He has three degrees from the University of Toronto: an Honors B.A. with majors in French and Spanish, as well as an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Spanish American Literature. He also completed Post-Doctoral Studies in Arabic in Fez, Morocco and at the University of Utah. His publications on literature, language, linguistics and Islāmic Studies have appeared in over a dozen countries. He is the author of Arabic, Islam, and the Allah Lexicon: An Exploration of the Language of God.