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 University for Women in Qum. His publications include Self-Knowledge (Tehran, 1996), Ethical Relativism: An Analysis of the Foundations of Morality (London, 2001), Shi'i Islam: Origins, Faith and Practices (London, 2003), Discovering Shi'a Islam (Sixth edition: Lodon, 2006) and Principles of Jurisprudence:An Introduction to Methodology of Fiqh (Qum, 2006). He is also a co-editor of Catholics & Shia in Dialogue: Studies in Theology & Spirituality (London, 2004), Catholic-Shia Engagement: Rason and Faith in Theory and Practice (2006) & Catholic-Shi'a Dialogue: Ethics in Today's Society (2008).
