In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “influential persian historian of religions and a heresiographer”. Today it says “one of the pioneers in developing an objective and philosophical approach to the study of religions”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2025 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2025
Persian historian of religions and Islamic scholar (1086–1153) Tāj al-Dīn Abū al-Fath Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Karīm ash-Shahrastānī ( Arabic : تاج الدين أبو الفتح محمد بن عبد الكريم الشهرستاني ; 1086–1153 CE ), also known as Muhammad al-Shahrastānī , was an influential Persian historian of religions, a historiographer , Islamic scholar , philosopher and theologian. The Book of Sects and Creeds ) was one of the pioneers in developing an objective and philosophical approach to the study of religions . Islam: An Introduction (Translation of: Der Islam). Muslim-Christian Encounters: Perceptions and Misperceptions .
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 1295153310.
The opening as it stood in 2010
Tāj al-Dīn Abū al-Fath Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Karīm ash-Shahrastānī (1086–1153 CE ) was an influential Persian historian of religions and a heresiographer . His book, Kitab al–Milal wa al-Nihal (lit. 'The Book of Sects and Creeds') was one of the pioneers in developing a scientific approach to the study of religions . Besides these, he was also an Islamic scholar, philosopher and theologian.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 369450025.
The opening as it stood in 2015
Tāj al-Dīn Abū al-Fath Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Karīm ash-Shahrastānī (1086–1153 CE ) was an influential Persian historian of religions and a historiographer . The Book of Sects and Creeds ) was one of the pioneers in developing a scientific approach to the study of religions . Besides these, he was also an Islamic scholar, philosopher and theologian.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 660057837.
The opening as it stood in 2020 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Tāj al-Dīn Abū al-Fath Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Karīm ash-Shahrastānī ( ; 1086–1153 CE ), also known as Muhammad al-Shahrastānī , was an influential Persian historian of religions, a historiographer , Islamic scholar , philosopher and theologian.The Book of Sects and Creeds ) was one of the pioneers in developing an objective and philosophical approach to the study of religions .Islam: An Introduction (Translation of: Der Islam).Muslim-Christian Encounters: Perceptions and Misperceptions .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 942958709.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Persian historian of religions and Islamic scholar (1086–1153) Tāj al-Dīn Abū al-Fath Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Karīm ash-Shahrastānī ( ; 1086–1153 CE ), also known as Muhammad al-Shahrastānī , was an influential Persian historian of religions, a historiographer , Islamic scholar , philosopher and theologian. The Book of Sects and Creeds ) was one of the pioneers in developing an objective and philosophical approach to the study of religions . Islam: An Introduction (Translation of: Der Islam). Muslim-Christian Encounters: Perceptions and Misperceptions .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1174999746.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “influential persian historian of religions and a heresiographer”. Today it says “one of the pioneers in developing an objective and philosophical approach to the study of religions”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
influential persian historian of religions and a heresiographer
Now
one of the pioneers in developing an objective and philosophical approach to the study of religions
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
