I'm an atheist, so my advice might be biased.

I don't think you should convert for the sake of having a religion. In my opinion, if what interests you is the philosophy, then try to practice it on your own. At least the parts you like. If you aren't interested in the rituals, then there is no reason to officially convert.

As you've observed, organized religions are millenia old, and as such, they carry a lot of cultural archaic baggage that they can't get rid of, because it would invalidate their dogma. You don't have to abide by those traditions if they don't represent you.

If you want the community that accompanies religious practice, I'd suggest looking up for a Unity Church near you. Although it's based on Christianity, it's a place of worship for people like you, who want a religion but are not attracted to the whole of it. They encourage you a lot to talk about your own version of what you worship and why. I tried it a few times in the UK and it was fun talking to Muslims, Budhists, Christians and Wiccans amicably in the same room.

I’ll try answering your questions from my point of view, being raised muslim, however atheistic in practice. This is thus a non-expert view and my only formal Islamic classes would have been in school, which was very barebones and westernised, and also weekend saturday schools. I have also lived a majority of my life in Islamic countries but also a minority in the West.

I have limited knowledge regarding Da’wah so any more knowledgeable comrades can correct me where I am wrong.

I’ll start with your first question because I think it is the most important out of all of them.

How can I call myself a Muslim without compromising my beliefs?

I think this is a wrong approach to Islam.

In Islam, belief and faith, is encapsulated in the word iman.

An important aspect of iman is that it goes beyond superficial acceptance. It is not enough to say the shahada and be done with it. You gotta live and breathe it.

And judging from your post you already encapsulate an important part of Iman, which is seeking knowledge. This is why if you read any introduction to Islamic philosophy, their first and foremost topic would be on knowledge production and reproduction. Because the way to showcase your faith is through learning and teaching - through practice.

My point is, whatever you allegedly think Islam is against - firstly, as mentioned by @Aru it’s not about your current perceived faults or unorthodoxy that requires you to compromise. One idea that separates Islam and Christianity is that, in Islam you are born pure but corrupted by material reality. Unless you extricate yourself from reality, everyday you will be making mistakes and faults which requires you to constantly reaffirm your iman. This important emphasis on action, on doing stuff in reality, rather than just in mental masturbation, makes Islam a versatile and realist religion.

Secondly, Islam continues to change and be reformed. As of now, it’s true that a majority of muslims may not approve of those exhibiting same-sex attraction or identifying as different from your assigned gender or outside the binary. But disapproval doesn’t mean excommunication, doesn’t mean dehumanization. There is a clear understanding that separates the private from the public. And there are those that view LGBT identities as perfectly compatible with Islam - that depends on the individual and eventually the community to figure out.

Is there a sect or denomination I can seek guidance from? Am I just wasting my - and your - time?

Your primary guidance will be the Quran. Your secondary guidance will ideally be any imam from a local Masjid.

As for the sects and denominations - they don’t really matter. And what I mean by that is that the basics are the same across denominations. You shouldn’t really concern yourself with it right now unless you are specifically interested because it becomes a really specialised affair. There’s a reason why there are scholars that specialise specifically in matters of fiqh, or jurisprudence.

Also Sufism is not a separate “sect” of Islam, it forms an essential part of the Islamic experience and Islamic history for ALL muslims. Certain muslims, especially those that follow orthodox Sunni jurists, often sideline Sufi thought which were then re-propagated by Orientalist scholars. It is important to recognise this lest we fall back in the colonialist trap.

It feels like appropriation for me to want to convert to a faith, but then pick and choose which parts of it I want to believe and follow. I dabble in tarot and the occult. I’m poly. I believe all consensual love is valid and sacred.

It may shock you to find out that muslims also practice black magic and the like. There have of course been a process “standardization” of such practices, and they are less common now as they are being dissuaded by mainstream Islamic councils.

But it’s definitely not appropriation. What we need now especially with the rising tide of Islamaphobia is those with humility, introspection and courage to understand Islam. In the end, you may decide to not get into it - and that’s fine, but the journey is as valuable as the destination.

I think this blog post, Interrogating The Border Between Rationality And Faith, will be helpful for you.

If you want to know more about my personal experience and thoughts, feel free to DM me or message me on Matrix.

About the LGBT friends, if they're not Muslims they don't follow the teachings of Islam, shouldn't matter if they're queer or not, and it wouldn't matter if they drank alcohol or not, there's also this part of quran [60:7] [60:8] [60:9].

As for mosques and Muslim issue with LGBT rights, you have to remember that a majority of Muslims were or are still victims of colonialism, and there was a wave of saudi american backed wahhabis teachings and madrassas, and that Muslims historically were less harsh on queer people than europeans, for example the ottomans legalized it way before most western countries. There won't be any well known sheikhs saying good things about queer people or doing an analysis more than "ew he put the wee wee in the poo poo" type of stuff, there's also the whole pink imperialism thing which discourages even talking about it. My phone will crash if I try to search this right now but I sure a lot of global south countries that aren't Muslim have issues with queer people (correct me if I'm wrong but also the DPRK isn't too good about it because they value the family or somethin?I don't remembe).

Finally, Islam doesn't expect you to be perfect, you're a human with flaws and are expected to make mistakes, even the prophet himself made mistakes, that's why there's forgiveness.

Not saying you should or shouldn't convert, just answering with what I know

I don't mean to dissuade you from this path you're taking but as a native person speaking to another native person, have you considered looking into your tribe(s) stories or attending ceremonies or powwows? I personally found comfort in connecting with my people's stories and meeting other two-spirit homies.

There's a possibility you're diaspora so I'll also add: have you tried reading the stories originating from the land you're on, and finding a relationship with the land that satisfies your spirit?

Why do you want to be spiritual? This isn't bad faith, I was raised without religion and just don't get it, outside of the fear of death (Nikolai Fyodorov's Common Task solves that for me and afaik many Soviet leaders as well).

Also the lady who wrote the newer Ms Marvel comic converted to Islam as a young adult, look up interviews with her. I definitely remember her talking about her reasoning in detail

E: also read her run of Ms. Marvel, it depicts muslims just getting to be people nicely. Oh and it's really good

@Al_Sham@hexbear.net can you help in this