The boredom and the sects

Boredom and sects, correct it and comment on it, Kasry Saleh Al-Ali. The Boredom and Sects | Abu al-Fath Muhammad ibn Abd al-Karim al-Shahrastani The book of the Boredoms and Sects by Abu al-Fath al-Shahrastani, which is a book that talks about the Islamic sects with their differences, as well as about the heavenly religions, and discusses some of their sects. It also talks about pagan religions and beliefs before Islam among the Arabs, as well as about Roman religions and philosophers, and about the religions and beliefs of Indian sages, among others. The book is considered one of the most comprehensive books of articles and opinions, and the author is one of the most prominent compilers of articles and historians of religions and sects in his era. He revealed facts about the sects, clarified their origins, their doctrines, sayings, and their followers, and even expanded by mentioning other sects that preceded this nation, showing their beliefs, opinions, sects, and followers. He adhered to neutrality in presenting the viewpoints of others without any attempt to refute or disprove them before completing the presentation. This book tells us, first, about the disagreements that occurred in Islamic unity, clarifying the Islamic and non-Islamic sects that appeared after the era of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and their opinions, beliefs, and books. In his discussion of non-Islamic sects, he mentions the People of the Book, Jews and Christians, and their most famous sects, as well as the Sabbateans, their rejection of annulment, and what the Samaritans did from worshiping the calf and their declaration that there is no prophecy for anyone other than Moses and Joshua, peace be upon them. He also discusses the differences among Christians, their alterations and changes in their Bible, and their belief in the One God as three persons, and the innovations of the Melkites, such as the mixing of the Word with the body of Christ, describing it as a complete human nature, eternal and uncreated, from eternity. He also describes the claims of the Eishawiyyah (Eishawi sect) of divine lordship for Jesus, peace be upon him, claiming he was eternal, not in a place, then incarnated and became a body. He mentions the Nestorians, who ascribed divinity to Jesus, peace be upon him, and monopolized the human body. Then he talks about those with similar books, such as the Magians, the followers of dualism, Manichaeans, and other sects, their misguided beliefs, what they worshiped—fire—and their rituals, prayers, and what they were commanded to do or forbidden from. He also describes what the Mazdakites permitted, such as the permissibility of women, theft, and considering people partners in wealth, as well as killing souls to free them from evil and darkness. Dissan (Dizani) proved two origins: light and darkness, goodness from light, evil from darkness, establishing two opposing gods—light and darkness—and a third that is the balanced, unifying one, which is below the light in rank and above the darkness in status and existence. They believed in three origins: fire, earth, and water. He then describes the houses of fire, their construction, and their locations, and what people believed about venerating them, thinking that honoring them would save from the punishment of fire. Then he moved on to discuss the people of desires and sects, and in his view, they are those who oppose the masters of religions and sects. He mentioned that they rely on pure instinct and perfect reason in their doctrines. He discussed the righteous, their worship of angels, their fanaticism for spiritual matters, and their belief in spiritual beings, pure and free from bodily forces, exalted from spatial movements, inclined to purity and cleanliness. He then listed their opinions and sayings, which the Hanafi followers responded to with their own rebuttals. He talked about the powers and their types, influenced by what Aristotle, may God have mercy on him, conveyed in his philosophy, relying on what is found in the books of Ibn Sina regarding his hints, suffering, salvation, and the talk about the temples and persons, which are intermediaries reaching their Creator. He then discussed the dualists, their way, what they worshiped—stars—and what they relied on in astrology, as well as their natural and divine sciences, mathematics, and their inventions in reaching their philosophy. He compared Greek philosophers with Arab sages and Brahmin sages. After that, he mentioned the opinions of Indian sages and their various views, and what he knew about the Brahmins, their beliefs about the origin of the world, and their well-known sects, beliefs, and customs.