Does Judaism consider Islam a violent and vile religion?

No, far from it. The problem with the violence and hatred that we see is not coming from Islam but rather from the radical people who also happen to be Muslim. In cultures where women and children are chattel and people can capture and enslave other people, Islam is not studied, the Quran is misunderstood and its people misrepresent it.

Many of these people come to America or live in Europe. They come from Palestine, from Iran, from Iraq and from other places. They continue their cultural practices and show no respect for other religions or the people who follow them. They are on our college campuses and they live in our cities.

Of the two major religions besides Judaism, Judaism considers Islam closest. Islam sees Allah as the spiritual promised land, a place to reach in one's spiritual growth. The way to get to him is shown in the other religions by their prophets. Of these prophets, Islam reveres both Jesus and Muhammet, but even these men are seen as guides, not deities. Islam is not a religion of idolatry as is Christianity which arose first from a group of Jews who revered their teacher and leader as the Messiah and decided that he rose alive to heaven and never died. Actually, other people in the Torah are thought to have risen alive to heaven. One was Enoch. Another was Elijah, the prophet.

For Christians, Jesus/Yeshua is still alive. The new Christological movement within Lubavitch Judaism is doing the same thing. For now, these people are still Jews, but one day, they may have a new name, just as those who followed the gospels of Jesus were and are still called Christians.