Meet our Alims / Scholars

• Syed Asad Jamal Zaidi

  Its been around 15 years that i have been studying in qom.

  some of the subjects i have studied are as follows:

  Islamic beliefs

  Jurisprudence

  Ethics

  Tafseer

  History

  Hadith

  Islamic parenting,

  Philosophy….

  My M phil was in jurisprudence with inclination to philosophy.

   

   

   

• Sheikh Kassimali

• Sister Salma Alavi

• 

  Prof. Shaikh Abbas Ali Shameli

   

  “In The Name of Allah”

  Salaamun Alaykum
  I am Dr. Abaas Ali Shameli. I was born in Shahreza, a small town westward of beautiful Isfahan, a central province in the Islamic Republic of Iran. I am gifted by Allah (s.w.t) with three children, two daughters (Raziah and Fatimah) and a son (Alireza). I have obtained my PhD in culture & values in education from McGill University located in Montreal, Canada in 1999.

  I was lucky enough to be considered as an excellent graduate from my department and therefore, I was put on Dean’s honor list in that year for this degree. My PhD dissertation was on culture and values development with a title as: Toward An Islamic Model of Culture & Values Development: A Study of Ayatullāh Sadr’s Theory.

  Before obtaing my PhD, I was pursuing my graduate studies in two integrated fields. I obtained two MAs. My first M.A is in philosophical psychology and the second one in developmental psychology. The latter was obtained through studies and research in Iran. The result of this research was my contribution (two chapters) in providing two volumes in developmental psychology with an Islamic approach.

  My former MA resulted in writting a thesis as: The Soul-Body Problem in The Philosophical Psychology of  Mullã  Sadrã and Ibn Sinã.          I fulfilled the second one in Canada at McGill and the first one in Iran at Bagher al-Uloom Foundation in Qum. To provide a clearer image about my MA and PhD, I prefer to invite you to have a glance on the abstracts of these two theses as following:

  M.A. Thesis ABSTRACT
  Author:                        Abbas Ali Shameli

  Title:                              The Soul-Body Problem in The Philosophical Psychology of  Mullã Sadrã and Ibn Sinã         

                Degree:                       M.A. dissertation

                Department:            Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University

  Date & Place:       Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1995

  Pages:                    218

   

                ——————————————————————————————

   

  This thesis will partly compare the approaches of two pioneers in Islamic philosophy to the soul-body problem:  the philosophical psychology of Mullã Sadrã (Sadr al-Muta’allihīn Shīrāzī 975-1050/1571-1640) and that of Ibn Sīnā (370-428/980-1037). Our main concern will be with the former, the founder of “transcendent theosophy”, particularly his ideas regarding the corporeal generation of human soul.

  A brief historical background of the problem is presented in the first chapter. In order to evaluate the real philosophical value of Mullā Sadrā’s doctrine, the thesis will investigate the soundness of Mullā Sadrā’s novel psychological findings. “Substantial motion” (al-harakah al-jawharyyah) and the “gradation of existence” (al-tashkīk fī marātib al-wujūd) are the two main philosophical principles formulated and implied by our philosopher regarding the elaboration of his theory on the soul’s developmental process.

  In my study, I discuss the nature of the soul-body relationship, the evidence that indicates their mutual interaction, and finally, the various forms of this relationship.  In the final chapter, we focus on the developmental process of the soul’s substantial motion up to the stage of union with the active intellect. Our analytical discussion is centered on whether or not the theory of the corporeality of the soul’s generation yields a meaningful conception of the soul’s evolution from materiality to immateriality.

  Considering the serious challenges and unsolved difficulties that still remain, it is an open question whether Sadrā’s theory, particularly its emphasis on the corporeality of the soul’s generation, can adequately account for the soul’s developmental process up to the stage of unity with the world of intellects.

  Ph.D. Abstract

  Author:               Abbas Ali Shameli
  Title:                    Toward An Islamic Model of Culture & Values Development:         A Study of Ayatullah Sadr’s Theory
  Department:       Culture and Values in Education

  Degree:               Ph.D.
  Department:        Culture & Values in Education

  University:           McGill, Montreal, Canada. 1999

  Pages:                  414

   

  Development and social change have been the common challenge of both developed and developing nations. Investigators of development and social change to meet these challenges have proposed various models. However, such models are inevitably associated with particular patterns of culture and values. It must therefore be recognized that development cannot be value-free and measured only in economic terms or based on European standards; rather development must be value-laden and correspond with a nation’s history, culture and aspirations. At the same time, few development models have dealt with the dimension of culture and values.

