How People Have Rethought Islam

Last week, I posted about the definition of a cult and how one of the major components of that definition is a deviation in beliefs from the mainstream religion. So, the next question I wanted to answer through my research was how NRMs, specifically Islamic NRMs, even come to existence.

Rethinking of Islam has occurred since the beginning. One of the first examples of major rethinking of Islam occurred during the Wars of Apostasy which was sparked  because of tribes refusing to pay zakat to the ruler of the Muslims, Abu Bakr. Believing in the necessity of paying the zakat is part of the basic requirements of being Muslim (alongside believing in one God and Muhammad (S) as the final prophet, praying, fasting in Ramadan, and pilgrimage). Although this rethinking of Islam amounted to tribes essentially leaving it, simply reinterpreting certain texts can keep one in the fold of Islam while making your beliefs stray from the mainstream.

Rethinking Islam has been done in many ways. For example, some groups look at the Quran, the holy book Muslims believe to be the word of Allah (God), through different lenses like humanism or feminism. New interpretations of the Quran can even arise from new scientific facts that have been discovered. Another way Islam has been rethought is through rethinking Sharia, and this can be seen with countries passing laws that don’t strictly adhere to Islam.

Throughout Islam’s history, there have been many interpretations and applications of the Quran and Sharia, and even mainstream Sunni Islam has schools of thought that differ on certain topics. However, not all reinterpretation is created equal. Next week, I will continue this conversation and I will also begin researching case studies of Islamic NRMs.