Series on Islamic Topics

Topics:

• Mercy of God is limitless
• Image of God in the Qur’an
• Mercy of God is the most frequently mentioned quality of God in the Qur’an
• Mercy of God as the main reason for creation
• No one can block God’s mercy
• Mercy of God saves us
• Mercy of God is all-embracing
• God has made it necessary for Himself to be merciful
• Mercy of God in preparing everything that we need
• Mercy of God in sending us guides
• Divine books are sent out of God’s mercy
• Role of God’s mercy is saving us from sins and in forgiving our sins
• How to qualify to receive more mercy from God
• Qualities and actions that attract more mercy
• Generous reward of God
• Divine mercy on the Day of Judgment

This lecture was delivered at the Islamic Centre of England on the 11th of the month of Ramadan.

Titles:

• The Impact of Christian-Muslim Relations on World Peace
  This lecture is an interfaith dialogue between Shi’a Muslim scholars from Iran and Mennonite scholars from Canada and the U.S  was recorded March 30, 2016 at Canadian Mennonite University
  

• Historical, Theological and Eschatological Relations between Islam & Christianity
  This lecture was delivered at St Ottilien, Munich on the 29th April 2016.

• Islam & Christian Muslim Relations
  Public Event at St Ottilien on Islam, Shia Islam, Christian-Muslim Relations and Dialogue (with German translation). This was followed by Q&A.
  

• Interreligious Dialogue Experiences
  This lecture was delivered in the fiftieth anniversary of PISAI in Rome. The event was held at the University of Urbaniana on the 25th Jan 2015.
  

• Interreligious Dialogue
  This lecture was delivered in a meeting with Christian leaders in the Focolar Centre for Unity.
  

• How to Avoid Violence in the Name of Religion
  This lecture was delivered in the 8th Round of Dialogue between World Council of Churches and Shi’a Muslims in Geneva, Switzerland.
  

• Inclusiveness as a Strategy for Preventing and Countering Radicalization
  Preventing and Countering Radicalisation Evening debate- Thursday 3 March 2016, 19.30, Brussels Organised by COMECE (the Catholic Church in the European Union)
  

• Unity of God and Unity in God
  he first round of Wings of Unity was conducted at Sophia University, Loppiano, Italy and the title was: Unity of God and Unity in God. Dr Shomali gave three lectures in this round.
  

• Introduction to Islam
  This lecture was given to a group of Christian, Jewish and Muslim participants. The second part involved one hour of lecture on Moral System of Islam and half an hour Q&A in the afternoon. Unfortunately the second part has not been recorded.

   

  

• Characteristics of Shia Islam
  Meeting in Qum on Tuesday the 30th August 2016 with the participants of a course on Shi’a Studies, organised by the University of Religions and Denominations. The participants included lecturers and students from Austria, Japan, USA and South Africa. We discussed major characteristics of Shi’a Islam and this was followed by Q & A. Thanks to God, the room was filled with a strong sense mutual respect and understanding.

   

  

• Abraham: A Role Model and Guide for Humanity
   

   

  

• Christian Muslims Dialogue: A Personal Experience
  This short speech was given on the 19th June 2004 in a day event organised by the Focolare Movement during the last visit of the UK by the late Chiara Lubich, the Foundress of the Movement. The general theme was “Imagine a World Enriched by Diversity.” There were two international gusest speakers: a lady from India and Dr Shomali from Iran.

  

• Contemporary Issues in Islamic Thought: Inter religious Dialogue
  This is part of a series of eight lesson delivered by Sheikh Dr Mohammad Ali Shomali at the Islamic Centre of England in London in London in 2007.

• Islam and Christianity
  This is part of a series of short talks recorded during Dr Shomali’s sabbatical in 2006-2007.

  

• An Interfaith Meeting: The Family Challenges and Benefits
   

  

• Identity and the Other
  28th Congress of the Union Européenne des Arabisants et Islamisants, held at the University of Palermo.

  

• Unity of God and Unity in God
  This talk was delivered on Wed the 10th August 2016 in Mariapolis, organised by the Focolare Movement in Sussex.

  

• Virtuous Life in Islam: A Brief Account of Islamic Spirituality
  This lecture was given on the 2nd of June 2016 in a 2 day programme at the University of Paderborn on “Personhood, Virtue and Moral Cultivation: A Christian – Muslim Workshop.”

   

  

• Contemporary Issues: Muslim Christian Relations
  This is part of a series of eight lesson delivered by Sheikh Dr Mohammad Ali Shomali at the Islamic Centre of England in London in 2007.

  

• Gen Verde and Focolare visiting the ICE
   

  

• Q & A of the Conference on Islamic Unity
  The annual conference on Islamic Unity, organised by the Islamic Centre of Hamburg and the Islamic Council of Hamburg.