  Dissatisfied with Western models of development, Muslim thinkers have attempted to build an Islamic model which expresses Islamic values and aspirations. In this thesis I explore and design a model based on the writings of Ayatullah Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, whose thought seems particularly comprehensive and relevant to the modern world. My discussion begins with a synthesis and critique of a variety of Western models, both modern and post-modern, from an Islamic point of view. I then investigate and discuss Sadr’s theory of culture and values development, focusing on the challenge of human inner conflict and his typology of human values formation.

  Sadr’s key concern is to shift the focus of development from a macro-social to the micro-individual level. An Islamic model of development, as Sadr sets out, is first and foremost one for human values development. For Sadr, culture and values development must precede any other kind of development for a Muslim society, where the practice of Islamic values is a way of life and a journey towards God. Values education then should be prophetic education which focuses on teaching people how to develop themselves and accordingly to reach God. Sadr also argues that economic development cannot be obtained without the establishment of social justice. The establishment of the latter should be based on culture and values development, which profoundly relates to the resolution of human inner values conflicts.

  The project also evaluates different models in the light of the one proposed by Sadr, and discusses numerous challenges and dilemmas facing Islamic societies in the global environment and in the post-modern questioning of permanent values. Next, I will examine gender and development, an important issue not explicitly addressed by Sadr. In this chapter, I have indicated that sexual values development is of critical importance to the success of any development program, which in turn depends upon a sexuality education that teaches God-centered self-control.

  I will close this dissertation with a chapter examining some of the educational challenges posed by culture and values development in Post-Revolutionary Iran.

  Beside this career I have studied as a Hawzawi student in Ilmiyyah Seminary of Qum for 21 years. Through this second career I was able to pass three major levels of studies in Hawzah namely: introductory, intermediate and higher level which is known as Dars-i Khārij.

  This trend was dedicated to research and studies in various fields of Islamic Studies. The more highlighted one was jurisprudent and the priciples of jurisprudent which is regarded as a necessary tool for extracting the divine rules from the main Islamic references. Because of my invovlment for the first career, I was only able to get two BAs. The first one in Islamic Studies and the second one in Islamic Law (Shi`a Jurisprudent). Although I have finished my studies in Hawzah, I was not able to pursue my studies in Fiqh and provide the requirements for obtaining higher degree’s in this field to become a mujtahid.
  Educational Career
  1976       Finishing High School
  1981 Undergraduate from Elmiyyeh Seminary, Qum

   

  1986 Masters in Islamic Studies and Developmental Psychology

   

  1991 Completed Advanced studies in Fiqh, Usul, Islamic Philosophy, mysticism and Qur’an Exegesis

   

  1995 Masters in Islamic Philosophical Psychology, McGill University, Montreal

   

  1999 PhD in Philosophy of Education (Culture & Values in Education), McGill University, Faculty of Education

  Research and Publications
  Co-author of Developmental Psychology: An Islamic Approach. SAMT Organization, 1993. (Iranian university textbook)

   

  Co-translator of a volume on Philosophy of Experimental Psychology on 2011

  The author of two volumes on Islamic model in Moral Education & What-ness of the Prophetic Education as Mirrored in the Holy Quran in 2008

  The Author & Chief Editor of a Volume on Philosophical & Islamic Foundations of Education, in Farsi, 2016.

  The Author & Chief Editor of a Volume on: An Introduction to Educational Constitution (Nizamnamah) of al-Mustafa International University, in Farsi, 2018.

  Research member of the National Committee for compiling National Document Developing Iranian Formal Schooling & Education.

