Ali Reza Panahian was born in Tehran in 1965. Along with his studies in a regular school, he also studied in a school for religious sciences. He continued his studies in the religious sciences to a high level in the Qom Seminary and his expertise is in education and ethics. He studied psychology and western philosophy for a period too.

With this background and his unique talents, he has become an expert strategist and theorist who is responsible for a think tank on strategic studies, a member of different councils for strategic planning in cultural fields, the head of a department in the field of “Propagating Religion” in Tehran, and a member of the board of trustees of the University of Arts. Panahian is currently the trustee of a seminary and several schools are being run in accordance with his educational theory. In addition, he is a popular speaker who analyzes events in a new, thought-provoking way.

His talent in presenting fresh, practical, systematic ideas has resulted in him presenting new theories in different fields. He has creatively presented a fundamental, comprehensive, practical theory inspired by religious teachings about knowing and analyzing the human being. He presented his most important theory, “The Main Strategy in the Religious Educational System,” in 40 sessions in 2013 and it was greatly welcomed. Due to the interest of the people themselves, educated people who have studied this theory are teaching it throughout the world.

In addition, he played an important role in setting up the new field of “Propagating Religion.” In his opinion, the main requirement to being successful in propagating religion is to have a deep understanding of religion and to know the human being correctly.

He is creating new currents in cultural-religious fields and has played an effective role in reviving some religious traditions in society. At the same time, his 12-year presence in the University of Art has made him a strong and creative thinker in the field of art and a critic of cinematic works. It has been more than 20 years that Panahian is busy teaching and speaking for young people, university students, seminary students, managers and cultural planners. On certain occasions of the year, about 20,000 young people gather to listen to his speeches.

Up until now, he has published 13 books, and some of these books have been republished 27 times. A number of these books have been translated into Arabic and have been among the bestselling books in Lebanon.