Mohammad Ali Shomali


Mohammad Ali Shomali is a Muslim scholar, academic, philosopher and theologian. His religious rank is Hujjat al-Islam.

Early life and education

Shomali was born 1965 in Tehran, Iran. He studied in the religious seminaries of Qom, and also completed a bachelors and masters degree in Western Philosophy from the University of Tehran. He then received his doctorate in Philosophy from the University of Manchester. Shomali's thesis was on ethical relativism, 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, Iran.
  • 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, and director of the Islamic Centre of England in London, 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 between Shiite scholars and Catholic theologians. As such, he organised meetings together with members of the Monastic Interreligious Dialogue in which Christian monks and Shia scholars came together in Rome, Qom/Isfahan, Assisi/Rome, and Qom/Mashhad.
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 Catholic-Shi'a Engagement: .
  • A Catholic-Shi‘a Dialogue: .
  • Monks and Muslims III : towards a global Abrahamic community

    Protestant-Shi'a Dialogue volumes

  • Faith and Modernity: A Muslim-Christian Conversation

    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.