  20 papers in different journals in Farsi in the fields of Islamic Studies (Theology, mysticism, philosophy, jurisprudent, Qur`an Exegesis (1999-2005)

   

  22 term papers in English (1992-1999) – some published and presented in international conferences could be checked through googling up

   

  English Papers Written during

  My M.A. & PhD Studies in Canada,

  McGill University

  Abbas Ali Shameli (Ph.D)

  Thursday 2008-01-31

  Education

  Women, Education, Cultural Development & Social Change
  CULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF EDUCATION IN JAPAN
  Development of Higher Education in Post-Revolutionary Iran
  A Recent Shi`i Explanation of Social Change & Social Justice as Indicated in the Qur’an: Ayat Allah S. M. B. Sadr & the Qur’anic Concept of Social Justice
  Educational Change Through a Postmodern Perspective
  How Dose Revelation manifest in the Prophetic Education?
  Challenges and Dilemmas in Making Values & Ideals: Authorities in Human Values Making
  SUBJECTS OF LOVE ACCORDING TO THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD (P.H)
  Theories of Development and Socio-Educational Change A Historio-Analytical Approach
  Political Islam & Western Democracy: Cohesion or Contrast “A Multicultural Approach”

  Islamic History

  Nasīr al-Dīn Ţūsī (597-1201/672-1274) His Socio-Political  & CULTURAL Role in the Thirteenth Century

  ROOTS OF THE OTTOMAN-SAFAVID CONFLICTS DURING 1502-1576

  Islamic Philosophy

  AVICENNA’S PROOF OF THE EXISTENCE OF GOD AS A NECESSARILY EXISTENT BEING
  THE SOUL-BODY PROBLEM IN THE PHILOSOPHICAL PSYCHOLOGY OF MULLĀ SADRā (1571-1640) AND IBN SīNā (980-1037 (
  BODILY CREATEDNESS OF THE SOUL ACCORDING TO MULLA SADRA
  THE SOUL-BODY INTERRELATIONSHIP ACCORDING TO MULLA SADRA & IBN SINA

  Islamic Mysticism

  Ibn `Arabi (638/1240) And His Interpreters: Influences And Interpretations
  KASHF and SHUHUD According to SUHRAWARDI & JAMI
  THE SEAL OF THE SAINTS ACCRDING TO MUhAMMAD REDA QUMSHA’I (1241-1306 A.H.)

  Islamic Thought

  THE ROLE OF MUHAMMAD BAQIR AL-SADR IN THE RENEWAL OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT

  Quranology

  An interpretation for Surat Hud, Verses 50 to 60
  INDHAR (WARNING) & TABSHIR (GIVING GOOD TIDINGS) IN THE PROPHETIC GUIDANCE [A QURANIC OUTLOOK]
  THE CONCEP OF ABROGATION (NASKH) IN THE HOLY QUR’ĀN
  A PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH to the SURA of YUSUF

  Islamic Theology

  THE INFALLIBILITY ((ISMAH)) OF THE IMAM ACORDING TO

  IMAMIYAH & MU`TAZILAH A COMPARATIVE THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

  THE INSTITUTION OF WILAYAT-I FAQIH ROOTS OF ITS LEGITIMACY

  ACCORDING TO THE SHI‘I-IMAMI DOCTRINE

  Islamic Isul al-Fiqh

  The Authoritativeness (Hujjīya) of Ijmā` (consensus) According to Shī`ī and Sunnī Traditions

   
  Participation in International Seminars & Conferences
  Re-Understanding Human Nature in Post-modern Era, Canada, Winnipeg, Mennonite University, 2011, “Islamic Womanology: Complementary or Egalitarian?”

  Political Islam & Western Democracy: Cohesion or Contrast? Italy, Rom, Torvergata University, 2011, “Islamic Republicanism according to Imam Khomeini: Characteristics”

  Faith & Reason in Religious Thought, UK, London, Hytrope College, 2008, “Typology of Human Values Making”

  Re-Understanding Human Soul, Elmiyyah Seminary of Qum & University of Insburg, Qum, Imam Khomeini Institute for Education & Research, 2008, “Soul-Body Relationship According to Mulla Sadra”

  Shi`a Catholic Engagement: Spiritual Development: How do we do it?! UK, London, 2006, “Unveiling and Intuition according to Jami & Suhrawardi”

  Shi`a Arminian Dialogue: Religious Education in post-Modern Era, Empowering the Youth to Cope with the Challenges, Lebanon, Beirut, 2010, “Role Models in Religious Education”

  Curriculum Planning in Prophetic Education, IRI, Tehran, Ministry of Education, 2009, “From Self-Development into Social Justice: A Quranic Approach”.

  “Imam Khomeini & his political approach”. Pavia University. Italy, Pavia, April 2012.

