The rocky road of “Qur'an Islam” tries to distance Islam from all of the religion's visible aspect, imprisoning it in the labile world of feelings.
Accordingly, the Qur'an has not made alcohol forbidden; it has only seen it in a negative light. Women need not cover; the Qur'an rather places restrictions on dressing provocatively. What is banned in the Qur'an is not interest, but rather loan-sharking. Looking at these views, there is only one way in which such interpretations can be understood: a denial of the authentic Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, in other words following in the path of the Prophet in order to best understand and live Islam. If you were to actually follow the path which supporters of such views take, you would see that their argument is that the aspects of Islam which clash with the human intellect and the indisputable principals of the modern world have become part of Islam by way of hadith. While some amongst them say that there have been fabricated hadith mixed in with the lot of other authentic hadith, and thus none of them can be trusted, others argue that the only duty of the Prophet was to relay the divine message of the Qur'an and that assigning any duty to him that exceeds this would be akin to shirk. We can even witness at times that the same person supporting such narrative uses different arguments, changing his or her argument. When we ask about the verses which describe the status and duties of the Messenger of Allah in the Qur'an (you can find these in many of the writings on this matter located on Lastprophet.info), they respond with memorized, cliché answers. Then should one not ask, "Should I chose your interpretation or that of the whole of the scholars of Islam from the companions of the Messenger of Allah until today (the faqih, mufassir, muhaddith, ahli Sunnah and the great imams) have supported and why?
How many people witnessed the practice by the Messenger of Allah on matters of prayer times, method of prayer (for example the impermissibility of prayer while naked), the practice of Zakaat, the proper understanding and application of the countless commandments on jihad and war, the performance of Hajj and matters of attire? How many people applied these commands in those days? Did the Messenger of Allah apply these commandments with a handful of people in the wilderness or with thousands of people before the entire world?
Surely they must have thought of this and prepared an answer, but let's still ask anyway, "Who told you the Qur'an is the truth and how do you have confidence in this?" Instead of being honest and saying, "I don't have the heart to apply Islam as the Prophet understood and applied it and as Allah approved of it. As such, I ask for Allah for his forgiveness," they chose to attempt to distort the most reliable path to Islam which has survived from its first day until today. I don't know what the psychological and social reasoning for this could be. However, as a mere lecturer, I can say that I have observed the following: These friends don't wish to carry the weight of Islam, they do however, want to be partners to those who carry this weight with many difficulties and the honor that is bestows upon them (both in this world and the next). In other words, they turn a blind eye to the indisputable applications of Islam and refuse to pull their weight, while wishing that there be no difference in level of piety between them and the most reliable of believers. As such, they try to formulate a description of piety that makes the aspects of religion which are difficult for them, unnecessary.
This is an effort that will go in vain. Because the real definition of piety and is given in the Holy Qur'an and not left to our own vices: " But no, by the Lord, they can have no (real) Faith, until they make thee judge in all disputes between them, and find in their souls no resistance against Thy decisions, but accept them with the fullest conviction." (Qur'an, 4:65)
