every verse of the Quran and every hadith of the prophet must be followed to the letter.
Muslims are not literalist, there was too much effort done to compile the books and scripture you see in Muslims hands today, and [like organized religions] it's not for laymen to give rulings in Islam, and hence a Muslim is required to not build his belief on pure faith, but knowledge.
Every element of private and public life is regulated, and hence the social organization of Muslims is diametrically opposed to that of a democratic state.
Muslims [like Jews] have strict discipline ordained by God to follow, Jews are serious with the Torah's commandments and same are Muslims with the Islamic law.
When God told Moses He will send a prophet just like him in Deut 18:18, it was clear that this Prophet will have laws similar to Moses, 3000 years forward and here we are.
Christianity is much more diffuse and “relative”
Christians also have the laws of the Gospels, which they normally take from Jesus teachings [as we believe], and we already know that they are more concerned with spirituality [i.e. God's nature and theology], something that Jews lack in their doctrine, and we respect that both of them are different:
5:48
لِكُلٍّ جَعَلْنَا مِنكُمْ شِرْعَةً
وَمِنْهَاجًا ۚ وَلَوْ شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ لَجَعَلَكُمْ أُمَّةً وَٰحِدَةً
وَلَـٰكِن لِّيَبْلُوَكُمْ فِى مَآ ءَاتَىٰكُمْ ۖ فَٱسْتَبِقُوا۟
ٱلْخَيْرَٰتِ ۚ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ مَرْجِعُكُمْ جَمِيعًا فَيُنَبِّئُكُم
بِمَا كُنتُمْ فِيهِ تَخْتَلِفُونَ
To each of you We prescribed a law and a method. Had Allah willed, He would have made you one nation [united in religion], but [He intended] to test you in what He has given you; so race to [all that is] good. To Allah is your return all together, and He will [then] inform you concerning that over which you used to differ.
What real influence does Islam have on social structures, governments and societies?
Islam opposes secularism, which means a proper Muslim ruler must abide to the law prescribed by God:
5:45
وَمَن لَّمْ يَحْكُم بِمَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ
ٱلظَّـٰلِمُونَ
And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed - then it is those who are the wrongdoers [i.e., the unjust].
Islam teaches Muslims:
- Faithfulness: To testify that there's only God, and that Muhammad is His final messenger.
- Discipline: To offer the 5 daily prayers.
- Generosity: To pay obligatory charity money, i.e. Zakah.
- Strength: To fast the month of Ramadan.
- Sacrifice: To do one pilgrimage to God's Sacred House in lifetime, if able.
Hadeeth: https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin:1212
As for non-Muslims, they are free to practice their religions under Islamic authority as long as there's no immorality:
2:256
لَآ إِكْرَاهَ فِى ٱلدِّينِ ۖ قَد تَّبَيَّنَ ٱلرُّشْدُ مِنَ ٱلْغَىِّ ۚ
There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion. The right course has become distinct from the wrong.
Which reminds me of something Jesus said:
Matthew 13
31 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.
This doesn't sound to me like a religion that targets people's harm, but a system built by a Creator not from this earth, obviously.
