Ali Moughania

(Doctor of Philosophy, Columbia University in the City of New York)

Ali Moughania

  • Blog Introduction

  • I have been considering the pros and cons of focusing this blog on a particular theme or intended readership. With all the merits of specialization, I submit that my academic specialization has me niched enough for the rest of my time on Earth, and that I will be looking forward to this blog as a more diversified avenue of expression. It will still be me, just not always the Ph.D. dissertation mode of me. For that, I beg your pardon, you will have to wait for the occasional academic study I announce here, or read parts of my dissertation (hint to fellow academics, in particular). So you can expect this blog to shed light on the more far-reaching implications of my work as an academic, tailored to a diverse and broad readership, weighing in on current events while also contextualizing and drawing lessons from history. Without further ado, welcome to Ali Moughania’s blog!


    • Symmetric Dignity: What Do the Rise of Digital Superintelligence, US-China relations, and Resisting Israeli Occupation of Lebanon Have in Common?
      by Ali Moughania
      Copilot’s Artistic Depiction of a Future with Superintelligence   Humanity may soon confront forms of intelligence that exceed ordinary human cognitive capacity as dramatically as […]
    • Why Don’t They Just “Surrender”?
      by Ali Moughania
      Pope Francis and the Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Al-Husayni Al-Sistani in Iraq in March 2021 (photo from https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-03/pope-francis-ayatollah-al-sistani-message-anniversary-visit-iraq.html)   This post should be of relevance […]
    • What Would Jesus Do? Are you Ready for the Mahdi?
      by Ali Moughania
      P. 15 of the Dr. Heussane Publication 10 THINGS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW ABOUT GOD   Deciding on America’s interests should not be at the […]
    • Cousins of your Cousins too
      by Ali Moughania
      Screenshot from report by WXYZ-TV Detroit | Channel 7 Just another casualty, right? Add 3 children, or their dismembered body parts, and their dad to […]
    • The Late William K. Brehm (d. 2025)
      by Ali Moughania
        It feels too soon to be writing a reflection on Mr. Brehm’s life. Perhaps I assumed he would be around to see additionally significant […]
    • Latest Academic Publication: Why a manual on learning etiquette matters so much, and what’s next?
      by Ali Moughania
      How could research comparing two manuals on learning etiquette be relevant to our day-to-day concerns in the “real” world?! Why would I write about this […]
    • The Child Within Us?
      by Ali Moughania
      If we are waiting around for a sincere change of heart, for something that would appear to be as miraculous as it is momentous, then […]
    • Ambulance? Here, Have a Sandwich Instead.
      by Ali Moughania
      “Quick, call an ambulance!” I had originally planned to write a blog post about handing a cup of coffee (and/or a sandwich) to someone who […]
    • Illegals, DEI, Dearborn and Your Fair Share
      by Ali Moughania
      So you have a college degree now, so what?! What value does that bring to the table? Even if you have multiple degrees, and the […]
    • Do Not Be a Slave…
      by Ali Moughania
      The United Nations (UN) International Court of Justice (ICJ) has just weighed in on potentially genocidal violations in the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza (Palestine). […]
    • You Must Back your Brother, Oppressed or Oppressor
      by Ali Moughania
      “You must back your brother, oppressed or oppressor,” goes the proverb. Back your brother or sister even if he or she is an oppressor? How […]
    • Drinking Plastic in Your Water? Be a Champion of the Underdog
      by Ali Moughania
      I have a confession to make: one of my (perhaps many) influences that have gone unmentioned (by name) in the acknowledgements section of my dissertation […]
    • Not “For Sale” in the Market of Labels
      by Ali Moughania
      If you came away from the last post (the one about Saint Mary) with the idea that the early history of Islam is arguably intertwined […]
    • “Her and Her Son”
      by Ali Moughania
      By 2050, Christians and Muslims will make up nearly equal shares of the world’s population (assuming current trends continue, according to the Pew Research Center). […]
    • The Ethics of War According to Ali
      by Ali Moughania
      No, I don’t mean the late American boxing icon, Muhammad Ali (d. 2016). But the ethics I am about to describe are apparently in line […]
    • Call It What It Is! I Dare You
      by Ali Moughania
      The title of this post reminds me of a satirical exchange, the gist of which has two individuals debating over what the nature of a […]

  • "Loving/engaging [in an intimate understanding of] knowledge is a religion to be followed..."

    --Attributed to Imam ʿAlī (d. 40/661). See, for instance: Abū Tālib al-Makkī (d. 386/996), Qūt al-Qulūb, v.1, 242; and Abū Jaʿfar al-Ṣadūq (d. 381/991), Kamāl al-Dīn wa Tamām al-Niʿmah, 290.

  • "(On the front of his doorway Plato had written 'Let no one who is not a geometer enter my house.' That is, 'Let no one who is unjust come in here', for geometry is equality and justice)"

    --Johannes Tzetzes (d. ca 1180 CE), Chiliades, Book 8, Story 249. (Translated by Andrew Barker. See: David Fowler, The Mathematics of Plato's Academy, 203.)