Zoroaster scholars, philosophers, and theologians to test his knowledge on religion and jurisprudence. Among the summoned scholars was a Zoroastrian High Priest. Al-Ridha questioned the priest on his beliefs saying,“Tell me about Zoroaster, whom you claim is a prophet; what is your evidence for his Prophethood?” to which the response was “We did not see him, but the tales of our ancestors informed us that he had legalized for us what no other person before had made legal.” Imam Al-Ridha responded “This is the case with all other nations. Tales had come to them about what the prophets had accomplished, what
Zoroaster present-day Turkmenistan. Sarianidi considered the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex region as "the native land of the Zoroastrians and, probably, of Zoroaster himself." Boyce includes the steppes to the west from the Volga. The medieval "from Media" hypothesis is no longer taken seriously, and Zaehner has even suggested that this was a Magi-mediated issue to garner legitimacy, but this has been likewise rejected by Gershevitch and others. The 2005 "Encyclopedia Iranica" article on the history of Zoroastrianism summarizes the issue with "while there is general agreement that he did not live in western Iran, attempts to locate him in specific regions of