[Steve Van Doorn]

Islam doesn't call itself a religion they call their belief Iqamat-ud-Deen which has no clear translation but it means a complete system of life based around the Deen(religion) that incorporates highly detailed instructions on a political and social order. This makes it more of an ideology then it is a religion.

Technically Islam a religion but primarily it's an ideology.

[Sherman Logan]

A distinction without a difference.

All religions are ideologies.

Ideology: the body of doctrine, myth, belief, etc., that guides an individual, social movement, institution, class, or large group.

Religions are a subset of ideologies.

The idea that Islam is not a religion is based on the Christian idea of “Give unto Caesar,” implying a separation between religion and the rest of life.

Islam does not recognize that separation. It is a complete way of life.

It’s entirely accurate to say that it’s more than a religion, by western civ definitions. But it’s not accurate to say that because it incorporates aspects that we don’t normally consider religious it ceases to be a religion.