only human

Following up somewhat on the "I am Malcolm X" piece, I would want to add that Islam and Christianity have different anthropologies (views of humanity).

In Christianity, man was made "a little lower than the angels". Human beings are fallen, full of original sin, and are so twisted that it takes a dramatic radical miracle to save humanity. To err is human, to forgive divine. And if a human being shows up who manages to act righteously, the event is so amazing that such a person must be God incarnate.

But in Islamic anthropology, the angels were commanded to bow down to Adam. To be a human being means to be the khalif (vicegerent) of Allah. There is no original sin. We were all born Muslim, according to fitra (nature). Not just Jesus and Muhammad but all the prophets are believed to be sinless. And the prophets don't come to radically change our nature, the come to remind us of the things we already know deep inside. A righteous human being, is just doing what a human being is supposed to be doing, is exemplifying human nature. But when we fall short of that high standard, we are actually less than human, we are acting like apes and pigs.

....
It reminds me of the gom jabbar scene in Dune. The gom jabbar is a kind of test. A person puts their hand inside a special box while someone else holds a poison-tipped needle by their jugular. The box induces strong increasing sensations of pain. But the person being tested must demonstrate a strong determination, willpower, and concentration and keep their hand in the box or else they will be killed with the needle. If they pass the test they will be considered "human". If not, they are an animal.

There are actually a number of other places where Arabic/Islamic themes play a role in the Dune stories. Here is actually a brief complilation of some of them. And if you are unfamiliar with Dune altogether is the main Dune page on Wikipedia