More accurately, its a totalitarian ideology that spreads by force and maintains itself in power through sheer terror. That is why there are practically no completely free societies in the Western sense of the word in the Muslim World. Good natured people like President Bush who blindly praise Islam, refuse to face up to the fact there is nothing peaceful or redeeming about it, as the present behavior of its adherents so vividly demonstrates. For the record, I prefer death to converting to Islam because the choice as it is structured is in truth no real choice at all.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus