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Scholar of political ethics and history of religion; writer on Islamic political thought · b. 1966 · Mauritania, United States, Qatar
| MA | |
| Personal | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1966, Nouakchott, Mauritania [1] |
| Countries | Mauritania, United States, Qatar |
| Known for | Scholar of political ethics and history of religion; writer on Islamic political thought |
| Full name | Muhammad al-Mukhtar al-Shinqiti (محمد المختار الشنقيطي); in Turkish editions Muhammet Muhtar Şankiti |
| Position | Associate professor of international affairs, Qatar University (since 2021) [2] |
| Fields | political ethics, Islamic political thought, history of religion, philosophy of religion [2] [4] |
| In this archive | |
| Era | Global Islamic Resurgence 1979–2000 Contemporary Islam 2000–today |
| Subjects | Sira and history, Political thought, Islamic law, Philosophy and theology, Qurʾānic studies |
| Works | 12 works (8 books, 4 papers) |
| Archived 27 October 2026 | |
Drafted with AI · not yet checked by the editors · Archived 27 October 2026 · Biography sources: en.wikipedia.org · qu.edu.qa · web.archive.org · cilecenter.org
In their lifetime, in the History Hub:New states and revivalRevolution and renewalContemporary voices
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Archived 23 October 2026 · Sources: the Wikipedia article of each author and the biographies on this site. Whole network
A study of the Islamic movement in Sudan.
Archived 27 October 2026 · Source: Author's CV (Qatar University) · ✎ Edit details
al-Shinqiti, Muhammad al-Mukhtar. The Islamic Movement in Sudan. 2002. Archived 27 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/works/muhammad-al-mukhtar-al-shinqiti-the-islamic-movement-in-sudan/
Answers and conversations on questions where religion meets politics.
Archived 27 October 2026 · Source: Author's CV (Qatar University) · ✎ Edit details
al-Shinqiti, Muhammad al-Mukhtar. Political Fatwas: Conversations on Religion and Politics. 2006. Archived 27 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/works/muhammad-al-mukhtar-al-shinqiti-political-fatwas/
Proposed rules for reading the political conflicts among the Prophet’s Companions by principle rather than by the standing of persons.
Archived 27 October 2026 · Source: Abjjad · ✎ Edit details
al-Shinqiti, Muhammad al-Mukhtar. Political Disputes among the Companions (al-Khilafat al-siyasiyya bayna al-sahaba). 2013. Archived 27 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/works/muhammad-al-mukhtar-al-shinqiti-al-khilafat-al-siyasiyya-bayna-al-sahaba/
A study of the life and work of the Egyptian scholar Muhammad Abdallah Draz.
Archived 27 October 2026 · Source: Author's CV (Qatar University) · ✎ Edit details
al-Shinqiti, Muhammad al-Mukhtar. A Philosopher of the Holy Qur’an: Life and Achievements of Muhammad Abdallah Draz. 2016. Archived 27 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/works/muhammad-al-mukhtar-al-shinqiti-faylasuf-al-quran-draz/
Based on his Texas Tech doctoral dissertation (2011): how the Crusades changed relations between Sunnis and Shiʿa in Syria and Egypt.
Archived 27 October 2026 · Source: ISBN lookup · ✎ Edit details
al-Shinqiti, Muhammad al-Mukhtar. The Crusades’ Impact on Sunni–Shiʿa Relations (Athar al-hurub al-salibiyya ʿala al-ʿalaqat al-sunniyya al-shiʿiyya). 2016. Archived 27 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/works/muhammad-al-mukhtar-al-shinqiti-athar-al-hurub-al-salibiyya/
Short intellectual portraits of Muhammad Iqbal, Muhammad Abdallah Draz, Malek Bennabi, Alija Izetbegović and Ismaʿil al-Faruqi.
Archived 27 October 2026 · Source: Abjjad · ✎ Edit details
al-Shinqiti, Muhammad al-Mukhtar. The Best Muslim Minds in the Twentieth Century (Khirat al-ʿuqul al-muslima fi al-qarn al-ʿishrin). 2017. Archived 27 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/works/muhammad-al-mukhtar-al-shinqiti-khirat-al-uqul-al-muslima/
A history of political legitimacy in Islam from the first civil war to the Arab Spring, read as a constitutional crisis.
Archived 27 October 2026 · Source: Goodreads (editions) · ✎ Edit details
al-Shinqiti, Muhammad al-Mukhtar. The Constitutional Crisis of Islamic Civilization: From the Great Fitna to the Arab Spring (al-Azma al-dusturiyya fi al-hadara al-islamiyya). 2018. Archived 27 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/works/muhammad-al-mukhtar-al-shinqiti-al-azma-al-dusturiyya/
A poetry collection and literary memoir.
Archived 27 October 2026 · Source: Author's CV (Qatar University) · ✎ Edit details
al-Shinqiti, Muhammad al-Mukhtar. Wounds of the Soul. 2021. Archived 27 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/works/muhammad-al-mukhtar-al-shinqiti-wounds-of-the-soul/
A comparison of the spiritual crises of Augustine and al-Ghazali.
Archived 27 October 2026 · Source: Author's CV (Qatar University) · ✎ Edit details
al-Shinqiti, Muhammad al-Mukhtar. A Painful Quest for God: The Pre-Conversion Moment of Augustine and al-Ghazali. 2012. Archived 27 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/works/muhammad-al-mukhtar-al-shinqiti-a-painful-quest-for-god/
How Sunni and Shiʿi traditions have remembered Saladin.
