I can read the Quran myself - Please answer my questions:
Who told you Quran is God's word?
How did you come to know that Quran was recorded under the DIRECT supervision of the prophet Muhammad ?
How did you come to know that the Quran was memorized word for word as soon as it was transmitted?
Citizen X help him
Seems like your the one that needs help since you can't seem to make the distinction between Quran ( word revealed to mankind through his prophet ) and hadith ( word of man scribed down centuries later by defeated Persians that had an axe to grind against the Arabs and still do for brining down their "glorious Persian empire" something they remain sore about till this day)
And before you ask, which I know you will, how do I know the Quran is the word of God? One reason among many because of all the scientific knowledge in it, which is impossible for a man living in the desert 1400 years ago to know who did not attend any universities or lived in center of knowledges of the time, scientific knowledge some of which the rest of world came to know of very recently.
Like how becomes difficult to man to breathe the higher up he goes, or how its becomes darker and then eventually pitch black the deeper you dive into the ocean, that pain receptors are present only in the skin, the whole birth cycle, how the planets have orbits so on and so forth.
Then there are many other reasons also. Like how the Quran has no contradictions, predicted the success of the Prophet and Islam in general for it to spread winning unwinnable battles against massive forces and armies. There is basically proof for every man from all walks and all types of thinking men/women on why the Quran is the true book of Allah, if one only cares to read and ponder.
And once you have established the Quran is a book of Allah then you cannot just believe in bits and pieces of it and then choose to ignore parts.
And you talk about keeping an open mind? This is exactly what I implore you to do. You think it was easy growing up living, obeying, worshipping, praying, regular hadith beliveing, Sunni, Mullah following, born in a Muslim household man for 45 years and then realizing after two years of deep dive looking into and research that 99% of what you have been believing and following is nothing but a big lie?
I can't say for sure but I think this is even more difficult to do that converting to a Muslim from a religion like Hinduism or something.
Trust me, it will mess up your mind and play all sorts of games in your head. BUT Alhamdulillah every doubt and fear I would come across the Quran itself would clear. For example. For the longest time I thought I can't be right. This is so wroooooonnng!
How come so many Muslims and for so many years/centuries be wrong about it. It must be that I am the one who is wrong and at fault with my thinking.
But then I came across the Ayah 170 from Surah Baqarah : And when it is said to them, "Follow what Allah has revealed," they say, "Rather, we will follow that which we found our fathers doing." Even though their fathers understood nothing, nor were they guided?
So just because a large number of people have been believing and doing something, doesn't make it right. And numbers and age of a belief or practice doesn't matter.
This is just one instance. There have been many like this along the way. And I am not 100% there yet and still learning. But my basic concepts have been cleared and I believe I am if not on the right path, certainly heading in the direction of the right path.
