I was born and raised Muslim, and while I still identify with it, I am not super religious, more so spiritually than practicing. While I do believe in Islam's values, I am very skeptical of religious figures and mosques. An organization near me a few years ago wanted donations of at least $1,000 so they could build a mosque, but instead of telling people hey we are building a mosque please help out from the goodness of your heart, they were saying that if you pay $1,000 you get one brick in heaven, and the more bricks you get can build a house for you in heaven. This just sounded like a scam--I don't know if the Quran says that if you pay $1,000 to build a mosque you get a brick in heaven. But they did build a mosque, and I believe that they said you will get a brick in heaven for the donor's own benefit as a way to get people to donate, bc people were not donating to build a mosque, but for their own house in heaven.

Maybe this is just me not reading the Quran enough, but nowadays people are so tied to being Muslim in a very strict, nuanced way that people forget that Islam generally outlines a way of life. For example, my aunt says that I have to wear socks in front of men, or else I go to hell, and she firmly believes that. Or if I sleep a certain way I won't get into heaven, etc, just very little things that probably don't make or break going into heaven or hell but people get worked up by this. Like to each his own, people can practice religion how they want to , but my family always dictates specifically how I should practice Islam, when I don't do much besides the 5 pillars (I don't even wear a hijab).

I read about religious figures being accused of harassment, rape, assault, or committing fraud. I know that there are good religious preachers out there, but I have trust issues and some people give their entire heart and soul to a preacher instead of their own spiritual wellbeing. My mother is OBSESSED with a preacher, Nouman Ali Khan where she has him playing on full volume 24/7 on tv screens, computer screens, tablets all at once and has donated thousands of dollars to his organization. She is saying she is doing it to help others and help the "spread or preaching" of Islam and she will get into heaven, but tbh I don't know exactly what and how religious institutions divide the money. We put all this trust into an institution, just for some kind of fraud or scandal to come out later.

Nouman Ali Khan has been accused of harassment of women before, and paying women to keep their mouths shut (prob from donations). I don't know how true this is or not, but I believe it to an extent if multiple women have spoken up about this (as a rape survivor myself). My mom says that if we were not victims we should not believe it happened, but that's not true. The same could be said about religion, she wasn't there thousands of years ago when religions formed so why should she believe it, but we still do and practice it. I believe that donations to a reputable organization is okay, but that money should be placed more towards charity organizations such as "zakat", rather than large organizations where we don't know what the money is used for, or donate to the local mosque. Its like my mom worships the modern day religious figures than God. I'm sorry for ranting on, and I am not trying to throw any shade towards Islam, I think that people should focus more spiritually and on their way of life.

UPDATE: I truly appreciate the love on this post, I was so afraid to post it of what people might say or if the haram police would come after me, but I truly appreciate all of your comments. Obviously not EVERYONE succumbs to practicing religion by worshipping preachers and having a strict way of life, but I’m seeing it become more commonplace especially with technology. Like I said before, I’m just skeptical of large scale organizations that don’t explain what donations are used towards— hence why I think donating to a local mosque or a charity is better. I hope people find their inner peace with Allah within themselves, and not be drawn into showing off for others or falling into potential frauds.