al-Mathal al-Ulya fi al-Islam - ضمن «Muhadarat al-Shinqiti»
- Author died
- 1393 AH
- Editions
- Dār ‘Aṭā’āt al-‘Ilm
al-Mathal al-Ulya fi al-Islam (The Supreme Ideals in Islam) is a scholarly lecture and treatise by the Mauritanian scholar Muhammad al-Amin al-Shinqiti (1325–1393 AH / 1905–1974 CE), published within his collected lectures (Muhadarat al-Shinqiti). The work elucidates the concept of supreme ideals in Islamic theology, divine legislation, human conduct, and the afterlife.
Context and Linguistic Introduction
The treatise originated as an inaugural lecture delivered by al-Shinqiti at the opening of the cultural season at the Islamic University of Madinah in 1385 AH (1965 CE). It was later compiled and published as the fifth lecture in the collection of his specialized academic lectures.
Al-Shinqiti opens the work with a grammatical and lexicographical analysis of its title. He notes that muthul (المُثُل) is the plural of mithal (مثال), a standard plural of multitude (jam' kathrah), denoting description, measure, standard, or mold. He explains the grammatical pairing of the broken plural noun al-muthul with the singular feminine adjective al-'ulya (العليا, the feminine form of al-a'la), citing syntactic rules and verses from the Alfiyyah (al-Khulasah) of Ibn Malik alongside Quranic parallels.
Theological and Legislative Ideals
The author divides the supreme ideals found in the Quran and the Sunnah into two broad categories:
- The Divine Supreme Ideal: That which belongs uniquely to God alone, referenced in the verse وَلِلَّهِ الْمَثَلُ الْأَعْلَى ("And to Allah belongs the highest attribute"; Surah al-Nahl: 60). Citing Ibn Jarir al-Tabari, al-Shinqiti affirms that this encompasses monotheism (tawhid), absolute submission, and the divine attributes of majesty and perfection devoid of any likeness or equal.
- Supreme Ideals in Revelation: Derived through inductive survey (istiqra'), these comprise three subsets:
- Legislation (Tashri'): The perfection of divine law in safeguarding the three universal legal interests: necessities (daruriyyat), complementary needs (hajiyyat), and embellishments (tahsiniyyat). He outlines how Islamic legal penalties protect the six universal necessities—religion, life, intellect, lineage, honor, and wealth. He highlights that divine legislation establishes good practices (such as equitable retaliation) while directing believers toward what is even better (such as patience, pardoning, and charity). Divine law also mandates absolute justice toward adversaries and relatives, respects private property, and provides parables distinguishing belief from disbelief.
- Moral Conduct of Believers: The character of those who implement divine commands, exemplified by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, whose character was described by Aisha as being the Quran itself. Al-Shinqiti discusses the descriptions of the Prophet's companions in the Torah and the Gospel (Surah al-Fath: 29) as models of spiritual devotion and mutual cohesion.
- Eschatological Reward: The description of Paradise and eternal reward promised to the righteous in the afterlife.
Ethical Balance and Contemporary Application
A central argument of the treatise is that Islamic ideals demand a dual cultivation of both the spiritual and physical dimensions of human life. Al-Shinqiti criticizes Muslims who lapse into weakness, passivity, and physical neglect, contrasting this with non-Muslim societies that excel in material power but neglect spiritual refinement, resulting in existential anxiety and destructive weapons.
To remedy this, he argues that Muslims must adopt material and technical sciences while guarding against harmful philosophical ideologies. He cites historical precedents where early Muslims utilized non-Muslim expertise in neutral technical matters, such as the Prophet ﷺ accepting Salman al-Farsi's recommendation to dig a trench during the Battle of the Trench based on Persian tactics, and adopting medical assessments regarding nursing. He advises employing qualified instructors in material sciences while appointing scholars of Islamic scripture to oversee educational curricula.
Al-Shinqiti closes the lecture by examining the concept of the "evil example" (mathal al-saw'), citing the prophetic hadith: ليس لنا مَثَل السوء ("The evil example does not belong to us"). He recounts the legal debate between al-Shafi'i and Ahmad ibn Hanbal regarding the revocation of gifts to show that base similitudes are antithetical to Islamic principles.
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