The increasing presence of Islam in Western nations, such as Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Scandinavian countries, has sparked concerns about cultural integration. These nations, which welcomed immigration to address labor shortages, did not anticipate the cultural challenges that would arise. As Muslim populations grow, many form distinct communities that may not fully assimilate into the cultural norms of their host countries. In Western legal systems, Islam’s status as a religion grants it protections that shield certain practices from legal scrutiny, based on claims of spiritual beliefs and moral principles. Without this religious designation, some argue that Islam’s influence and practices might face greater resistance, similar to how political ideologies like communism are scrutinized.

Argument:  Islam Should Not Be Treated as a Religion

1.  Islam as a Comprehensive Ideology, Like Communism
Religions are often understood as systems primarily concerned with spiritual beliefs, personal morality, and metaphysical questions (e.g., the afterlife, divine existence). However, Islam, like communism, extends beyond these boundaries to encompass a complete socio-political, legal, and economic framework.  Islam’s use, however, of the spiritual, personal morality and the metaphysical have become a ruse for It’s global intentions. 

•  Islam’s Scope: Islam, through texts like the Quran and Hadith, and interpretations such as Sharia, provides detailed prescriptions for governance, law (e.g., criminal and family law), economics (e.g., zakat, prohibition of usury), and social conduct. This makes it a holistic system akin to an ideology that governs both public and private life.  View them as a Constitution or Manifesto. 

•  Communism’s Scope: Communism, as articulated by Marx and Lenin, similarly offers a totalizing worldview, dictating economic systems (collectivization, abolition of private property), political structures (dictatorship of the proletariat), and social norms. It is not classified as a religion because it addresses worldly governance rather than spiritual salvation.

•  Comparison: Both Islam and communism function as ideologies that seek to regulate society comprehensively, far from religions like Christianity or Buddhism, which often focus more narrowly on spiritual or moral guidance and coexist with secular legal systems.

2.  Absence of Separation Between Church and State
A key feature of religions is their ability to operate within a secular framework, where spiritual beliefs are distinct from state governance. Islam, in its fundamental, traditional and historical applications, rejects this separation.

•  Islamic Governance: In Islamic states, especially when a majority is attained, Sharia serves as the basis for law (Islamic Law), merging religious authority with political power. This merging lays the groundwork for a constitution, written or unwritten, a framework for local, state, national or global governance.That is what occurred in 1979 Iran when the Ayatollah returned from exile, assumed control and combined State Law with Islamic Law.  Historical caliphates and modern examples like Iran or Saudi Arabia illustrate this fusion, where religious texts directly inform state policy.

•  Communist Parallel: Communism explicitly rejects the separation of ideology and state, insisting that the state must embody its principles to achieve its goals. Like Islam in certain contexts, communism demands that its ideological framework dominate all aspects of governance.

•  Implication: This lack of separation aligns Islam more closely with ideologies like communism, which are treated as political systems rather than religions, as they seek to control state mechanisms directly.

3.  Universalist and Expansionist Aims
Both Islam and communism share universalist ambitions, aiming to establish their systems globally, which differentiates them from religions that often prioritize individual or communal spiritual practice.

•  Islam’s Universalism: Islam’s concept of ummah (global Muslim community) and historical practices of spreading Sharia through conquest or dawah (proselytizing) reflect a goal of universal application. This mirrors political ideologies more than spiritual religions.

•  Communism’s Universalism: Communism’s call for a global proletarian revolution and the eventual dissolution of nation-states similarly seeks worldwide adoption. This expansionist drive is why communism is seen as a political ideology, not a religion.

•  Contrast with Religions: Religions like Hinduism or Judaism typically lack this universalist, expansionist mandate, focusing instead on cultural or ethnic spiritual practices, making them less akin to ideological systems.

4.  Justice as a Central Concern
A key overlap between Islam and communism is that both prioritize systemic justice over individual spiritual salvation.

•  Islam and Justice: The Quran emphasizes adl (justice), with Sharia providing mechanisms to enforce social and economic equity (e.g., zakat to redistribute wealth, punishments to deter crime). This systemic approach to justice aligns with ideological frameworks that seek to restructure society.

•  Communism and Justice: Communism’s core aim is to eliminate class oppression, achieving justice through economic equality and state-controlled redistribution. Its focus on societal restructuring over spiritual concerns is why it is not deemed a religion.

•  Conclusion: Islam’s focus on justice as a societal mandate, rather than solely a personal moral virtue, positions it closer to communism’s ideological framework than to a purely religious one.

5.  Historical Treatment as a Political System
Historically, Islam has often been treated as a political force rather than a private faith, reinforcing the case for its classification as an ideology.

•  Examples: The Ottoman Empire, Umayyad Caliphate, and modern movements like the Muslim Brotherhood have leveraged Islam as a political and legal system, not merely a spiritual practice. This mirrors how communist regimes (e.g., Soviet Union, Maoist China) implemented their ideology as state policy.

•  Communism’s Treatment: Communism is universally recognized as a political ideology because it seeks to reorganize society through state power, not because it addresses spiritual needs. Islam’s historical role in state-building suggests a similar classification as a political ideology.

•  Implication: If communism is not a religion due to its political nature, Islam’s parallel role in governance supports a similar non-religious categorization.

Counterarguments and Rebuttals

•  Counterargument: Islam’s Spiritual Core
Critics might argue that Islam’s belief in Allah, prophethood, and the afterlife makes it inherently religious, unlike communism’s atheism.

•  Rebuttal: While Islam includes spiritual elements, these are secondary to its practical prescriptions for societal organization.  They simply allow for education in madrassas and sermonizing in mosques to incorporate in the minds of those under its control the hierarchy of authority.  Communism, too, has quasi-spiritual elements (e.g., utopian promises of a classless society), yet these do not qualify it as a religion. The presence of metaphysical beliefs does not preclude Islam from being primarily an ideology when its practical applications dominate.

•  Counterargument: Diversity of Islamic Practice
Some might claim that Islam’s varied interpretations (e.g., Sufism’s mysticism vs. Salafism’s legalism) make it too diverse to be reduced to an ideology.  Yet the foundational elements are the same, and the final outcome in a majority Islamic culture will trend towards governance conditioned on Sharia Law, with those in opposition, even the moderates, marginalized or eliminated. 

•  Rebuttal: Communism also has diverse strands (e.g., Marxism-Leninism vs. Trotskyism), yet it remains classified as an ideology. Islam’s core texts and historical practices provide a consistent framework for governance, justifying its ideological treatment despite variations.

Conclusion

Islam, like communism, functions as a comprehensive socio-political and legal system that seeks to regulate all aspects of life, from governance to justice. Its universalist ambitions, rejection of church-state separation, and historical role as a political force align it more closely with ideologies than with religions like Christianity or Buddhism, which prioritize spiritual over worldly concerns. Just as communism is not treated as a religion due to its focus on systemic change, Islam’s similar characteristics warrant a comparable classification.