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JRP Skill Builder 1 (Barbato): Background

EQ: Can Sunnis and Shias be considered followers of the same faith?

Mapping the Global Muslim Population

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life • Mapping the Global Muslim Population, October 2009

Vocabulary & Terms

Islam – the religion of Muslims, a monotheistic faith regarded as revealed through Muhammad as the Prophet of Allah.

Muslim – a follower of the religion of Islam.

sect – a religious denomination, generally used to describe a group that has separated from a larger group to which they belong.

secular – attitudes, activities, or other things that have no religious or spiritual basis.

Shia Islam – the second largest denomination of Islam; Shiites are currently in power in Iraq.

Sunni Islam – the largest branch of Islam; ISIS is Sunni.