed a child he sold her. This is ancient history. The focus was on survival and tribal relationships. This practice is all over the history and the Bible as well.

I'm not in agreement with it but people are SELECTIVE with criticism. They focus on Islam and ignore centuries of history that confirm these practices existed BEFORE Islam. In the 7th century this was common not only in Arabia but in many parts of the world. There was no hope of college education or a career for a woman. If the girl had a menstrual cycle she was considered an object of sex and value.

As humans we FILTER what we see though the eyes of what we already believe, our experience and what we are taught by our parents. Eastern cultures such as Arabia Iraq Iran Pakistan Afghanistan etc all have conditioning in their culture that men are dominant and women remain silent and that to ask questions and express difference of opinion is rebellious and rejecting faith. Just look at what they do to people especially women, when they protest or refuse to be obligated to practice religion.

They put them in MORAL PRISON for COMMITTING MORAL CRIMES. The cut peoples heads off in public and hang the heads on public places. People are beaten for smoking or refusing to dress a certain way. People are obligated to go to the mosque (in America that's the same as being obligated to go to church).

My Islam My Choice by Samuel Arcelay shares this experience from the eyes and life of an American Muslim who upon converting, trusted and accepted blindly the opinions and dictatorship of those who were Muslim before him. People that simply followed ways but never questioned or dared to think for themselves. Why? It turns out that much of these tribal traditions are simply men using the verses and traditions to justify remaining in control of the woman and having his way. Psychologically and subconsciously these men and these women and their children and the masses are all viewing Islam and the verses of the Quran through the filter of an ancient mentality. They are frozen in time but living in a modern world. I don't say Muslims should abandon Islamic tradition and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad I am saying that scholars and hadith and teachings of ancient people in the 7th century reflect ancient mentality. Yes the Quran tells us to do and to avoid certain things, but no person has the right to punish another if he or she does not want to comply or if he or she has a different point of view.

When Osama Bin Ladin blew up the World Trade Center (Twin Towers on 9/11) he got on television and said, "We hurt the United States, praise be to God." Think about that. Think about the Muslims that kill people only because they disagree or because they do not want to do what they are told. They cut off heads, blow up buildings, and then they say Allahu Akbar (God is Great). How is that Islam?

My Islam My Choice by Samuel Arcelay

What would happen if I entered a mosque looking like this, that’s me, in the above picture? What do Muslim men say to Muslim women that don’t cover their head? It’s always judgment. They say we are not real Muslim they say we are going to hell. Basically what they are saying is that we shouldn’t even pray and fast and read Quran or give charity. We are evil and we are going to hell. Forget that we wake up at dawn to make morning prayer and forget that we gave a poor person $100 when we ourselves are poor and in need.

Yet it is these same Muslims that walk over a hungry person on the street and don't give him or her a dollar because he or she is from a different country or he or she is not a Muslim. Basically to them it means nothing that I am a Muslim despite being from a infidelic culture and a nationality where Islam is looked upon as a thing of evil. I get no credit for that but yes, I wear a gold chain or I dress nice and my name is Sam and not Abdullah and for that I am not a real Muslim.

"Do you preach righteousness and fail to practice it yourselves, although you read the Scripture? Do you not understand?" Quran 2:44 Yet these are the same people that cut off people heads for daring to ask a question and they kill Jews and say Allahu Akbar, (God is Great). Think about it. If you and I have a difference of opinion on a political or religious issue and I refuse to see it your way. You cut off my head or put me in prison for a moral crime. You outcast me from the land. Yet you preach righteousness you pray you quote religious scripture and you kill Jews and Christians you cut of their heads and say Allahu Akbar (God is Great). How stupid is that?

This book challenges the misuse and misconceptions of Islam—whether by tribal enforcers or academic debaters. From harsh cultural practices disguised as faith, to rigid scholars detached from real life, trapped in ancient mentality. I expose how personal opinions have replaced divine guidance and scare people away from Islam. I became Muslim at age 16, I chose it I was not born into it. I was a child looking for God. One day I became fed up with the voices in my head of other Muslims judging me and telling me what I can and cannot do. For decades I lived as if I was not good enough and I lived in fear of going to hell. I asked myself, is this piety or politics? These people talk as if they spoke to God directly and they know what He thinks.

No matter what we read, Bible Quran or a comic book, it's all personal opinion. Do you see the moon? So do I. We each have our personal point of view. I say it's partly sunny you can say it's partly cloudy. You have no right to outcast me or kill me or cut off my head or blow up a building because you are mad that I dont share your point of view. You can sugar coat it all you want, the scholars this - the great imam that. The Hadith this - the Hadith that. It's all second hand information - FILTERED by a BIAS. A tribal tradition a culture. If I read a spooky Hadith and I choose not to believe it. That's my choice.

