In light of recent evidence that indicates al-Shahrastānī’s adherence to Nizari Ismaʿilism, this article highlights certain structural and thematic characteristics of al-Shahrastānī’s Kitāb al-Milal wa-l-niḥal by comparing it to earlier (especially fourth/tenth-century) Khurasani Ismaʿili heresiographies such as Abū Tammām’s Kitāb al-Shajara and al-Rāzī’s Kitāb al-Zīna. Shared features of these works include the avoidance of specifically Ismaʿili language in the body of the work, utilization of neo-Platonic symbolism and language, and (for al-Shahrastānī and Abū Tammām) use of Satan (or satans) as the origin of sectarian differences among humankind. An awareness of these features will better allow scholars to contextualize al-Shahrastānī’s work in relation to other heresiographies, and may point to the existence of a Khurasani Ismaʿili ‘school’ of heresiography. At the very least, the similarities show the influence of Abū Tammām’s work on al-Shahrastānī. An awareness of al-Shahrastānī’s Ismaʿili inspired methodology in his Kitāb al-Milal, in turn, challenges the prevalent scholarly view of al-Shahrastānī as an objective cataloguer of sectarian divisions.
| Yazar: | Adam R. Gaiser |
| Yayın: | Journal Of Islamic Studies |
| Cilt: | 19 |
| Sayı: | 2 |
| Sayfa: | 178–195 |
| Tarih: | 2008 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/jis/etn001 |
| ISSN: | 1471-6917 |
| URL: | https://academic.oup.com/jis/article-abstract/19/2/178/671760?redirectedFrom=fulltext |
