Monotheism in Zoroastrianism among Speakers and Interpreters

This study examines the notion of Monotheism in the Zoroastrian religion in the thought of al-Shahristani, by carefully analyzing the arguments he presents and comparing them to those of scholars and philosophers – both classical and contemporary – who studied the Zoroastrian, including the observations made by Qur’anic exegetes on the influence of Magianism on Zoroastrian rituals and religious ceremonies. Muslim interactions with Zoroastrianism date back from the very beginnings of Islam. I realized after conducting a literary review that there had been very little interest in understanding what classical Islamic scholars thought about eastern religions and whether they believed these were at one point monotheistic at their root; as there are few MA and PhD dissertations that examine Islamic perceptions of eastern religions. I believe that my study fills an important gap in this area by focusing on Zoroastrianism. The scientific methods that have been applied in this research such as the critical analytical approach, the descriptive and comparative approaches, resorting to several Arabic sources and English texts that have been translated into Arabic. It is very difficult to come up with any definitive conclusions about the origins of Zoroastrianism -at this point in time- and more research is therefore required to properly understand its foundations.This study has made some important observations, the most significant of which is that the concept of Monotheism exists within Zoroastrianism and that scholars such as Al-Shahristani and Al-Amiri acknowledged this. Zoroastrianism has, like all religions evolved, meaning that its evolution has affected some of its original beliefs. Though it appears that Zoroaster was not a prophet, he certainly was a righteous man who sought to guide the Persians to the right path by keeping them away from idol worship. Zoroastrianism is not a monolithic creed and to this day there exists different dogmas among its adherents, Zoroastrianism was also deeply influenced by Magianism, which is reflected in the pagan beliefs that the Zoroastrians adopted and which were subsequently attributed to Zoroaster himself.