To discuss a little further what Amra is saying, I have always found it interesting how much religions (at least moralistic religions) parallel one another, and how these parallels can cause massive amounts of misunderstanding. To take for example the religion of Christianity and its two main sects, the ROman Catholics and the Protestants. These two groups often find themselves at ends to one another, and never really ask why. I have always believed that their animosity derives from a fundamental difference in the idea of God, one, the Protestants, typically believe in a God that is more active in the world, one who takes action to directly save man, where as Romans tend to believe in a God that is more withdrawn, uninvolved, and accesible only through certain channels. This basic fundamental difference on the one hand explains their differing theologies and on the other drives a wedge between the two of them.
Islam seems to have the same problem with Christianity, namely one of basic misunderstanding, and this is where Amra briefly touched on. Islam is a much more deterministic faith than Christianity. Many of its rules, and many which Westerners find odd, stem from the fact that we believe in free will to at least some extent, wherein Islam it is largely refuted. Things happen because Allah wills them. That is why you can speak to, say from personal experience, an Iranian about seeing him tomorrow at the class you have had together for an entire semester and he will still say 'God willing.' It also explains a phenomenon in many Gulf countries American soldiers wonder at. Often Kuwaitis will abondon late model luxury cars on the road because of a minor problem, or because they have died because the oil was never changed. To the Kuwaiti itis not unusual, the car's usefulness has past and it was only built to go that far. They have enough money to buy another one.
Now this is not to say that there have not been Christian denominations as fatalistic as traditional Islam is, the Clavinists are an excellent example of such a sect, but for the most part those sects have waned in their popularity. It is strange, I think, that such small thing as the idea of God's ability to touch the world, or the idea of free will should create so much havoc in the world, but c'est la vie. That's what makes it inreresting to be alive.
