Muhammad al-Amin al-Shinqiti

Muhammad al-Amin ibn Muhammad al-Mukhtar al-Jankani al-Shinqiti (1325–1393 AH / 1907–1973 CE) was one of the foremost Quranic scholars of the 20th century, a Mauritanian scholar who became a pillar of Islamic University of Medina and produced one of the most important works of Quranic interpretation in the modern era: Adwa al-Bayan fi Idah al-Quran bil-Quran (Lights of Exposition — Clarifying the Quran through the Quran).

He was born in the Shinqit region of Mauritania (historically known as Bilad al-Shinqit), which had one of the most vibrant Islamic scholarly traditions in West Africa, producing extraordinary Quran memorizers, jurists, and poets. He memorized the Quran and the major texts of Maliki jurisprudence in the traditional oral manner of Mauritanian scholarship and then traveled to Saudi Arabia for Hajj in 1946, where he stayed permanently.

He was appointed professor at the Islamic University of Medina upon its founding and taught there until his death. His Adwa al-Bayan is a tafsir that follows a distinctive methodology: explaining each Quranic verse primarily through other Quranic verses and only then through hadith and scholarly opinion, taking to its systematic conclusion the classical principle that "the Quran explains itself." The work fills nine volumes and is considered a model of this methodological approach.

He was known for his extraordinary fluency in classical Arabic, his ability to cite Quranic verses from memory in rapid sequence, and his sharp analytical mind. He also wrote on usul al-fiqh (legal theory), particularly on the use of customary practice ('urf) in Maliki law. He died in Mecca in 1393 AH and is buried in Jannat al-Baqi'.