I'm Muslim since 1976, 48 years, I think that's bullshit. I dont believe in these stupid traditions. I am fed up with the bullshit but I will never abandon my religion or stop making my prayers or reading the Quran. I will never use peoples foolishness as an excuse to not pray and abandon the remembrance of God. That's why I wrote this book. It's OK to say, I EMPHATICALLY REJECT that Hadith. That's between God / Allah and myself. But no! These people block me from a Facebook group. Outcast me in the mosque. Stop talking to me. And in some countries, they would cut off my head. That shit is so stupid. Oh, I cursed, am I going to hell.

Dismissing women's opinions or contributions
Believing women are “naturally” less capable in leadership, logic, or independence
Expecting women to serve, obey, or exist only in domestic roles

Rejecting Man-Made Rules and Hypocrisy

In my 48 years of being a Muslim I have had to defend my religion against irrational interpretations of the Quran. For example: “Men are the protectors and maintainers of women” Qur’an 4:34 Many Muslims use this to justify that the woman cannot go to school or work. And if she disagrees, she is labeled disobedient. He will say, “I take care of you I don’t permit that you work” this is stupid. I am Muslim I fear God I pray I fast but I will be honest, I think this is stupid. I respect the verse in the Quran but I reject the ancient interpretation. It is not in the spirit of what Allah / God intended. Buy now Amazon FREE Delivery. Here in USA we can disagree but in those eastern countries you will be beaten or put in prison or killed if you disagree. This contradicts what Allah / God says in Quran, “There is no compulsion in religion” Quran 2:256

These self righteous people have their head so deep into book and the Quran they they miss the spirit of the true message. They are out of touch with reality and too many Muslims are frozen in an ancient mentality in a modern time. They rely on ancient scholars and people whose perception of Islam is FILTERED by bias, tribal tradition and male chauvinistic mentality. Their foundation is rooted in a tribal culture where it is not permissible to disagree or ask questions.

She is indoctrinated that “paradise lies at the foot of pleasing her husband”. She must be obedient. If she wants to be a doctor or a lawyer or a police officer, a judge or a teacher, or own a business, her insecure husband will use this verse from Quran to justify his insecurities. After 20 year of marriage, he’s not happy he wants a new wife, or a divorce, he is free to walk away and have control of the children and get a new wife.

Her 20 years of devotion, mean nothing, she has no marketable skills, she is left alone and he is free to move on and in many cases does not pay child support and she goes to the government for assistance. Yet convenient for him, the government law is rejected when it benefits him he says we must follow Sharia Law, so what about child support and alimony?

She feels lucky if a man takes her as a 2nd or 3rd wife. I don't think this is fair. In USA women are doctors judges lawyers police officers, soldiers and they fly jets in the military. They are brain surgeons. Yet these ancient mentality Muslims want to keep them home, BAREFOOTED and PREGNANT.

I don't blame non Muslims for being scared away from Islam. I am Muslim I don't like this, it I think STUPID MUSLIMS TWIST THE NARRATIVE.

I am entitled to my disagreement but, I will not use it as an excuse to abandon my religion and stop praying and forget Allah / God.

In my experience as a Muslim this is what I have seen of men:

Dismissing women's opinions or contributions
Believing women are “naturally” less capable in leadership, logic, or independence
Expecting women to serve, obey, or exist only in domestic roles

I have been told that to recite the Quran I must brush my teeth, wash up, sit facing the east, and recite it slowly. I have been told that reciting the Quran from a mobile app is frowned upon.
I have been told that women can only wear black and dark blue because other colors may entice a man to a sexual desire.
If I wake up with an erection and a desire to have sex I should fast or I should ask God for forgiveness. I should not go to the mall or watch television because I will see women dressed sexy.

Then you have Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, the video reels. Are these people even Muslim? Do they even pray?

However, the fact remains, everything in life is subjective to an individual perception and interpretation. As humans we FILTER what we see though the eyes of what we already believe, our experience and what we are taught by our parents. Eastern cultures such as Arabia Iraq Iran Pakistan Afghanistan etc all have conditioning in their culture that men are dominant and women remain silent and that to ask questions and express difference of opinion is rebellious and rejecting faith.

