The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word ISLAM
I
S
L
A
M
More clues leading to the result ISLAM
- Is Buddhist priest ignoring a major religion?
- Belief system primarily dividing country in revolution
- Religion is supported by priest, though not entirely
- African country about to embrace second religion
- First person to denounce religion
- Faith, by itself, aims for only half its members to be seen
- Faith doctrine sweeping across Louisiana
- Mali’s new religion
- The Muhammedan world is hit
- Doctrine taking in the Italian faith
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "one of the world’s leading faiths" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case one of the world’s leading faiths = islam.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.