What is 132 times 142?“Can you write down the numbers for me on paper?” the small boy asked with hesitation. “I won’t use a pen. I just have to see the numbers on paper,” he said, hinting at the method behind his mathematical genius. After reading the numbers on the back of a notebook, he began to mutter quick additions in English under his breath. “Two hundred sixty-four, eight, plus four, two plus six um eighteen thousand seven hundred and 44.”

His calculations took only 10 seconds and the calculator verified that the answer — 18,744 — was indeed correct. His father interjected with a wrong answer but the boy quickly pointed out the mistake.

Mahmoud Wael, or Moody as he’s known to friends and family, is a nine year old with an intelligence quotient (IQ) of 155. He has recently been in the local limelight as the youngest mathematical genius in the country —possibly, the local press has declared, the world.

Moody was three and a half when his father, Dr. Wael Mahmoud, realized something was out of the ordinary. Mahmoud was testing Moody’s older sister on her multiplication tables. When she stalled at seven times seven, Moody quickly chimed in with 49, then went on to correctly answer the tables up to 12 times 12.

About six months later, teachers and officials at the Ministry of Education realized Moody’s potential.

“[Moody] was four years old and in KG-1. They called me one day and told me that I had to go in tomorrow, that it was urgent,” Mahmoud recalls. “They told me that Moody knows all the multiplication tables up to 12 while most of the other kids were still learning how to write down the numbersone, two, three.”

He looks down at Moody with a proud smile: “Show how you can multiply two-digit numbers.”

With a quick “bismallah,” Moody begins to calculate, starting from 50 times 50 up to 60 times 60 in a soft whisper: “2,500, um, 2,601, 2,704.”

When asked how old he is, Moody answers “In English or in Arabic?”

“Either,” his father tells him in a low voice. It turns out Moody speaks English, French and Arabic fluently and, according to his father, is well read in all three.

Say “genius,” and many might think of an anti-social, nerdy kind of person. But this boy wonder is as much boy as wonder. He ambles around with a playful gait, frequently veering off without apparent aim, prompting a litany of “Moody, taala henna” (come here) from his dad. When seated, the boy wriggles with energy waiting to be released.

Moody is an avid football fan, rooting for Brazil and his favorite player, Ronaldinho. When he’s not playing his football game on the computer, he’ll join his friends outside in a friendly match. “In my free time I also practice math and watch television,” Moody says. “I like to go on the internet sometimes and play computer games. I watch wrestling and cartoons like Tom and Jerry.” He also plays the piano, adding that he enjoys “trying new things,” like composing melodies. Moody reads funny stories by an author he only knows as Fred.

Amid all that, he likes to play with his toys and contemplate his future plans on becoming a scientist. “I want to do something in math or computers. If some people don’t know something in math, I’ll come up with a calculation that makes them understand it. Maybe invent something.”

It’s not an unlikely dream. He’s very observant, seeming to grasp everything around him instantly, like it was on a map he had previously memorized. Moody has a way about him that expresses an innate understanding of things most children his age do not comprehend.

For one so intelligent, Moody, who considers himself a religious Muslim, comes across as plain and simple. He’s shy, humble and polite but speaks with assertion about his abilities. The boy is fully aware of his gift and questions fired at him from all directions no longer catch him off guard.

When asked if he has a nickname, he says that most people close to him call him abqareeno (genius), while strangers call him ‘Mr. Calculator.’ He likes both but isn’t particularly enthusiastic about either. The boy has a few close friends and doesn’t shy away when it comes to shining. “Friends are surprised, impressed,” he says nonchalantly. “They think I’m good.”

Moody’s father looks like a grown-up version of Moody with similarly shaped eyes, glasses and a soft, polite voice. The 48-year-old retired gynecologist likes to read about math and literature. He tells of how he chose to close his clinic of 20 years in hopes of focusing his attention on Moody, the youngest of his three children.

“As we say in Egypt, Moody is a ‘small scientist’,” Mahmoud says. “He has the second highest IQ in Egypt after Ahmed Zuweil [Nobel Laureate in Chemistry], whose IQ is 165. He’ll be a scientist, I’m sure, in the near future.”

