Manhaj wa Dirasat li Ayat al-Asma wa al-Sifat - Dimna "Muhadarat al-Shinqiti
- Author died
- 1393 AH
- Editions
- Dār ‘Aṭā’āt al-‘Ilm
Manhaj wa Dirasat li Ayat al-Asma wa al-Sifat (Methodology and Studies for the Verses of the Names and Attributes) is a theological treatise and lecture by the Mauritanian scholar Muhammad al-Amin al-Shinqiti (1325–1393 AH / 1905–1974 CE), outlining the methodology of early Muslim scholars (al-Salaf) regarding the Quranic verses concerning the divine names and attributes .
Background and Context
The work originated as a public lecture delivered by al-Shinqiti on 13 Ramadan 1382 AH at the Islamic University of Madinah, where he served as a professor in the Faculty of Sharia . It addressed the widespread prevalence of scholastic theology (kalam) and metaphorical interpretation (ta'wil) regarding the divine attributes among scholars and students across the Islamic world, seeking to articulate the scriptural foundation and rational soundness of the Salafi approach .
Structure and Core Principles
Al-Shinqiti opens the work by cautioning against excessive disputation and unnecessary probing into the verses of divine attributes, identifying such practices as innovations disliked by early scholars . He establishes that correct belief in these verses rests upon three Quranic foundations:
- Transcendent Negation of Resemblance (Tanzih): Maintaining that none of God's attributes resemble the attributes of created beings, grounded in verses such as لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ ("There is nothing like unto Him") [Surah al-Shura: 11], وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ ("And there is none comparable unto Him") [Surah al-Ikhlas: 4], and فَلَا تَضْرِبُوا لِلَّهِ الْأَمْثَالَ ("So do not assert similarities to God") [Surah al-Nahl: 74] .
- Affirmation (Iman): Believing in the attributes with which God described Himself and those with which His Messenger ﷺ described Him, since none knows God better than God Himself and His Messenger, as signified by God stating وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ ("and He is the Hearing, the Seeing") directly following لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ in Surah al-Shura: 11 .
- Relinquishing Comprehension of Modality (Qat' al-Tama'): Abandoning any expectation of grasping the modality (kayfiyyah) or inner reality of God's attributes, based on the verse وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِهِ عِلْمًا ("and they do not encompass Him in knowledge") [Surah Ta-Ha: 110] .
Method and Content
Al-Shinqiti engages the arguments of scholastic theologians (mutakallimun) and the Mu'tazila by examining the categories into which they divided the divine attributes—including essential (nafsiyyah), qualitative (ma'ani), active (fi'liyyah), and privative (salbiyyah) attributes . Focusing on the seven qualitative attributes affirmed by mainstream speculative theologians—power (qudrah), will (iradah), knowledge ('ilm), life (hayah), hearing (sam'), sight (basar), and speech (kalam)—he demonstrates through Quranic citations that although the Quran uses these terms for both the Creator and created beings, the divine attributes are real and befitting God's perfection, while the created attributes reflect contingency and weakness .
He concludes by evaluating the theological maxim asserting that "the way of the early generations is safer, while the way of the later generations is wiser and more knowledgeable" (madhhab al-Salaf aslam wa madhhab al-khalf ahkam wa a'lam), arguing that superior safety inherently implies superior knowledge and wisdom .
Publication
The text was published in the scholarly journal of the Islamic University of Madinah (Majallat al-Jami'ah al-Islamiyyah) and later released as an independent treatise . It was also compiled as the fourth lecture in al-Muhadarat, the eleventh volume of Athar al-Shaykh al-'Allamah Muhammad al-Amin al-Shinqiti, supervised by Bakr ibn Abd Allah Abu Zayd and published jointly by Dar 'Ata'at al-'Ilm and Dar Ibn Hazm .
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