emilysmith wrote:edit: The main problem I have encountered is the unwillingness of people in the Muslim world to engage this subject with any degree of objectivity. One might assume that the "overwhelming" opinion is an extension of the entire region to be uncooperative to anyone who may possess a contrary view.
Even simple questions have earned me death threats from Muslims on Facebook. The explicit nature of of how they planned to punish me was even worse in some other places, and I hadn't even come close to sharing the most conflicting opinion that Mohammed didn't even write the Quran.
Having been in business in Abu Dhabi with a US educated member of a relatively prominent local family, and having spent time in his home and on long drives through the desert at night, I have perhaps a little different take on how many Muslims really view their religion.
Unlike the situation that Emily reports (which I have no doubt is absolutely accurate), this colleague was not particularly sensitive or unwilling to talk about religion (after some mutual trust was built).
He divided his world according to "traditional" life and "modern" life. In traditional life, he wore the traditional thobe (distasha in UAE) and ghutra, generally prayed 4 times a day (not the obligatory 5 times) and really did not care how the Koran came to be, but let the mullahs and imams worry about that.
In the "modern" life, he wore a suit and tie, spoke at least 4 languages fluently, and made a ton of money because of his position as a smart and highly educated "local" working for French Total. His son vacationed with our family at Lake Powell (where there were unrelated teenage girls in swimsuits).
In this mode (usually when in France, the US or the UK) he did not generally pray during the day, expressed belief in (and showed a sophisticated understanding of) evolution, and wondered aloud if the Gulf Arabs would "get it" before their oil resources ran out and they went back to herding camels (his words, not mine).
The version of how the Q'uran came to be with which he agreed was that it was received by Muhammad, through the angel Gabriel, in bits and pieces over a period of some 20 years, was carried on by oral tradition, and not really written down as a combined work until after the death of Muhammad. Islam is very decentralized and fragmented. There is no Pope or president. Nobody is really in charge except within individual countries. There are more than a dozen recognized versions of the Q'uran.
While there are clearly Muslims who would kill infidels who they believed were insulting Islam, there are also many who know deep down that traditional Islam is BS and simply play the game when in country in order to get along (sort of like NOMs).
Living for years at a time in both the Kingdom and the Emirates, I was often struck by the many similarities between Mormonism and Islam, as well as the variety of ways that those who were born into these religions (he and I included) coped with this unfortunate circumstance.