Not sure if this really fits, but I wanted to clarify some issues regarding Islam. The Islamic religion is not necessarily an update on Christianity. They are both updates on Judaism. Christians believe that, with the birth and death of Jesus, the title of "chosen people" transferred from the Jews to them. Muslims believe that with the revelation of the Qur'an to Muhammad, the title of "God's chosen" is moved to them. In Islam, Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians are seen as “people of the book”, and are not included among the “unbelievers” and therefore are dealt with differently. Muslims historically see the Christians as wrong only in the emphasis they place on Jesus. According to the Qur'an, Jesus is merely a prophet, nothing more. In the Qur'an, in the sura about Mary, Jesus, as a baby, says:
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I am the servant of God. He has given me the Book and ordained me a prophet. His blessing is on me wherever I go, and He has exhorted me to be steadfast in prayer and to give alms as long as I shall live. He has exhorted me to honor my mother and has purged me of vanity and wickedness. Blessed was I on the day I was born, and blessed I shall be on the day of my death and on the day I shall be raised into life.
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Christianity and Islam have the same base. The truly major differences between the religions are cultural, rather than religious. For example, the five pillars of Islam are: Shahada (confession), Salat (prayer), Zakat (almsgiving), Saum (fasting), and Hajj (pilgrimage). Similar ideas can be found in Christianity. However, you could claim that, historically, Muslims have been more intelligent about using their faith, despite the lack of any concept of a secular state. In the Pact of Umar from the 7th Century, a set of conditions for non-Muslims under Muslim rule, requires non-Muslims simply to not ostentatiously display their religions or impede the Muslims in any way. They are also required to pay slightly higher taxes. However, if you take a look at what happened during the aftermath of the 1st Crusade, when the Christians actually accomplished something (taking Jerusalem), they gave no thought to making political enemies or alienating the people who lived there first. It was a massacre. During the penitential pilgrimages that took place between the major Crusades, the knights just wanted to go, kill some “pagans”, and leave. This wreaked havoc on the Christian leaders who had set up kingdoms in the area.
(For the record, I was Lutheran all my life, go to a Lutheran college in Minnesota, and am now far too apathetic to be religious. Furthermore, I refuse to believe in a God who tells someone to "kill thirty-one kings in all" (Joshua 12), or who appoints misogynistic jerks as his mouthpieces (Paul). I took a history class examining the Crusades and the Islamic counter crusade last semester and we read parts of the Qur'an (poorly translated) in another class this semester. I am not an expert on Islam, nor am I Muslim, and apologize for any mistakes or misunderstandings.
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