ing from adherence to certain beliefs. For example, Ibn
H:azm has a general section on Christianity followed by more
specific discussion of the nature of Christ, those who deny
prophethood and the angels, and the difference between mir-
acles and magic. In his discussion of Judaism Ibn H:azm
mentions that the Jews reject the trinitarianism of Christians
but faults them for using a Torah that does not contain an
accurate record of the revelation given to Moses. Zoroastri-
ans are faulted for insisting upon the prophethood of Zoroas-
ter while denying the equality of other prophets.
Ibn H:azm spends considerable attention detailing ex-
amples of how the stories of the prophets in the Jewish Torah
and the Christian New Testament contradict what is known
from the QurDa ̄n and Islamic tradition. In addition to his
criticism of the sources and redaction of the Bible used by
Jews and Christians, Ibn H:azm wrote extensively on Islamic
law. He was a strong proponent for the notion that the
QurDa ̄n and the shar ̄ıEah derived from it superseded all earlier
older legal codes, to the extent that the revelation of the
QurDa ̄n abrogated all parts of the Bible that it did not specifi-
cally confirm. Although he is apparently well informed about
the different religious ideas he catalogs, Ibn H:azm’s main in-
terest is in a defense of Islam as providing a holistic interpre-
tation of the world fully compatible with history and ratio-
nality. His al-Milal wa al-Nihal work also includes a section
mentioning what is known about certain biblical prophets
and the veneration due to them, followed by discussions of
beliefs concerning the creation of heaven and hell, the resur-
rection of the dead, the punishment of the tomb, and repen-
tance. In his final sections he treats a number of individual
issues not necessarily associated with any particular group
such as visions, the created nature of certain things, and the
relationship of body and soul.
Abu ̄ al-MaEa ̄l ̄ı. Abu ̄ al-MaEa ̄l ̄ı Muh:ammad bin EUbayd
Alla ̄h (c. 1092) produced one of the earliest Persian works
in the al-Milal wa al-Nihal tradition. His book, titled Expli-
cation of Religions, treats a number of religions that came be-
fore Islam, including ancient Arab religion, Greek philoso-
phy, Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Mazdakism, and
Manichaeism. He separates this group of religions from
“idolatrous” religions such as Hinduism. Abu ̄ al-MaEa ̄l ̄ı’s
main focus in the book appears to be his conviction that all
people, even non-Muslims, hold a belief in a creator being,
which he claims proves the existence of God.
Shahrasta ̄n ̄ı. Muh:ammad bin EAbd al-Kar ̄ım
al-Shahrasta ̄n ̄ı (1086–1153) lived near Khura ̄sa ̄n and wrote
a well-known al-Milal wa al-Nihal work. Shahrasta ̄n ̄ı states
that he wrote the book in an attempt to document “the reli-
gious beliefs of all the world’s people.” Shahrasta ̄n ̄ı divides
these religious beliefs into two main categories: ideas derived
from revealed books and ideas derived from elsewhere. The
first category is further subdivided into Muslims and People
of the Book. People of the Book include the Jews (Kairites,
Isawiyah, Samaritans), Christians (Chalcedonians, Nestori-
ans, Jacobites), and the people of a “false book” such as the
Zoroastrians and the dualists, under which category he places
the Manichaeans. The second category of beliefs originating
from nonrevealed sources includes the Sabians of Harran,
philosophers (Greek and Islamic), pre-Islamic Arab religions,
and the beliefs of Indians (Bra ̄hman:s, adherents to spirits,
star worshipers, and idol worshipers). He follows this by a
brief discussion of philosophical ideas among the Indians.
The longest section in the book is that on the philoso-
phers and their ideas. Shahrasta ̄n ̄ı describes the different reli-
gious ideas within the Islamic framework of revealed and
nonrevealed corresponding to the general QurDanic notion
of the People of the Book following prophets with divine
messages. Shahrasta ̄n ̄ı conceives of God as a unitary being
from whom creation proceeds in a fashion that gained him
as reputation as adhering to Nizar ̄ı Isma ̄E ̄ıl ̄ı doctrines of ema-
nation and incarnation. This allows him to see truth in ideas
derived both directly and indirectly from God. A similar ap-
proach is found in the H:ikmat al-kha ̄lidah of Miskawayh and
the T:abaqa ̄t al-umam of SaE ̄ıd al-Andalus ̄ı, where it is argued
that God gave each of the world’s peoples certain intellectual
and civilizational gifts that they retain despite their straying
from the directly revealed truths of Islam.
HISTORY. Medieval Muslim historians often write about the
history of different religions. In the course of his history of
the world, for example, Muh:ammad bin Jar ̄ır al-T:abar ̄ı
(839–923) recounts numerous traditions from both Muslim
and pre-Islamic sources concerning the religious beliefs and
practices of Iran, Arabia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Fer-
tile Crescent. Later historians, such as Ibn al-Ath ̄ır, built
upon T:abar ̄ı’s work and repeated much of his information,
sometimes with their own additions. Other historians pro-
vide detailed historical backgrounds to explain the origins of
religious groups present in their time. Ah:mad b. Abd
al-Qa ̄dir al-Maqr ̄ız ̄ı (1364–1442), well-known historian of
Egypt, includes an especially long section on the different
groups among the Jews of his time. He uses a variety of medi-
eval, late antique, and Hellenistic sources, including the me-
dieval Hebrew translation of Josephus.
Stories of the Prophets. Equally important are the his-
torical and mythological accounts pertaining to what is called
the “Stories of the Prophets” in Muslim histories and QurDa ̄n
commentaries. Although regarded as “Muslim” prophets by
these writers, the cycle of stories associated with such pre-
Islamic figures as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus were told often
in conscious comparison to Jewish and Christian accounts
of the same figures. Scholars such as Ibn Kathir specifically
compare passages from the Bible and from Jewish and Chris-
tian interpretation with the QurDa ̄n and its interpretation by
Muslims. In addition to major prophetic figures, other char-
acters also appear in these stories, including Samson, St.
George, and the Seven Sleepers. Such scholarship frequently
reflects a relatively sophisticated approach to textual criticism
and the burgeoning of a sort of comparative mythology.
TRAVEL AND GEOGRAPHY. The approach and content of
most al-Milal wa al-Nihal and historical scholarship is fo-STUDY OF RELIGION: THE ACADEMIC STUDY OF RELIGION IN NORTH AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST 8781