Just look at what they do to people especially women, when they protest or refuse to be obligated to practice religion. They put them in MORAL PRISON for COMMITTING MORAL CRIMES. The cut peoples heads off in public and hang the heads on public places. People are beaten for smoking or refusing to dress a certain way. People are obligated to go to the mosque (in America that's the same as being obligated to go to church).

Psychologically and subconsciously these men and these women and their children and the masses are all viewing Islam and the verses of the Quran through the filter of an ancient mentality. They are frozen in time but living in a modern world. I don't say Muslims should abandon Islamic tradition and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad I am saying that scholars and hadith and teachings of ancient people in the 7th century reflect ancient mentality. Yes the Quran tells us to do and to avoid certain things, but no person has the right to punish another if he or she does not want to comply or if he or she has a different point of view.

This is the same as the riots against the ICE raids, they claim to protest peacefully on the street but what does looting stores and throwing fire and bricks at police have to do with a peaceful protest. What does blowing up the World Trade Center have to do with Allahu Akbar (God is Great?) How is that religion?

Many times I considered becoming a Christian or abandoning Islam but in my heart I believe in Allah / God and in the Quran, I will not let this be an excuse to abandon my prayer or my remembrance in God.

Men are in charge women are kept dependent

Patriarchy is a social system in which men hold primary power and dominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege, and control of property.

In a patriarchal society, women are often expected to be submissive, focused on home-making, childbearing, and supporting men, while being denied access to education, financial independence, or decision-making power.

In simple terms:

Patriarchy means “rule of the father.” It’s a system where men are in charge and women are kept dependent.

The book My Islam My Choice challenges how “Cultural patriarchy ” — not true Islam — has often been mistaken for religious obligation.

Ancient Mentalities Frozen in Modern Time

“There is no compulsion in religion” Qur’an 2:56 No Muslim or Imam (spiritual leader) or community member has the right to impose their belief or their interpretation of a verse, on another person. This is very common in religion and in churches and mosques. And if a person dares to think and question something he or she is made an outcast and looked upon as rebellious and insincere. This creates fear and confusion in people that want to embrace a religion or faith in God. It causes people to abandon religion. And it fuels those who are anti-Islamic to begin with.

This is tribal thinking, Too many people simply follow the ways of their fathers, and they don’t want to hear or see anything that disagrees with it. No one has the right to force anyone to dress a certain way or to pray or grow a beard or change their name or marry anyone. You cannot force a woman to forbid her from working or going to school. You cannot force her to dress like an Arab or wear a hijab. That is her personal choice. If you do not like it then get a divorce.

The Quran says, “For you is your religion, and for me is mine” Qur’an 109:6 “basically to you be your way to me be mine” not kill you or blow up your house. Quran says “And let not the hatred of a people lead you to sin and transgression on your behalf ” Qur’an 5:8

If you do not accept Islam, I do not have the right to blow up your house or shoot everyone in a public place that is having a celebration. If I want to dress half naked and drink alcohol and take drugs, that is between myself and God. You have no authority to kill me or drop bombs on my people.

What does a Muslim look like?

Am I going to hell because I have a human need, because I like girls and want sex? Do I have to ask God forgiveness if I get horny or if I see a girl I like? Do I have to go on a hunger strike or a fast if I wake up horny? Am I going to hell because I refuse to dress like an Arab and change my name to Muhammad or Abdullah? Is that a reason to avoid me and not include me in community events when I go to the mosque? Is that I reason to say I am a fake Muslim?

My name is Sam, I’m Latin from NYC streets. I’m Puerto Rican AKA Nuyorican. I cant count how many times I have been told “You don’t look like a Muslim” or “But your Puerto Rican” or “What does your family say?” or ” Are you a terrorist?”

I wear gold, silver, diamonds, and I like to dress nice. I worked hard for my money and I am humble to God and I help others. Am I going to hell because I refuse to dress poor? I like music. Will I go to hell if I wake up with an erection and I want to be inside of a beautiful woman. Am I going to hell for having a human need? Am I suppose to get in a fetal position and beg God for forgiveness because I desire sex? Because I see a beautiful girl and I like her? That's how these Muslims think.

I heard a Muslim say, "May God forgive you" because a man said he found a woman attractive. WTF IZDAT?

Of course I respect modesty and I am not a male slut / prostitute and I choose purity and marriage over being a male whore, but I am REAL 100%, I AM HUMAN AND I DON'T NEED TO FAKE THE FUNK AND PRETEND LIKE I DON'T WANT TO HAVE SEX AND THEN DROWN IN PORN WHEN I AM ALONE.

