Akhlaq al-Shabab al-Muslim
- Author died
- 1407 AH
- Editions
- al-Jāmi‘ah al-Islāmīyah
Akhlaq al-Shabab al-Muslim (The Morals of the Muslim Youth) is an ethical treatise by the scholar Muhammad Taqi al-Din al-Hilali (d. 1407 AH / 1987 CE), written during his tenure as an instructor at the Islamic University of Madinah and published in its journal . The work outlines the spiritual, ethical, and practical obligations required for cultivating upright Muslim youth .
Themes and Contents
The treatise begins by examining the divine honoring of humanity referenced in وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِي آدَمَ (al-Isra: 70), drawing on the exegesis of Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi to argue that mankind’s preeminence over other creatures lies not in physical strength, but in intellect and moral conduct (al-aql wa-l-adab) . Addressing household upbringing, al-Hilali cites يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا قُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَارًا (al-Tahrim: 6) alongside the commentary of Ibn Kathir and prophetic traditions instructing parents to teach their children prayer and discipline them in religious practice .
Al-Hilali responds to claims that modern Western nations achieved advancement by discarding religion. Drawing upon his observations in Germany, he notes the presence of mandatory religious instruction in primary and secondary schools, university theological faculties, and historical church-state relations under Adolf Hitler . He also attributes civilizational stability in Britain to institutional justice and equality in rights and duties, pointing to demographic statistics on European religiosity that he previously published in the Moroccan periodical Da'wat al-Haqq .
The text emphasizes the centrality of prayer, patience, and detachment from excessive worldly anxiety, referencing prophetic reports and the practice of early figures such as 'Urwah ibn al-Zubayr . Al-Hilali analyzes the ethical traits described in Surat al-Ma'arij (verses 16–35), enumerating steadfastness in worship, charity to the needy, chastity, fidelity to trusts, and truthfulness in testimony as necessary virtues for community welfare . He concludes with an exposition on honoring commitments (sidq al-wa'd), taking the Quranic praise of the Prophet Isma'il as an archetype and affirming that ritual acts such as prayer, fasting, and charity are fundamentally means for moral refinement (tahdhib al-nafs) .
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