Today, there is little mystery left in the culture Herbert based the fremen of Dune on. The world is smaller, we know more, we have more global information at our fingertips than ever before in human history.
So we don't have the same kind of "alien" view of the terrestrial desert and its inhabitants that we did back in 1965. The Islamic bases for the fremen culture are more familiar to us now and we can pick them out as we read.
Herbert did his research (which was extensive, according to his son), then he wrote a piece of fiction where he took his data and made it conform to the universe he created. And it was an epic universe in its detail and completeness.
Nor was Islam the only influence on his fictional universe. The ideas of eugenics, manipulation of populations through religion, political intrigue, reliance on oil (a single commodity), personal journeys and growth and change..... He took and wove these threads into a tapestry of storytelling that remains unsurpassed to this day.
Allegory, perhaps - a view of what could happen if we do not rein in our various appetites. But at the end of the day it was an epic work of science fiction. Which is how it should be viewed.
To equate it to current events would be a mistake.
Please don't just blindly follow the blind....
I am
Dawg
