Shahrestani and Milal va Nihal

Abulfat’h Muhammad ibn Abulghasem Abdulkarim ibn Abu Bakr Ahmad Shahrestani (479-548 A.H.); the Ash‘ari Shafi‘i theologian, usuli jurist, and philosopher, known as Afdhal, Hujjat-tul-Haghgh, and Tajiddin; is one of the greatest experts on history of science in Iran. He is mostly known for writing his “Milal va Nihal” (Nations and Creeds). This book is a comprehensive and detailed review on religious sects, schools of law, and various philosophical schools and creeds.This paper tries to introduce Shahrestani and his “Nations and Creeds” and investigate a number of its claims about the Shi‘ah and Isma‘iliah.