Of the world’s great religions, perhaps westerners understand Islam the least. Although extremists sometimes grab headlines, Islam is a vast religious community encompassing a billion people. The most recent of the major religions, Islam’s sacred belief in the supremacy of God is strikingly common to Christianity and Judaism. Hear voices of westerners who have turned to Islam as a path of personal realization. Also, a discussion of the heartening book “Islam and World Peace,” with excerpts from the last major interview granted by its author, M.R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen.

Note: This is part of our series, “Kindred Spirits,” which contains four volumes of 12 half-hour segments.