Okay, I'll put in some little bits and pieces I remember, brought about from Techmage's post.
About the multiple wives thing, a Muslim man is allowed to have up to 4 wives, but he has to treat them equally. If he buys wife #2 a car, wives 1, 3, and 4 should also be getting a new set of wheels. A woman is not allowed to have multiple husbands, however, as that would cause problems if she gets pregnant (who's the father, etc)
As for the veil thingy, there was actually a story in the paper a few months ago about a female Muslim police officer who got really pissed because they wouldn't let her wear her burka on the job.
And IIRC, a jihad is actually just to take things under Muslim rule, not to convert or punish others. Everyone would be treated fairly under this rule (I'm not sure if that's what I read, though... it may have said that Muslims were treated better, which sounds like it makes more sense).
And you're not necessarily going to hell because you're not a Muslim. Basically they believe that Allah (literally "the god") sent his message to us through prophets, starting with Moses. Muhammed is just the last and greatest of them. So theoretically if you're Christian or Jewish, you're still worshipping the same god and the same ideals, just being a Muslim is better because Muhammed was the greatest of the prophets.
But in a way I kinda wish I was doing the project
I'm just totally fascinated by religion and love studying it. Unfortunately I have to wait 2 years until I get to take the Old Testament course at my school
[edit]and I'll see if I can find my book on Amazon. It's not necessarily the biggest of books, but it is a nice overview of all the major religions with a somewhat big section on Islam and overall a pretty nice read[/edit]
