I grew up in the south, so my exposure to Islam was minimal and the "muslimness" of Dune completely went over my head. When I re-read it recently (before I even knew the movie was coming), it was so obvious to me now.

Ffs the book literally talks about Sunni philosophy and jihad.

lmfao... not exactly subtle is it? not exactly something that requires "close reading"?

OK, but is Dune in fact not debunking concept of religion? ."Mahdi" is effect of genetic program of Bene Gesserit, prophecies are cynical inventions of BG. All "supernatural" elements are effects of genetic manipulation, special training and/or superdrug. There is no God in Dune (well, there is God Emperor). Any "religious" element has (quasi)rational basis. And yes, Fremen religion has Muslim elements, but also many non-Muslim ones. It is focused on water to the point that killing strangers with goal of obtaining their water for the tribe is commendable deed. They have common practice of duels to death - to settle disputes, to determine leadership... They treat sandworms as embodiments of God. They have sacred crysknifes and many rituals connected with them. All these elements are defnitely more prevalent - at least in "main" books, not appendixes - than Muslim ones. It is definitely more common for Fremen to talk about water, crysknifes and Shei-Hulud, than quoting Quran. I definitely don't deny Muslim influences in Dune or state that analyzing them is not interesting, but they should not be overestimated.

El-Shadai sounds like it’s from Dune. Its not.!It’s another name for God in the Old Testament. You go back far enough and Islam, Christianity and Judaism all sound alike.

I had a Jewish friend who said it was all from the Torah….. I imagine folks read into things what they want.

Haven’t re-read in a while, but the first book struck me as rather Christian… Messiah figure and all…. While the second (to my mind) smacked of Buddhism.