SHAHRASTANÍ (1086-1153). Abu’l-Fath Mohammed ibn 'Abd al-Karím, called al-Shahrastání, a native of Shahrastán (Shehristán) in Khorásán, Persia, was noted as a jurisconsult and theologian of the Ash'arite school. He went to Baghdad in 1116 and stayed there three years, but afterwards returned to his native place, where he died. Sam'ání, the famous historian of Baghdad, was one of his hearers, and to him Ibn Khallikán (No. 622, Eng. tr. ii. 675 sq.) mainly owes the little that is known of Shahrastâni's life.

He wrote various works, of which several still exist; that which gives him a claim to notice here is the interesting Kitáb al-Milal wan·Nihal, or “Account of Religious Sects and Philosophical Schools,” published by Cureton in 1846 and translated into German by Haarbrücker (Halle, 1850-51). The book was already used by Pocock for his account of the ancient Arabs and has been much referred to since, but has to be read with caution, as the author is often very uncritical. It treats successively of the Mohammedan sects, of other religious bodies (Jews, Samaritans, Christians, Magians, Manichaeans, &c. ), of philosophical schools (including the Greeks), and of the ancient Arabs and Indians, and contains a great deal of curious and valuable matter.