Archived 27 October 2026 · Source: Author's CV (Qatar University) · ✎ Edit details
al-Shinqiti, Muhammad al-Mukhtar. Saladin in the Sunni and Shiʿa Memories. 2012. Archived 27 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/works/muhammad-al-mukhtar-al-shinqiti-saladin-in-the-sunni-and-shia-memories/
On the role of jihad in the conversion of the Turks and the Turkish shaping of Islam.
Archived 27 October 2026 · Source: Author's CV (Qatar University) · ✎ Edit details
al-Shinqiti, Muhammad al-Mukhtar. Jihad: Islamization of the Turks and the Turkification of Islam. 2017. Archived 27 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/works/muhammad-al-mukhtar-al-shinqiti-jihad-islamization-of-the-turks/
Argues that the Imāmī Shiʿa of Syria stood with the Sunnis against the Franks, and why.
Archived 27 October 2026 · Source: Journal of College of Sharia & Islamic Studies (open access) · ✎ Edit details
al-Shinqiti, Muhammad al-Mukhtar. Rapprochement between Sunnīs and Imāmīs during the Crusades. 2018. Journal of College of Sharia & Islamic Studies (open access), https://journals.qu.edu.qa/index.php/sharia/article/view/303. Archived 27 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/works/muhammad-al-mukhtar-al-shinqiti-rapprochement-sunnis-imamis-crusades/
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Lived and worked at the same time
Lived or worked in Mauritania, United States, Qatar
Wrote on the same subjects
Muqtedar Khanb. 1966Sira and history, Political thought, Philosophy and theologyمحمد المختار الشنقيطي
Scholar of political ethics and history of religion; writer on Islamic political thought · b. 1966 · Mauritania, United States, Qatar
Born: 1966, Nouakchott, Mauritania [1]
Countries: Mauritania, United States, Qatar
Known for: Scholar of political ethics and history of religion; writer on Islamic political thought
Full name: Muhammad al-Mukhtar al-Shinqiti (محمد المختار الشنقيطي); in Turkish editions Muhammet Muhtar Şankiti
Position: Associate professor of international affairs, Qatar University (since 2021) [2]
Fields: political ethics, Islamic political thought, history of religion, philosophy of religion [2] [4]
Era: Global Islamic Resurgence (1979–2000); Contemporary Islam (2000–today)
Subjects: Sira and history, Political thought, Islamic law, Philosophy and theology, Qurʾānic studies
Works in this archive: 12
Muhammad al-Mukhtar al-Shinqiti (also written Mohamed El-Moctar El-Shinqiti; b. 1966) is a Mauritanian scholar of religion and political ethics, and one of the most widely read Arabic writers on Islamic political thought today. [1] [2] He teaches international affairs at Qatar University in Doha.
He memorised the Qur’an as a boy and studied fiqh and Arabic grammar in Mauritania’s traditional maḥḍara schools between 1980 and 1984. He took a degree in Islamic jurisprudence from the Ibn Abbas Institute in Nouakchott in 1989, and a second degree in Arabic–French–English translation from Nouakchott University in 1994. [2]
From 1997 to 1999 he taught Qur’anic exegesis and Arabic grammar at al-Iman University in Sanaa. He left after two years, saying his views did not fit the university’s line; among the points he named was his rejection of the death penalty for apostasy. [1] [2]
His books are about legitimacy and power in Islamic history. Al-Khilāfāt al-siyāsiyya bayna al-ṣaḥāba, published with a foreword by Yusuf al-Qaradawi and an introduction by Rashid al-Ghannushi, sets out rules for reading the Companions’ political disputes by principle rather than by the rank of the people involved. [5] His largest work, Al-Azma al-dustūriyya fī al-ḥaḍāra al-islāmiyya (2018), traces what he calls a constitutional crisis from the first civil war to the Arab Spring; an English translation, From the Great Fitnah to the Arab Spring, is listed by Kube Publishing for December 2026. [6] [7] He has also written short portraits of Iqbal, Draz, Bennabi, Izetbegović and al-Faruqi, and several hundred analytical articles for the Al Jazeera website. [2] [8] Most of his books have appeared in Turkish, and some in Urdu, Persian, Malay, Bosnian and other languages. [2]
He calls himself close to the Muslim Brotherhood and argues that sharia and political freedom are compatible, and that the apparent conflict between them comes from an unclear theory of religion. [1] He has been a sharp critic of Arab governments and a supporter of the Arab Spring and of Turkey’s role in the Syrian war. [1] In 2008, responding to the Gambian president’s threat to execute gay people, he issued a fatwa saying there is no scriptural basis for such a punishment, while holding that homosexual acts are sinful. [1]
He then moved to Texas. In Lubbock he directed the Islamic Center of South Plains from 2001 to 2008 and served as its volunteer imam while he studied. [2] [3] He earned an MBA from Columbia Southern University in 2007 and, in December 2011, a PhD in the history of religion from Texas Tech University with a dissertation on the Crusades’ impact on Sunni–Shiʿa relations. [2]
He joined Hamad Bin Khalifa University in 2009, first as research coordinator, then as assistant professor of the history of religion, and from 2013 to 2020 as associate professor of political ethics at its Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics (CILE). Since January 2021 he has been associate professor of international affairs at Qatar University. [2] [4]
Archived 27 October 2026. Islamic Internet Archives, https://islamicarchives.org/authors/muhammad-al-mukhtar-al-shinqiti/