Mahmoud speaks openly of how his son is his pride and joy. “I feel like Mahmoud is a gift from God. I’m doing everything I can to protect his future, making sure he speaks several languages. I consider Moody my son, my brother and my whole life.”

And he wants the world to know it. Mahmoud takes no shame in embracing any media that comes his way and has plans to extend the recognition as far as he can. “I’m trying my hardest to make Moody more and more famous so that every country in the world knows him. People need to know about this young genius who is nine years old in Egypt and will have mastered four or five languages soon, not to mention his speedy math calculations.”

When asked if he thought the media overexposure has had any adverse effects on Moody, Mahmoud says “no.” He estimates that between local and international television, newspapers and online networks, nearly 40 media outlets have covered his son’s storym from Al-Ahram to the Arab News Network, AUC’s newsletter and the Mehwar satellite channel’s popular 90 Minutes.

The media’s exposure certainly does have an impact. As the family strolled through Shams Sporting Club on a Thursday afternoon, strangers excitedly halted in their tracks as Moody walked past, and a couple of families approached to exchange pleasantries with the child.

“I go to Greenland International Language School. I got a scholarship [to go there] from the American University [in Cairo, AUC]. And I was there [at AUC] for 50 hours, no, 100 hours,” Moody explains.

He is the youngest student ever to enroll in AUC, registered for a one-on-one tailored English course, unprecedented at the university. Moody credits his father for the accomplishment. “My dad was in front of the university and he said I will go in and see what it looks like and tell them about you. Then they said maybe I could have a scholarship to the university. I was learning from a teacher called Dalia Alfred. I already took two courses, both 50 hours, and I am going for the last 50 hours next week.”

He adds in a modest voice that his English is improving, and he has begun studying French. “Yeah. I also took French with a tutor from Senegal.” His eyes shift up to his father for approval and then back down.

Moody is also enrolled in the international Universal Concept Mental Arithmetic System (UCMAS) program, which nurtures those gifted in mental arithmetic and memory training. The program — in which 33 countries participate — is 30 months-long with exams running every three months. Moody joined three months ago and plans on entering the international tournament held annually in Malaysia during October. “The last two years Egyptian children won, so alhamdulillah,” says his father.

The boy’s future is already mapped in his father’s eyes. Mahmoud says that Moody intends on finishing his education and once “he’s done with high school he’ll be admitted to the Arab Marine Academy for a full scholarship to study for his bachelor’s, master’s and PhD.”

Moody’s father also has enrolled him in computer programming courses; engineering and computer science are the child’s favorite subjects. “He wants to get the MCSD (Microsoft Certified Solution Developer) international certificate by the age of 12,” Mahmoud explains. “The youngest to ever achieve it was a French 14-year-old because the program is rigorous and difficult, even by adult standards.”

The academics are balanced with athletics. “We’ve tried him out in several sports, but because he’s small-figured he wouldn’t be able to play in tournaments,” Mahmoud says. “He said he wanted to try karate. We took him to the trainer and the trainer said it was fine. He now has the yellow belt. Hopefully by the time he’s 12 he’ll have the black belt and he can enter adult tournaments.”

Mahmoud says that the biggest struggle to support his son is simply coping with the constraints of living in Egypt. “If he was in a country other than Egypt, he would have endless abilities and more facilitation for learning and more [opportunities]. We love Egypt very much but we’re standing by for any country that can help enhance Moody’s abilities in the quickest time.”

That said, Mahmoud has set conditions for those who would recruit his son to a foreign country. Some Egyptian businessmen living in Canada offered to have his son move there but “they wanted him to go alone so they can raise and train him at their will, and I refused. If there’s a chance where they take him and he gets citizenship as well as permanent residence we would agree. I guess for now, I’m going to focus on fostering his gift with all my power.”

Moody, on the other hand, says he loves Egypt, hinting at a desire to stay. His role model is fellow countryman Zuweil, because “he is a good scientist and he’s from Egypt, and he did a good thing for people, a new thing that people didn’t know. That is what I wish [to do].” et