Whenever I think of this question, I remember an old friend/coworker of mine. He was quite an abrupt person; one that you would never think had a religious bone in his body. After I got to know him a little bit better, I found out that he used to be a Muslim. He went to prison for a few years, and in prison he said he had time to think and he found Islam. Now, he is a white guy... so this isn't going to fit into the Nation of Islam stereotype. He learned Arabic and was the imam (pastor/preacher/leader) at the prison. I asked him why he didn't follow Islam any longer and his answer was basically that he got distracted with his old ways when he got out. Anyway... when I told him I was thinking of reading the Qur'an, he told me "You're going to be a Muslim. You'll see the science in it and know it is the truth." He knew me pretty well, I guess, to know what things would stick out to me.
At first, I didn't much care for what the Qur'an had to say. I felt jabs at my own lifestyle, and kept thinking to myself "Hey, what did I do to you?" but the fact is, some of it started sinking in. I started asking myself if I was really following the best lifestyle, or the most convenient?
I noticed the logic and reason the Qur'an calls to all people. We are told to think, reflect, ponder, and come to conclusions about the most basic things around us. We are encouraged to ask questions and wonder why this world is crafted in the way it is. Think about how complex this world is, and how it could have become such a way. It is very hard for me to imagine pure evolution coming to this result. I also realized that Muslims weren't required to give up all science when believing the story of creation and that one of God's names is The Evolver. We do not need to throw away science in order to believe in God!
There are numerous scientific proofs in the Qur'an that point to the fact that the Creator of the Universe sent this revelation, to an illiterate person in a time of poetry and linguistics, but yet still marvels people today in our time of science and technology.
There are many places where one can find a listing of this verses that point to science, so I will save myself the effort of compiling them myself.
The Qur'an demands that one use logic and reason to come to the conclusion and not simply following what their ancestors worshiped, or what is "easier" or more convenient. We are told to find proof for what we believe. Feeling good about it isn't good enough! After all, don't you think Satan is going to make you feel great about following the wrong path?
I learned Islam from books, lectures by scholars, etc. I didn't learn from the Muslims I knew, which I'm very glad and fortunate because if I considered Muslim people as the authority on Islam, I have big questions on where I would be today.
Along with the scientific proofs, I found that historically, stories in the Qur'an are generally accurate. I take our historical science we have today with a grain of salt just because we see a few mistakes still from time to time.
Allah tells us in the Qur'an:
Do they not ponder on the Qur'an (with care)? Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found therein much discrepancy. [4:82]And thus far, I have not been able to find any contradictions or discrepancies when comparing one area of the text to another!! Now, I'm aware that contradictions in the Bible (10,000 people vs. 1,000, or the like) are chalked up to the authors getting something wrong, but over all the message is the same. I don't have to come to terms with anything like this, because there is only one author.
I am not told to "just believe" or that there is a "mystery" of God that I can't untangle. I know that if God created us with intellect and reason... something other species in this world do not have... then He must have created me in such a way that I can understand Him.
The "rules" just make sense. When we look at the general society, it makes sense to have such things in place. I think we have become a society of making rules on exceptions, which will entangle us more than we think.
Now, this didn't hit me as hard as it has since my faith has been questioned by others and I've been asked to read Christian literature numerous times, but the fact that the doctrine of Islam is explicitly stated in the Qur'an has kept me a Muslim and proven the message. God is not shy in how we are to worship Him and understand Him. We are told over and over and over and over and over (get it?) that we are to worship Him alone. There is no implicit statements about it. You are basically being hit over the head with a brick on this one item. Never should we construct a doctrine that we place the destiny of our souls in, with implicit statements.
I never wanted to be a Muslim. I never thought I would find an absolute truth that I could feel so confident with. The fact is though, after I finished reading the Qur'an, I could not think of how this book could have been written by a human being and thus the only logical thing for me to do was to be a Muslim.
