Hello cuddledkitty:
My 2 paises.
It is actually wrong to consider Islam a "strict monotheistic" religion. When analyzed further, the amount of shirk in Islam is fairly high. For, to be a Muslim, you need to recite the Shahadah - "La Ilaha Il Allah...". As you will notice, the Shahadah is incomplete without mentioning "Mohammed Rasool Allah". That is Shirk. [Muslims will not admit this, but one cannot say "La Ilaha Il Allah" alone without mentioning Mohammed in the same breath as Allah and that is shirk]
Next, let us come to idol worship. In my experience, Muslims like to accuse Hindus of "idol worship". When pointed out that bowing down to the Kaaba 5 times a day is also a form of "idol worship", Muslims become angry! Then when asked to define idol and then define idol worship in a fashion that would exclude bowing down to Kaaba 5 times a day, they cannot!
Third, the very fact that Allah's words are limited to the Quran is another form of idol worship. In fact, you will notice that Muslims are the most violent when someone burns the Quran or makes fun of Mohammed. In my experience, Muslims are ok with atheists [those who deny the existence of God] - they think this is a common burden facing all theists. But whenever someone like Ali Sina or Robert Spencer or Dawid Wood questions the character of Mohammed, they become extremely angry! They seem to have more concern for Mohammed than Allah. Shirk!
Fourthly, to be a Muslim, it is not enough you have a vague belief that some God exists. But more specifically, the entire Quran/hadiths have to be taken literally. That is, you HAVE to believe in the existence of arch-angels, like Jebriel, etc. You HAVE to believe in talking ants. You HAVE to believe in Buraq, the flying donkey on which Mohammed supposedly ascended to heaven. You HAVE to believe that Mohammed split the moon. You HAVE to believe that some insects attacked some invaders of the Kaaba, etc.
So, it is not just purely the existence of Allah that makes one a Muslim. It is so much more and all of this is just another form of idolatry/shirk.
Hope that clears your misconception that Islam is "monotheistic". Not by a long shot.
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