6. What is Islam?

Religiously Literate

With so many religions in the world it can be hard to keep up with what everyone believes. Religiously Literate is here to help! Join Jay and Ryan on this episode as they discuss a religious movement started in Arabia

In this episode, we discuss Islam, including an overview of history and basic practices, dispel popular misconceptions, and discuss how Islam sees itself as related to other traditions in the world

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SHOW NOTES:

Terminology

Shahadah - declaration of faith
Salat - daily prayer
Zakat - alsmgiving
Sawm - fasting
Hajj - pilgrimage to Mecca
jihad - inner struggle of good Muslim to strive to be a better person or to serve the Muslim community*
Quran - Muslim holy scripture revealed to Muhammad*
hadith - reports of the "words, deeds, or silent approval" of Muhammad*
Allah - God
caliph - supreme Muslim leader who has both religious and secular authority who governs the caliphate*
Shi'a - the minority of Muslims who favor hereditary succession of the caliph*
Sunni - the majority of Muslims who favor caliph succession by community consensus*
shari'a - Islamic law
sura - a chapter, or division of the Quran*
*definitions taken from Vaughn, Lewis. Anthology of World Religions: Sacred Texts and Contemporary Perspectives. (2017) Oxford University Press: New York.

Muslim World map

Islam (World Religions and Spirituality Project)

Hajj through Snapchat video

Ruthven, Malise. 2012. Islam: a very short introduction. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Music used in this episode includes “City of Jewels” by Destiny & Time as well as a version of the Islamic call to prayer entitled "Adhan Egypt" sourced from praytimes.org