Muhammad Shuqair

Professor at University and Seminary

Dr. Muhammad Shuqair (also known as Muhammad Ali Shuqair or Sheikh Muhammad Shuqair al-Amili) is a Lebanese researcher, writer, and professor in religious, philosophical, and Shi'i political thought studies. He serves as a professor at the Islamic University of Lebanon and the Seminary of Lebanon, and has abundant output in religious, intellectual, and social fields. He traveled to Iran in 1990 at the age of twenty and joined Imam Sadiq University (peace be upon him) in Tehran, while he was in his third year at the Lebanese University studying philosophy and at the seminary in Lebanon. He returned to Lebanon temporarily and then went to Qom in 1993, remaining there until 2003, where he focused his seminary studies on jurisprudence and principles, with an interest in philosophy, research, and writing, without interrupting his university studies in Lebanon. He translated approximately sixteen books from Persian into Arabic, including philosophical works such as Sheikh Rabbani Golpaygani's Sharh al-Bidayah and Religious Knowledge (Sheikh Sadeq Larijani's response to Abdolkarim Soroush). He obtained his doctorate with a dissertation titled "The Philosophy of the State in Shi'i Political Thought, Wilayat al-Faqih as a Model" (later published as a book by Dar al-Hadi). Among his most prominent works are also: The Theory of Knowledge in Sadr al-Muta'allihin Shirazi, The Philosophy of Imamate, Imami Shi'ism between Criticism and Interpretation, and other books and articles in the philosophy of religion, politics, and Islamic sociology, in addition to studies on the Husayni Revolution and Ashura discourse. He is known for his method that combines seminary and academic sciences, and his critical contributions in defending Shi'i thought and refuting certain skeptical propositions.