The description person of faith (plural: people of faith) refers to any person who can be delineated or classified by an adherence to a religious tradition or doctrine, as opposed to those who do not publicly identify or in any way

espouse An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

a religious path. The term people of faith has been increasingly used in the twentieth and twenty-first century by religious adherents in Westernized countries who are critical of a perceived increase in public disenchantment or de-emphasis upon accommodation for religious adherents, although the term itself is used more as a catch-all term which is intentionally

non-denominational A non-denominational person or organization is one that does not follow (or is not restricted to) any particular or specific religious denomination. Overview The term has been used in the context of various faiths including Jainism, Baháʼí Fait ...

or non-specific to any particular religious path. A person of faith is said to belong to a faith community or faith-based community. The term is also criticized by advocates of

nontheistic Nontheism or non-theism is a range of both religious and nonreligious attitudes characterized by the absence of espoused belief in the existence of god or gods. Nontheism has generally been used to describe apathy or silence towards the subject o ...

positions for being inaccurate in its assumption of an underlying, unifying commonality between all religious observants - despite stark doctrinal differences and oppositional stances - simply for the purpose of reducing the influence of secular-minded individuals (similar to the term

person of color The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...

as a catch-all descriptor of non-white people, or the Islamic description of

people of the Book People of the Book or Ahl al-kitāb ( ar, أهل الكتاب) is an Islamic term referring to those religions which Muslims regard as having been guided by previous revelations, generally in the form of a scripture. In the Quran they are ident ...

to describe the communities of adherents to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

, Christianity, and Judaism).

Persian term (in Islam)

In Islam, there is a Persian term called اهل ایمان, which literally means "people of faith". It is first founded in the Persian translation of the Quran by Mirza Mahdi Elahi Ghomshei (1901 - 1973) based on the following example below: .ای اهل ایمان ، روزی حلال و پاکیزه‌ای که ما نصیب شما کرده‌ایم بخورید و شکر خدا به جای آرید اگر شما خالص خدا را می‌پرستید Meaning: O people of faith, eat the lawful and pure foods which We have bestowed upon you, and be grateful to Allah if you sincerely worship Him. Source: Quran, Surah al-Baqarah, verse 172

References

{{Authority control Neologisms Religious identity