  “Philosophy & Religion: Cohesion or contrast, the explanation of Allamah Mesbah Yazdi, University of Napoli. Italy, March 2012.

  “Main pillars in the Islamic jurisprudence: A Shi`i approach”, University of Sapienza, Italy, Rome. April, 2012
  Supervising & Advising Theses & Dissertations
  From 1999 up until now I have provided my advises & supervisions for my students at both master’s and PhD degrees for their theses, dissertations and research projects. Fifteen master theses and fifteen PhD dissertations have advised and supervised by me in different universities & institutions. I have also supervised five research projects in the field of mystical education, psychology of religion & moral education.
  TV & Radio Lecturing
  I have afforded English talks and lectures in different TV stations such as Press TV, Quran TV, local TV stations, Radio, the Call of Islam in Quranology, Spirituality & mysticism in Islam, Islamic Child Training, Islamic Family paradigm, Youth Issues, Educational Psychology.
  Teaching Experience
  10 years in Islamic Republic of Iran at various university levels in fiqh, usul, philosophy, theology, Introduction to Psychology, developmental psychology from 1980 to 1990

   

  Lecturer for higher Education at Tehran University, Allamah Tabatabaei University, Tarbiyat Mudarris University, al-Mustafa virtual University on topics such as: Islamic Philosophy of Education, Western Studies, Developmental Psychology, Islamic Moral Education from 2000 to 2008

  lectures inside and outside Iran: English and Persian among Shi’ite communities, youth camps particularly at the Islamic Centre of England, Australia, Tanzania, South Africa, Italy  2000 to 20011

   

  Islamic Jurisprudence at the Islamic College for Advanced Studies, UK, in 2002.

  Shi`i Islam: History & intellection, Institute of  Pisai, Rome, Italy, 2012.

  My research interests presently involve me in a new process of Islamicization of humanities and social sciences in Iran. Since the 1980s Elmiyah Seminary of Qumm has initiated a project to educate students to prepare them to participate in this process of islamicization. My own role is in the field of psychology. I have been involved in the production of a two-volume university level textbook in developmental psychology from an Islamic perspective. It was published in Persian by SAMT Organization, in 1995. The LTA position would also allow me to pursue my post-doctoral research in this field through the Faculty of Education at McGill.

   

  In terms of my teaching philosophy, it is my serious concern to provide sound and reliable information about Islamic teachings to my students. At the same time, as an expert in Islamic studies and philosophy of education who has experienced both secular, modern and Islamic approaches to education in two very different environments, I am also concerned about maintaining objectivity. My goal is to strengthen student knowledge and awareness of Islam. I also believe that an important aspect of higher education is interaction and exchange between students and professors through which both together try to come up with new findings and ways of enriching the path of human knowledge.

   

  My teaching interests are broadly dispersed within the field of Islamic studies and include an inter-disciplinary approach. I am prepared to teach Islamic theology, jurisprudence, philosophy, moral values, mysticism, and gender issues in Islam, as well as general courses in Sunni and Shi’ite Islam.

   

  Abbas Ali Shameli (PhD)

  Amin Blvd., Amin Complex, The Faculty for Higher Education in Humanities & Social Sciences, Affiliated to

  al-Mustafa International University for Islamic Studies,

  2ed Block, Department of Educational & Psychological Studies

  Iran, The holy city of Qum

  Home Tel.: 0098-253-2940810

  Office Tel.: 00098-253-2133 #104

  Mobile No.in Iran : 0098-912-353-0417

  Email: aashameli39@gmail.com

   

  Min Allah al-Tawfiq wa Alayhi al-Takelaan

  Success Comes only from Allah & We need to Trust on Him only

• Sayid zeeshum Ahmad

• Sheikh Shiraz Agha

• Sayyid Samer Al-Hakim

• Seyed Ahmad Madani

• Sumaira Ahmad

• Sheikh Zoheir Ali

• 

  Sheikh Mosseiyybi

• Sister Naajiya Bhimji Ja'ffary

   

• Sheikh Imran Damani

• Sheikh Zahir Davdani

• Sheikh Ahmad Danish

• Sayyid Haider Naqvi

• Shaykh Yasar Ebrahim

• Sayyid Shabbar Haidershah

• Sister Taqawi

• Asma S. Rashed

   

• Sheikh Nadir Jaffer

• Sister Davdani