  

• Successorship to the Prophet and Spiritual Position of Imams
  This short talk was given to the participants of the 7th round of Catholic Shi’a dialogue during their visit of the Shrine of Imam Rida (a) in Mashhad.

  

• Opening Session, 7th Round of Catholic Shi’a Dialogue
   

  

• Introduction to Hawza History, Structure and Educational System
  This lecture was delivered by Dr Shomali on the 28th October 2012 in Qum at the University of Religions and Denomination to a group of 22 visitors from Germany. Shi’ite seminaries or what is known as “Hawzāt (plural for Hawzah) ‘Ilmiyyah” have historically played a significant role in developing Islamic as well as pure and empirical sciences. Its institute has been central in educating people and providing the Shi’a community with spiritual, communal, and political guidance and leadership. In what follows, the significance of knowledge in Islam and development of Islamic sciences will be examined and this will be followed by an exploration of how Shi’ite seminaries historically developed. This lectures ends with a discussion on the current situation of the Islamic Seminaries of Qum and the way it operates. It is followed by Q&A.
  
   

  

• Dimensions of God’s Mercy in the Qur’an
  
   

  

• Jesus and Muslim Christian Relations in the Quran
   

  

• Quranic Perspective on Human Diversity and Unity
  This lecture was delivered in the event which was organised in Athens to commemorate the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad (a) and Imam Sadiq (a) on January the 8th 2014. There were Christian, Sunni and Shia speakers and the audience included some Greek officials, members of diplomatic crew in Athens, academics, Church figures, members of Muslim Association of Greece and the Shia community in Athens. The theme of the symposium was: “Beyond Solidarity: Qur’anic Discourse on Diversity and Social Harmony.”

  

• Mercy, compassion and love in Christianity and Islam

  Speakers:

  Sheikh Mohammad Ali Shomali, Director of the Islamic Centre of England* Reverend Maggie Hindley; Community and Public Affairs Specialist, Christian Muslim Forum

  ** Robin Marsh; Secretary General of Universal Peace Federation

  *** Mahera Ruby; Researcher at Goldsmith University

  Time: 6.30pm Wednesday, 17th December 2014

  * Dr Mohammad Ali Shomali is a graduate of the Islamic Seminaries of Qum and has also both a BA and an MA in Western Philosophy from the University of Tehran. He has earned his Doctorate in Philosophy from the University of Manchester. His publications include: Self-Knowledge (1996 & 2006, also translated into Malay, Spanish and Kiswahili), Ethical Relativism: An Analysis of the Foundations of Morality (2001, also translated into Malay), Shi‘a Islam: Origins, Faith & Practices (2003 & 2010; also translated into Spanish & Swedish), Principles of Jurisprudence: An Introduction to Methodology of Fiqh (2006). He is a co-editor of Catholics & Shi’a in Dialogue: Studies in Theology &Spirituality (2004), Catholic-Shi’a Engagement: Reason & Faith in Theory and Practice(2006) and A Catholic-Shi‘a Dialogue: Ethics in Today’s Society (2008).

   

  **Reverend Maggie Hindley is Co-Director of the London Inter Faith Centre. She is also the minister of St Andrew’s United Reformed Church and Inter Faith Adviser to Thames North Synod. On Saturday 2nd July 1994, she was ordained to the Ministry of Word and Sacraments and inducted to ‘the Missionary Pastorate’ of Trinity. She is also Community and Public Affairs Specialist, Christian Muslim Forum

   

  *** Robin Marsh is the Secretary General of the Universal Peace Federation – UK. He attended the interfaith oriented Unification Theological Seminary in Up State New York 1985-87. He organised almost 20 delegations of politicians, interfaith figures, and NGO’s to Israel, West Bank and Gaza between 2005-7. He is married and has four daughters. He has been involved in many campaigns for human rights, promotion of interfaith dialogue and mutual inter-community understanding. (Many of activities are documented at www.uk.upf.org)

   

  ***Mahera Ruby is a mother passionate about living and sharing a vibrant love of faith and community with her spouse, three children and her community. She is a Certified Parenting Practitioner with over 15 years of experience supporting parents who feel they don’t quite ‘have it all together yet.’ Mahera is also an experienced community organiser who believes in developing individuals who can come together to bring positive change within their local communities. She is keen to develop community leaders and vibrant community organisations. Mahera is currently a Research Fellow at Goldsmiths, University of London. She is completing her PhD at the same university in the Department of Education, focusing on intergenerational learning taking place in three generations of families whose origins are in Bangladesh. Mahera has been a researcher at Goldsmiths, where she co-directed the ESRC-funded research project on ‘Becoming literate through faith: language and literacy learning in the lives of new Londoners’. Mahera has worked on a few other research projects on developing bilingual pedagogies and has co-authored many publications highlighting the findings. She has co-authored her first book ‘Interconnecting Worlds: Teacher partnerships for bilingual learning’.

