Shakhsiyat al-Muslim kama yasughuha al-Islam fi al-Kitab wa al-Sunna
- Author died
- -
- Editions
- Dar al-Basha'ir al-Islamiyyah
Shakhsiyat al-Muslim kama yasughuha al-Islam fi al-Kitab wa al-Sunna (The Personality of the Muslim as Shaped by Islam in the Book and Sunna) is a contemporary Islamic guide authored by the Syrian scholar and educator Muhammad Ali al-Hashimi, completed in 1401 AH (1981 CE), that outlines the comprehensive character, morals, and social duties of the Muslim individual based on the Quran and prophetic teachings.
Background and Purpose
Al-Hashimi completed the book's preface in Riyadh on 27 Jumada al-Akhira 1401 AH (1 May 1981 CE). He noted that he had contemplated the subject for over a decade after observing imbalances in the religious observance of many Muslims, such as practicing rigorous ritual devotion while neglecting personal cleanliness, kinship ties, the upbringing of children, or fair treatment of spouses, neighbors, and society. The author intended the book to demonstrate that Islam was revealed not merely for intellectual debates or ceremonial recitation, but to provide a complete way of life and shape individuals who embody Islamic virtues in practice, drawing parallels to the early generations of Muslims who functioned as living exemplars of the faith.
Content and Structure
The work systematically details the various facets of a Muslim's conduct and relationships:
- Relationship with God: Focusing on constant awareness of God, worship, servitude, and implementing Islamic principles across personal and communal life.
- Care of Oneself: Addressing personal hygiene, physical fitness, grooming, refined appearance, mental cultivation, and practical learning, including the acquisition of foreign languages as supported by prophetic precedents.
- Family Relationships: Fulfilling duties of filial piety toward parents, affectionate and considerate companionship toward one's spouse, holistic moral and religious upbringing of children, and maintaining ties of kinship.
- Interpersonal and Social Ties: Observing good neighborliness, cultivating brotherhood and love for the sake of God among friends, and interacting with broader society through modesty, universal mercy, integrity, and upright conduct.
Reception and Publication
The book achieved widespread circulation and was published across multiple editions by publishing houses including Dar al-Basha'ir al-Islamiyya in Beirut and Maktabat al-Manar in Jordan, reaching its tenth edition by 1423 AH (2002 CE). It was translated into English, French, and Turkish; the Turkish translation went through approximately twenty editions, with multiple print runs per year. Most of its topics were also broadcast by the author over Saudi Arabia's Quran Radio.
Answer updated