Can there be New Ways of Understanding and Practicing Ancient Religious Teachings?

[Belacqua]

I think it is more accurate to say that I feel like a complete alien in this world sometimes and my reading in spiritual subjects are telling me that I am truly an alien in this planet.

Obviously none of us is alien in the sense that we come from another planet. Humans evolved here. But I know that's not what you mean.

The feeling of alienation has been an important topic in philosophy since at least the time of Hegel. This is a good introduction:

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/alienation/

In a nutshell, alienation in this sense is the feeling that one is separate from the world or from society in a way that's problematic. You don't feel at home in the world as it is. 

Naturally most people will blame you for feeling this way, because it's easy just to say that you ought to be better adjusted. But the fact that SO MANY people feel this way indicates that there are elements of our society which work to alienate people. Marx of course blamed the economy. But there have been many many different analyses of why people don't feel at home in the world and how we could improve matters. 

Albert Camus's most famous novel is L'Étranger, which is usually translated as The Outsider but could just as easily be The Alien. (Unfortunately people might buy it thinking it's a novelization of a SciFi movie.) Alienation is one of the main themes of Existentialist philosophy. 

https://blog.oup.com/2019/05/albert-camu...absurdity/

So it's a huge topic, but one that people have been thinking seriously about for some time. And I agree with you that spiritual solutions have, traditionally, been a way of dealing with this feeling. Religious belief can provide, among many other things, a sense of where and how a person fits into the universe. For the Existentialists, at least, alienation becomes an issue once religious belief becomes impossible. 

And I think you are right to connect this sense with the possibility of beauty in the world. Beauty is by definition something attractive, and if you are in a beautiful building or city street or garden you feel attracted to it. Ugliness repels and alienates. (This is not to say that I feel at home in every beautiful space -- it's just that a space in which I am happy to spend time is not one which is likely to alienate me.) Listening intently to Bach keyboard music gives the feeling that something, at least, is right in the world, and I am happy to be here. 

I am not sure what a "typical" Muslim is. There are a lot of different ones. One of the reasons that old religions continue to attract people is that while they claim to declare eternal verities, they also adapt and evolve. I see no reason at all why young Muslims who claim to be returning to some heart of true Islam couldn't readjust the practice of the religion to something better and more loving. I don't know much about it, but Sufism might be a good start. 

Do you know of any Muslim writers who offer positive guidance in this?