  

• Unity of God and Unity in God
  he University of Glasgow was founded in 1451. On 27 February, in this prestigious place, which educated seven future Nobel winners and heard Albert Einstein demonstrate his theory of relativity, the Focolare Movement and the Islamic society Ahl Al Bait coordinated an evening lecture on interfaith dialogue and unity. The evening was entitled “Unity of God and Unity in God.” One of the guest speakers was the well-known figure of the Shiite world, Dr. Mohammad Ali Shomali, Director of the International Institute of Islamic Studies at Qum, Iran; Dr Shomali is currently Director of the Islamic Centre of Great Britain. The other guest speaker was Professor Paulo Frizzi, lecturer in Theology and the Practice of Interreligious Dialogue at the Sophia University Institute in Loppiano, near Florence, Italy, where he coordinates the Sophia Global Studies Research and Training Centre. On 28 February Dr Shomali delivered the ‘Time for Reflection’ in the Scottish Parliament.
   

  

• Interfaith Dialogue : Peace and Unity
  Developing and nurturing our spirituality at an individual and communal level in a increasingly materialistic world”

   

  Each of Christian and Muslim presenters spoke about these questions:

   

  1) Living in modern times, we witness that “The Divine” has been taken out of the societal equation and retired to the private realm. The dominating world view is increasingly that of materialism. How do you develop and maintain a balanced lifestyle in your day to day life at personal and community levels? What is the most important elements which animates your faith in God?

   

  2) What role does prayer play in striking the balance in your daily lives? How do you go about practically implementing prayer in your routine at personal and communal levels? What impacts has it had on you and your community?

   

  3) Considering the innumerable chalenges facing our plant and its inhabitants, how do you maintain hope? What does Divine Love mean to you in these challenging times? What is your conception of the existing saviour and what is our role in the dawn of his reappearance as two communities comping together?

  

Titles:

• Sunni Shia Relations
  This is part of a series of eight lesson delivered by Sheikh Dr Mohammad Ali Shomali at the Islamic Centre of England in 2007.
  

• The Spirit of Unity
  This short speech was given by Dr Shomali to highlight the significance of unity in its various aspects, including unity inside a person, inside family, inside the extended family, local community, Muslims, all believers and humanity. It is argued that there are different levels of unity, but there is a ground for everyone to be involved in the call for unity. This message was played in the ceremony for lunching “the Spirit of Islam” project in London on the 6th Nov 2011.

This is the first part of a series of seven lessons given on the subject. This course was an attempt to explore the Qur’anic perspective on significance and essence of wisdom (hikmah).

This was the very first English lecture delivered in the Shrine of Lady Masumah as the first part of (QWEL) Qum Weekly English Lectures.

This series, “Practical Wisdom in the Qur’an” was first released in Febuary 2019 covering 14 lectures. It aims to discuss what a Muslim should do on the individual and community level, based on wisdom from the Quran. It expands on core principals and concepts for the development of practical wisdom based on the Quran and the tradition of the Ahlul-Bayt (AS).

Lecture delivered by Respected Scholar Dr Mohammed Ali Shomali during the summer retreat in Canada (August 6th 2016) The story is Narrated in Chapter 20 (Taha) of the Holy Quran.

Titles:

• Prophet Muhammad (saw) in the Quran
  This is part of a series delivered in the Shrine of Lady Masumah (a) in Qum in 2013 studying some of the verses on the Qur’an which are related to the Prophet Muhammad (s).
  

• The Prophet of Mercy
  Love Muhammad in association with Palmers Green Mosque, IMM & Shabab Al Sibtayn organised the second Muslim Unity event, bringing the diverse community members together to celebrate the life of Prophet Muhammad (P).

• The Messenger of Peace
  This lecture addresses the following: 1. the personality and character of Prophet Muhammad (s) 2. what we should do in current situation when some people don’t show respect to him 3. Islamic unity 4. high status of the believers of this time.

• Moral Character of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.a.w)
  This short speech was given by Dr Shomali to highlight the significance of unity in its various aspects, including unity inside a person, inside family, inside the extended family, local community, Muslims, all believers and humanity. It is argued that there are different levels of unity, but there is a ground for everyone to be involved in the call for unity. This message was played in the ceremony for lunching “the Spirit

  of Islam” project in London on the 6th Nov 2011.

