I did not say that Islam and culture were synonymous.heh Islam=culture. Anywhere supposedly with a Muslim majority has Islam as its central culture.
That must be why Pakistani culture is the same as Iranian culture which is the same as the cultures found in Hijaz and Yemen!
But, a predominate, strict, and highly involved religion will certainly effect and inform a culture. It is part of the culture.
I don't see how anyone can honestly sit there and claim that a culture and religion are completely separate. And in the case with Islam (as it would have been with Christianity in earlier ages), it is doubly perplexing since Islam sets itself up to be an integral part of society and individual behavior.