Ijtihad Network Being Wise and Faithful Muslim in the Contemporary World
Muhammad Ali Shomali was born in Tehran, Iran in 1965.
Education
1994-1996 M.A. in Western Philosophy, Tehran University, Iran
1997-2001 PhD in Moral Philosophy, The University of Manchester, England
Dr. Mohammad Ali Shomali is a graduate of the Islamic Seminaries of Qum and has also both BA and MA in Western Philosophy from the University of Tehran. He has earned his doctorate in philosophy from the University of Manchester. He is currently an associate professor in Qum. He is also the Dean of Postgraduate Studies for the International Students at the Jamiat al-Zahra, the Islamic Seminary for Women in Qum (Iran) and Director of the International Institute for Islamic Studies. He is very interested in interreligious dialogue and has organised or attended conferences in UK, Canada, USA, Poland, Sweden, Ghana, Philippines, Georgia, Italy, Austria, Kazakhstan, Tanzania, etc.
Now he is the Director of the Islamic Centre of England.
Works
His publications include Self-Knowledge (Tehran, 1996 2006, also translated into Malay, Spanish, Swedish and Kiswahili), Ethical Relativism: An Analysis of the Foundations of Morality (London, 2001; also translated into Malay), Discovering Shi‘a Islam (7th edition 2010; also translated into 13 languages),Shi’i Islam: Origins, Faith and Practices (London, 2003 & 2010; also translated into Spanish, Kiswahili & Swedish), Mary, Jesus & Christianity: An Islamic Perspective (2007 and 2012; also translated into Italian). He is also a co-editor of Catholics and Shi‘a in Dialogue: Studies in Theology and Spirituality (London: Melisende, 2004 and 2011), Catholic-Shi‘a Engagement: Reason and Faith in Theory and Practice (London: Melisende, 2006 and 2011), A Catholic-Shi‘a Dialogue: Ethics in Today’s Society (London: Melisende, 2008 and 2011) & Monks and Muslims: Monastic and Shi‘a Spirituality in Dialogue (Liturgical Press, 2012, USA).
He is also editor-in-chief of the Message of Thaqalayn, a quarterly journal of Islamic Studies, and the Spiritual Quest, a biannual journal of Islamic Ethics and Spirituality.
