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The Islamic religion was created and based on a time when certain things made sense for the survival, social structures and environment of it's followers in the first Millennium. As with all religions, they serve a purpose and fill a need at the time.
That time for the modern world has passed and while most other organized religions allowed themselves to be diluted/eroded over time, Islam put in place things that would stop this erosion; no likenesses of the prophet (he remains sacred and therefore cannot be mocked or humanized), the all (Islam) or nothing stance in relation to other religions, the strict sociopolitical laws inherent to Islam, etc.
In it's conservative form, everyone outside of Islam is an enemy. I don't say this to antagonize - the Quran is clear on this - there are 109 verses in the book that call followers to war against non-believers to sustain Islamic rule.
I have a lot of Muslim friends, most of whom are extremely moderate, dress completely western, drink occasionally, have wealth etc, and they will tell you that they abhor the extremism within their religion, but were they start getting really vague and struggle to answer, is when you start talking about separation of Church and state - religion and law.
This is Islam's worst idea and why Islam will always be at odds with anywhere that does not want to follow Islamic law. It made sense in 800ad when you needed a common rule of law and a way to unite disparate tribes. It's a terrible idea to attempt to apply medieval law to the modern world.
This current conflict is really about power. The clerics at the center of the extremist movement are consolidating power. Islamic state is nothing more than a great marketing tool to unite different tribes under one banner, with one common enemy. And it's working because the enemy is happy to spend our taxes "defending peace".
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