Satan's Seven Specious Arguments: al-Shahrastānī's Kitāb al-Milal wa-l-niḥal in an Ismaʿili Context

Contenu

Titre

Satan's Seven Specious Arguments: al-Shahrastānī's Kitāb al-Milal wa-l-niḥal in an Ismaʿili Context

Créateur

Gaiser, Adam R. Voir tous les contenus avec cette valeur

Date

2008

Dans

Journal of Islamic Studies Voir tous les contenus avec cette valeur

Résumé

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.

Langue

eng

volume

19

numéro

2

pages

178-195

doi

10.1093/jis/etn001

issn

0955-2340

uri

https://doi.org/10.1093/jis/etn001

Gaiser, Adam R., “Satan's Seven Specious Arguments: al-Shahrastānī's Kitāb al-Milal wa-l-niḥal in an Ismaʿili Context”, 2008, bibliographie, consulté le 18 septembre 2024, https://ibadica.org/s/bibliographie/item/4885