Mohammad Ali Shomali (; born 22 December 1965) is a Muslim scholar, academic, philosopher and

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

. His religious rank is

Hujjat al-Islam Hujjat al-Islam (, ) is an Islamic honorific title which translates in English to "authority on Islam" or "proof of Islam". The title "Hujjat al-Islam" is given to scholars with a high level of Islamic expertise and Islamic theology. Essentiall ...

Early life and education

Shomali was born 1965 in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. He studied in the religious seminaries of Qom, and also completed a bachelors and masters degree in Western Philosophy from the

University of Tehran The University of Tehran (UT) or Tehran University (, ) is a public collegiate university in Iran, and the oldest and most prominent Iranian university located in Tehran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as ...

. He then received his doctorate in Philosophy from the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

. Shomali's thesis was on

ethical relativism Moral relativism or ethical relativism (often reformulated as relativist ethics or relativist morality) is used to describe several philosophical positions concerned with the differences in moral judgments across different peoples and cultures. A ...

, and his postdoctoral research was on ethical issues related to life and death.

Posts

Shomali currently holds a number of posts including: * Founding Director at the International Institute for Islamic Studies in

Qom Qom (; ) is a city in the Central District of Qom County, Qom province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. The city is ...

. * Head of the Imam Khomeini's Educational and Research Institute religious department. * Editor-in-chief to the Message of Thaqalayn Journal and the Spiritual Quest Journal. He was the resident

alim Alim (or ʿAlīm , also anglicized as Aleem) is one of the Names of God in Islam, meaning "All-knowing one". It is also used as a personal name, as a short form of Abdul Alim, "Servant of the All-Knowing". Given name * Alim Ashirov (1955-1979), ...

, and director of the

Islamic Centre of England Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number 2 billion worldwide and are the world's second-largest religious populatio ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, from 2014 until 2019.

Works

Shomali is Interested in effective participation through attending or organising interreligious dialogue in UK, in addition to Several countries such as USA, Canada, and several European countries and some of Asian countries.

Co-edited

Catholics-Shi'a Dialogue volumes

Shomali has an active role in the realm of

interfaith dialogue Interfaith dialogue, also known as interreligious dialogue, refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religion, religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spirituality, spiritual or humanism, hum ...

between Shiite scholars and Catholic theologians. As such, he organised meetings together with members of the

Monastic Interreligious Dialogue DIMMID, Dialogue Interreligieux Monastique - Monastic Interreligious Dialogue (DIM·MID), is a movement within the Benedictine and Cistercian order aimed to promote interfaith dialogue between monastic communities of different religions. Created i ...

in which Christian monks and Shia scholars came together in Rome (2011), Qom/Isfahan (2012), Assisi/Rome (2014), and Qom/Mashhad (2016). Together with Abbott Dr Timothy Wright he won the Award for Book of the Year in the Special Session Interreligious Dialogue: Islam and Christianity in The 24th World Award for Book of the Year of the Islamic Republic of Iran 2017. Shomali has contributed to editing the following books in collaboration with Abbott Timothy Wright and other scholars and theologians: * Catholics & Shi'a in Dialogue: (Studies in Theology & Spirituality) (2004 & 2011). * Studies in Theology & Spirituality Catholic-Shi'a Engagement: (Reason & Faith in Theory and Practice) (2006 & 2011). * A Catholic-Shi‘a Dialogue: (Ethics in Today’s Society) (2008 & 2011). * *Monks and Muslims III : towards a global Abrahamic community (2015)

Protestant-Shi'a Dialogue volumes

* Faith and Modernity: A Muslim-Christian Conversation (2018) (Co-author)

Publications

* * ''Mary, Jesus and Christianity: an Islamic Perspective'', 2007 * * ** * * * * * * ''Self Development: Essays on Islamic Spirituality'', 2016 * ''Ethical Relativism: An Analysis of the Foundations of Morality'' * ''Shi‘a Islam: Origins, Faith & Practices'' 2003 * ''Principles of Jurisprudence: An Introduction to Methodology of Fiqh'' * ''The Image of God in the Qur’an'' * ''Spiritual Quest: A Biannual Journal of Ethics and Spirituality'', 2013 * ''God: Existence & Attributes'', 2014 * * ''Islamic Belief System'', 2020 * ''Lessons on Imamah and Wilayah'', 2019 * ''Islamic Plan for Life'', 2020 * ''Lessons on Islamic Beliefs'', 2020 * ''Unity of God and Unity in God: Wings of Unity Series, Part One'' * ''Apostle of God'' * ''Islam: Doctrines, Practices & Morals'' Some of his books have been translated and published into several languages.

References

External links

shomali.net Official Page (Lectures &Publications )

BIOGRAPHY OF Mohammad Ali Shomali

Books by Dr Mohammad Ali Shomali

Dr.mohammad-ali-shomali (Lectures &Books &Articles)

Dr Mohammad Ali
at the

University of Religions and Denominations The University of Religions and Denominations () is a teaching and research center in Qom, Iran. It focuses on the study of religions and Islamic sects. The President of the University is Dr. Rahman Bolhassani. The university has four vice p ...

Interview with Dr Mohammad Ali Shomali, PLURIEL
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shomali, Mohammad Ali Iranian writers Iranian academics 21st-century Iranian philosophers Iranian Shia clerics Iranian Shia scholars of Islam 1965 births Living people Academics from Tehran Academics of the University of Manchester University of Tehran alumni