Startup and secular/religious considerations in MENA

My short answer is - you're in the business of selling products, not religion. So, yes, stay far away from religion, especially when it is such a hot topic in the region.

However, there are practical considerations as well. Does staying away from religion mean not sending a "Eid Mubarak" or "Merry Christmas" message out to customers? Here my only advice is to tread carefully. If you do it for one religious group, you must do it for all. The point is to not seem biased to one group or the other. It is tough call but remember your place in your customers life - to offer them a service/product, nothing more or less.

1.
Don't worry about religious issues as it's not that much of a big deal as one would think.

We had a similar discussion when our business network was named "Muslim Business Club" (we changed to "Salam Business Club" last year) and never had one single complaint about it (we weren't and aren't promoting any religious messages, it's just some basic concepts in the Shariah that we adhere to, such as not allowing interest-related businesses on the platform etc.).

Anyways, I can tell you from my own experience that as long as your website/project is being respectful towards other religions, or non-believers, you won't face any trouble. In fact if you don't show any signs of overzealousness in the religious aspects of your website/project, such as comparing your religion to other religions, you don't have to worry about anything. In our case it even sparked interest as a lot of the interviews we had were based around the curiosity of the interviewer/his audience on Islam the Shariah and the Arab/Muslim business world - yes, it brought in press/radio interviews.
As a matter-of-fact we felt that our explanations and the way we conveyed the concepts behind our idea actually gained us some respect. It always depends on how you transport the idea and how you run your project and not that much about what it's about. In our case the rate of non-Muslims on the platform keeps rising as they don't feel intimated by the religious aspects.

When you reach that point then you know that you're on the right track in terms of external communication.

2.
On the other side you need to look at your own personal expectations of what you're making money or spending your time with. We turned down investment offers because they included some form of "direct" interest or would have associated us with businesses that we didn't want to be associated with - either from a religious or from a cultural point of view.
Just ask yourself if you feel fine running a project or working for a company that acts against your religious or cultural beliefs. Also ask yourself if you're able to distinguish between your private life and your job life in terms of your daily schedule, tasks and the decisions you'd have to make.

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Those two aspects are probably more like food for thought than an actual answer but as your question is more of philosophical nature you will have to put some more thinking into it and won't be able to just get a yes/no answer. Anyways, I hope the ideas and suggestions I outlined help you make a decision :-)

Salam
Rias