Al-Shahrastānī

Tāj al-Dīn Abū al-Fath Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Karīm ash-Shahrastānī (1086–1153 CE) was an influential Persian historian of religions and a historiographer. His book, Kitab al–Milal wa al-Nihal (lit. The Book of Sects and Creeds) was one of the pioneers in developing a scientific approach to the study of religions. Besides these, he was also an Islamic scholar, philosopher and theologian.

Very few things are known about al-Shahrastānī's life. He was born in 1086 CE / 479 A.H., in the town of Shahristān (Khorasan province of Persia) where he acquired his early traditional education. Later, he was sent to Nīshāpūr where he studied under different masters who were all disciples of the Ash`ari theologian al-Juwaynī (d. 1085 / 478). At the age of thirty, al-Shahrastānī went to Baghdad to pursue theological studies and taught for three years at the prestigious Ash`ari school, al-Nizāmiyya. Afterwards, he returned to Persia where he worked as Nā’ib (Deputy) of the chancellery for Sanjar, the Saljūq ruler of Khurāsān. At the end of his life, al-Shahrastānī went back to live in his native town, where he died in the year 1153 / 548.

Al-Shahrastani distinguished himself by his desire to describe in the most objective way the universal religious history of humanity. This is reflected in his Kitab al-Milal wa al-Nihal (The Book of Sects and Creeds), a monumental work, which presents the doctrinal points of view of all the religions and philosophies which existed up to his time. The book was one of the earliest systematic studies of religion, and is noted for its non-polemical style and scientific approach. A French translation of the book by Gimaret, Monnot and Jolivet was sponsored by UNESCO (Livre des religions et des sectes. Peeters: 1986, 1993).

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