• Me’raj
   

• Mab’ath
   

• Merciful Nature Of Islam & Prophet Muhammad
   

Titles:

• Imam Ali (as), embodiment of tawhid & justice

• living Islam, Imam Ali(as) after the prophet
  Ramadan Youth is a special program on Hidayat TV

Titles:

• Birth of Imam Hussein a.s

• The true Spirit of mourning for Imam Hussein a.s 

• The connection between Imam Hussein a.s and Imam Mahdi a.s 
   

Titles:

• The connection between Imam Husayn and Imam Mahdi
  

•  Globe Before & After the Advent of Imam Mahdi

• How to help Imam Mahdi with our mourning for Imam Hossein
   

• Helping Imam Mahdi, Birth Anniversary of Imam Mahdi (atfs)
   

Titles:

•  God’s Pleasure and Lady Fatimah
  This talk was given in commemoration of the demise anniversary of Lady Fatimah (a).
  

• light in the Quran in relation with Lady fatima
  Speech By Dr.Mohammad Ali Shomali at Idara-e-Jaferia MD USA 4-19-2012

• Martyrdom of Lady Fatima Al-Zahra
   

Titles:

• The Power of Lady Zainab
  Sheikh Mohammed Shomali emphasises the attributes of Lady Zainab (sa) and how we can learn lessons from her life to combat and target social issues that are prevalent in our communities today.

• Lessons from Arba’een
  This lecture was given on Sunday 20th Nov 2016 in commemoration of Arba’een of Imam Husayn (a) by Sheikh Dr Shomali at the Islamic Centre of England, London.

Titles:

• Historical Role of Lady Masumah (as)
  This is the firs part of a series of four lectures on the Lady Masuma (a) which were delivered on the occasion of her demise anniversary.
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•  Spiritual Position of Lady Masumah (as)
  This is the second part of a series of four lectures on the Lady Masumah (a) which were delivered on the occasion of her demise anniversary.

• Reflections on the Ziyarah Recitation of Lady Masumah (as)
  This lecture was delivered in the Shrine of Lady Masumah (a) on 7/4/2012, Qum. This is the third part of a series of four lectures on the Lady Masumah (a) which were delivered on the occasion of her demise anniversary.
  

Titles:

• The Concept of Dua
  In the holy month of Ramadhan 1433 (2012), AIM and ICEL organised a series of lectures delivered on the topic ‘Journey to the Beloved’. In this lecture, Sheikh Shomali speaks about the meaning of Dua (supplication).

• Month of Ramadhan & Fasting
  

• Ramadhan Daily message
  This series of lectures were delivered in the month of Ramadan 1433 A.H. at the Islamic Centre of England, London
  

• Dua in in Islam: Why and How to Pray
  This series of lectures were delivered in the month of Ramadan 1433 A.H. at the Islamic Centre of England, London.
  

• Ramadhan Daily Message
  
  

• Night of Qadr
  

• Laylat Al-Qadr
  

• How to prepare for the Month of Ramadan
  

• Eid al-Fitr Sermons
  

Titles:

• Significance of Prayer
  This talk was given between Maghribayn prayers.
  

• Secrets of Prayer and Fasting
  This lecture was part of a series of eight lectures delivered in a course at the Islamic Centre of England, London in July 2010.
  

• Friday Juma Khutba
  

• Significance of Dua
  

• Reflections on Munajat Sha’baniyyah
  This short talk was delivered in the Hawzah Ilmiyyah of England. The first part of the talk involved discussion on a question that Sheikh had raised. This talk relates to the sentence: الهي هب لي كمال الانقطاع اليك وانر ابصار قلوبنا بضياء نظرها اليك
  

• Human Relation with God in al-Sahifah al-Sajjadiyyah
  

• Reflections on Munajat Imam Ali in the Mosque of Kufa
  This series of lectures were delivered in the month of Ramadan 1433 A.H. / August 2012 at the Islamic Centre of England, London.
  

This is part of a series of nine lectures delivered by Sheikh Dr Shomali in July 2009 at the Islamic Centre of England, London.

Titles:

• Family Life in Islam
  This is part of a series of short talks recorded during Dr Shomali’s sabbatical in 2006-2007.
  

• Relationship between Husband and Wife
  

• MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LIFE ISSUES
  
  

• Role of Women in Society
  

• Contemporary Issues in Islamic Thought
  This is part of a series of eight lesson delivered by Sheikh Dr Mohammad Ali Shomali at the Islamic Centre of England in 2007.
  

Titles:

• Social Wilayah
  
  

• The Wilayah,The Wilayah, the love and the unity of the believers
  

• Collective nature of Wilayah
  

• Wilayah
  

• The Essence of Wilayah on the Occasion of Eid Ghadir