# Islām and Esotericism in the Eighth Century: The Umayyad Era and the Question of Islām as ‘Religion’

An episode of [Podcast episodes – The Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast (SHWEP)](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1295957854), 17 Sep 2026, 1 h 02 min.

Audio: https://media.shwep.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/16210156/SHWEP-Episode-220-Islam-in-the-Umayyad-Period.mp3

We discuss politico-religious developments among the Believers in the eighth century, setting the stage for a series of episodes exploring developments in esoteric Islām in the Umayyad period. We also discuss our evidence for how the Believers' movement became ‘Islām’ in the first place, also seemingly an Umayyad phenomenon.

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