I like fancy clothes, jewelry, I like music. I work hard for my money, in a legal way. I give to poor I feed hungry and I donate thousands to poor people in other countries. I keep this a secret because others would think I am a fool. Despite my personal necessity and low income level, I choose to do good for love of God and because it makes me happy. I choose to look good eat good and be happy. I don't think being a righteous man or a Muslim requires living poor, and having my head stuck in a Quran and praying all day at the Mosque.

And why should I? I go to the mosque and Muslims don't return my greeting or show me any love. They gather in their groups according to country. The Imam after giving an intense lecture about how we should behave and live, passes me by and does not give me eye contact or allow me to say hello. My experience has been that of the great debaters who quote Quran and Hadith and tell other people what they can and cannot do. They focus on winning debates and being intellectual but the way they behave makes me wonder if they even pray.

I have always donated to the mosque but various occasions I needed help and submitted required donation forms, not once did someone reply. Yet I always receive email asking for donation and playing on my fear of God. My promise of heaven. Am I wrong for not wanting to subject myself to this?

I choose to live good and eat good and enjoy life. Am I going to hell? Is my prayer my fast my charity that I give in secret not good? I bow down and pray to a god I cannot see, hear, taste, smell or touch. I read Quran and I remember God all day everyday. I have been criticized and condemned by my people because I am a Muslim. I am constantly questioned about terrorism and child marriage and the oppression of women and multiple wives. I am the the target of angry outburst because of what goes on in the middle east with extremist groups. I am hated for not accepting Jesus and god or the son of god. When I tell one of my people I cannot go on a date or have sex before marriage, I am ridiculed.

Despite how I feel, I have never considered to abandon my religion or abandon my prayer. For decades I lived with the voices of self righteous Muslims haunting me in my head do this dont do that you have to do this you cant do that.

One day I woke up and I said "Fuck Yall and Fuck That" I am a good Muslim, at the end of the day the end of the road the end of my life, I stand before God alone. The bottom line is my happiness my peace. I hope this book helps those who have experienced my situation. Becoming a Muslim does not require to change your name or to change your to dress like an Arab. You do not have to do what anyone tells you to do. They have never met God and spoken to Him. We all read the same book but we all interpret and see it our way.

My Faith. My Voice. My Islam.

I didn’t inherit Islam—I chose it. This is not about fear or pressure. It’s about finding God beyond the noise, and reclaiming faith on my own terms. This is my Islam. This is my choice.

Women’s Rights in the Qur'an vs Cultural Misuse

Because a Muslim does something does not make it a Muslim or Islamic thing. “O you who believe, it is not lawful for you to inherit women against their will” Qur’an 4:19 “There is no compulsion in religion” Qur’an 2:56

In per-Islamic practice women were treated as property and “inherited” by male relatives after the death of a husband. Islam corrected this, affirming the dignity and autonomy of women. Daughters were traded by their fathers to settle debts with neighboring clans and fathers gave their child daughters away in marriage to old men because they needed money, cattle, or to enhance tribal relationships. I do not support child marriage but lets be real. It was happening before Islam and before Christianity. If a farmer or a tribesman was poor and could not feed a child he sold her.

My Islam My Choice by Samuel Arcelay Buy now Amazon FREE Delivery.

It's ancient history. I'm not in agreement with it but PEOPLE ARE SELECTIVE WITH THEIR CRITICISM. They focus on Islam and ignore centuries of other people that did the same thing.

In the 7th century this was common not only in Arabia but in many parts of the world. There was no hope of college education or a career for a woman. If the girl had a menstrual cycle she was considered an object of sex and value.

Islam was revealed to a people of Arab decent in the 7th century, dominated by tribal and clan culture. Men dominant, women inferior, taught to be submissive, having no rights and considered property. Islam and The Quran and Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) changed that. However, the fact remains, everything in life is subjective to an individual perception and interpretation. As humans we FILTER what we see though the eyes of what we already believe, our experience and what we are taught by our parents. Eastern cultures such as Arabia Iraq Iran Pakistan Afghanistan etc all have conditioning in their culture that men are dominant and women remain silent and that to ask questions and express difference of opinion is rebellious and rejecting faith. Just look at what they do to people especially women, when they protest or refuse to be obligated to practice religion.

They are frozen in time but living in a modern world. I dont say Muslims should abandon Islamic tradition and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad I am saying that scholars and hadith and teachings of ancient people in the 7th century reflect ancient mentality. Yes the Quran tells us to do and to avoid certain things, but no person has the right to punish another if he or she does not want to comply or if he or she has a different point of view.