I am a white, western never-muslim, but I think I can give some perspective. I too like the Arabic language, I like Islamic architecture and history. I am able to respect the importance of the quran in shaping human history, I 'embrace' Islam as something that is part of the world's being the same way I 'embrace' every other drop of history, culture and spirit in the world. But that does not mean I follow it. It does not mean I believe it or find is tenets admirable as a moral framework for today. It does not mean I praise it.

I can put a picture of a Napoleon in the alps on my wall and admire the bravery and spirit it implies whilst loathing imperialism and war.

I can listen to Dvorak's new world symphony and be thrilled by the romanticized image of conquest and exploration in the Americas that it characterizes, whilst still comprehending the devilishness of genocidal colonialism.

I can admire the heights of the Roman Empire, its art and architecture, its wars and rivalries, the narrative that it has left. But that does not mean I would want it to return.

If you find praying and Islamic culture soothing then go for it. I meditate, yet it has no spiritual significance to me. I take the view that ultimately Islam is, like all other cultures and belief systems, just another manifestation of humanity. Read all about Islam, and every other religion and culture and civilization, but view all of them under an even light. There is no reason to hold Islam above any other idea as far as absolute truth goes, and do not be swayed by fear or a need to belong.

I can entertain the idea of a higher power or a greater spirit and would advise against an abandoning of such an idea, but I see its beauty through the sciences and arts, through mathematics and music. But I do not think for a second that said greater power is some sort of personal, human - minded being dictated his will to a single man in the Arabian desert. A man who lived and died like everyone else. The universe is too huge and too brilliant for such a narrow a vision of god to be anything more than a product of human superstition and imagination.