This paper attempts to explain that Leo Strauss (d. 1973) was a Platonic political philosopher through analyzing Strauss’ esoteric reading of Ab? Nasr al-F?r?b?’s (d. 951) understanding of the relationship between philosophy and religion. Although al-F?r?b? is known by some scholars of his attempt to reconcile philosophy and religion, Strauss argues that al-F?r?b? believed in the irreconcilability of philosophy and religion. Strauss also argues that al-F?r?b?’s refraining from attacking religion should be interpreted in line with Plato’s political philosophy that advocates the political and social usefulness of religion. This paper explains that Strauss came to such a conclusion based on reading al-F?r?b? esoterically. By focusing on Strauss’ own esotericism, this paper serves two purposes: first, rereading al-F?r?b?’s understanding of the relationship between philosophy and religion; and second, determining which one of the three main scholarly interpretations of Strauss seems to be more accurate. The three interpretations are: considering Strauss to be a Jewish philosopher who mainly discusses Jewish themes; considering Strauss to be an esoteric writer who hides atheism and destructive political ideas; and defending Strauss by considering him to be a Platonic political philosopher whose main concern is renewing the discussion of the best political order. The paper is divided into three sections. The first section attempts to contrast Strauss with other scholars who wrote about al-F?r?b? to answer the question of why Strauss came to different conclusions regarding al-F?r?b?. The second section serves two purposes: summarizing and evaluating Strauss’ esoteric interpretation of al-F?r?b? as well as explaining how Strauss’ esotericism was understood by different academic trends. The third section, which serves as a conclusion, argues that the best description of Strauss is that he was a Platonic political philosopher. Although it is true that Strauss esoterically interpreted medieval philosophers beside al-F?r?b?, this paper focuses primarily on Strauss’ reading of al-F?r?b? and secondarily on Strauss’ reading of other medieval philosophers, particularly Maimonides (d. 1204), since Strauss’ view of esotericism does not change from reading a philosopher into reading another. Additionally, this paper takes into consideration that although Strauss’ philosophical project involved an attempt to rethink Islamic medieval philosophy, Strauss’ real target was modern times. In other words, Strauss’ return to Islamic medieval philosophy was mainly a challenge for modern philosophy’s claim of the self-sufficiency of reason and its philosophical, theological, political, and moral consequences.