Kniha náboženských a filosofických sekt a škol – Aš-Šahrastání Muhammad (2021)

The book on religious and philosophical sects and schools by the Persian scholar Muhammad al-Shahrastani (1086–1153) is generally regarded as the most significant Islamic medieval work dedicated to religions and philosophical trends in the then Middle East and the Mediterranean. In the first part of this hypothetical "proto-religionist encyclopedia" of various currents, sects, and theological schools in Islam, al-Shahrastani sought, unlike his predecessors in the field of heresiography, primarily to explain and analyze rather than to judge and condemn. It is precisely for this relative impartiality, as well as its clarity and impressive scope, that al-Shahrastani's book continues to be published, studied, and cited as a significant source for the study of medieval Islamic spirituality. The richly annotated Czech translation by Bronislav Ostřanský includes an extensive introductory study dedicated to both al-Shahrastani's legacy and its interpretation, as well as its placement within the context of medieval Islamic thought. The unassuming ambition of this apparatus is for the book to be useful for experts while also being comprehensible to a broader audience interested in the issues of the medieval "Islamic world."