Oh, I don't know. The 1972 Munich attack on the Israeli athletes, and the two attacks in 1983 in Lebanon certainly made plenty of people aware of Islam. Not to mention the dramatic changes in Iran after the fall of the Shah and the rise of the Ayatollah. The hostages they took while Carter was in office. If Atwood wasn't aware of Islam by 1985, she was a moron.
But my point is only that Atwood's story could very easily be placed in the Islamic world, and it would be ... well ... pretty accurate. But instead she placed it in the Christian world, where it is wildly unlikely to happen.