Islam's fundamental claims: closer to Christianity but built as a rejection of it — different God, no grace, no cross

Islam shares some surface features with Christianity (personal God, creation, sin, heaven/hell) but is fundamentally different and arose as a rejection of Christianity: (1) Islam devalues the love of God compared to Christianity; (2) Salvation is by faith plus righteous deeds, not grace alone; (3) Allah does not love the prodigal — he despises the rebellious; (4) Islam explicitly denies the crucifixion of Jesus — Jesus never went to the cross; (5) Paradise in Islam is a better-than-earth experience, but God is not personally present; in Christianity, the defining feature of eternity is personal fellowship with God (Revelation). These are irreconcilable contradictions, not complementary perspectives.