Mohamed Talbi


Mohamed Talbi, was a Tunisian author, professor, and Islamologist.

Biography

Talbi was born in Tunis on 16 September 1921, attending school there and going on to study in Paris. Talbi wrote prolifically on a wide range of topics, including the history of the medieval Maghreb, Islam and its relationship with both women and democracy, and Islam's role in the modern world.
Talbi died in Tunis on 1 May 2017.

Career

Talbi spent most of his educational career teaching Mediterranean and North African history. He taught the Institute of Higher Education of Tunis. In 1966, he became the first dean of the Tunisian [Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts|School of Letter and Human Sciences of Tunis], as well as chairing the school's history department. He later directed the scientific journal .
In 1968, Talbi defended his Ph.D. thesis, The Aghlabid Emirate, a political History, at the Sorbonne. It was focused on Tunisia's first Muslim dynasty, addressing especially the history and key role of slavery in the Emirate’s agriculture and economy.
Talbi was appointed president of the Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts between 2011 and 2012.

Views

On the subject of Islam and democracy, Talbi rejected any direct association between Shura and democracy. He argued that shura originated before Western and Islamic concepts of democracy had even developed, and that the two were not analogous. Talbi also argued that democracy as rule by the people and notions of human rights, religious pluralism, and equality under the law, embodies values which Talbi believed constituted authentic Islam.
Talbi participated in a number of interfaith dialogues with North African and European Christians, but also criticized the practice often. In a 1987 article, Talbi criticized the current poverty of Muslim initiatives or even responses to Euro-Arab or Muslim-Christian dialogue. Talbi also explicitly declared Islam to be open to dialogue with other faiths and cultures. Talbi viewed Muslim-Christian dialogue as a significant religious matter.

Administrative positions

Other acknowledgements

In French

Al-Mukhassass d'Ibn Sïda : études et index, ed. Imprimerie officielle, Tunis, 1956Histoire générale de la Tunisie, tome II « Le Moyen Âge », ed. Société tunisienne de diffusion, Tunis, 1965L'émirat aghlabide : histoire politique, ed. Adrien Maisonneuve, Paris, 1966 Biographies aghlabides extraites des Madarik du Cadi Iyād, ed. Imprimerie officielle de la République tunisienne, Tunis, 1968Ibn Khaldûn et l'Histoire, ed. Société tunisienne de diffusion, Tunis, 1965, republishing. Maison tunisienne de l'édition, Tunis, 1973, republishing. Cartaginoiseries, Carthage, 2006Islam en dialogue, ed. Maison tunisienne d'édition, Tunis, 1970Islam et dialogue, réflexion sur un thème d'actualité, ed. Maison tunisienne d'édition, Tunis, 1972Étude d’histoire ifrîqiyenne et de civilisation musulmane médiévale, ed. Université de Tunis, Tunis, 1982Réflexions sur le Coran, ed. Seghers, Paris, 1989 Études sur la tolérance, ed. Beït El Hikma, Carthage, 1995Un respect têtu, ed. Nouvelle Cité, Paris, 1995 Plaidoyer pour un islam moderne, ed. Desclée de Brouwer, Paris, 1998 Penseur libre en islam. Un intellectuel musulman dans la Tunisie de Ben Ali, ed. Albin Michel, Paris, 2002 Universalité du Coran, ed. Actes Sud, Arles, 2002 Oriente-Occidente : cartografías de una distancia, ed. Fondation Marcelino Botín, Santander, 2004Réflexion d'un musulman contemporain, ed. Fennec, Casablanca, 2005Afin que mon cœur se rassure, ed. Nirvana, Tunis, 2010Gaza, barbarie biblique ou de l'extermination sacrée et humanisme coranique, ed. Mohamed Talbi, Tunis, 2010L'Islam n'est pas voile, il est culte : rénovation de la pensée musulmane, ed. Cartaginoiseries, Carthage, 2010Goulag et démocratie, ed. Mohamed Talbi, Tunis, 2011À Benoît XVI, ed. Mohamed Talbi, Tunis, 2011Ma religion c'est la liberté : l'islam et les défis de la contemporanéité, ed. Nirvana, Tunis, 2011 Histoire du Christ. Histoire d’une fraude textes à l’appui, s. ed., Tunis, 2011Méditations sur le Coran : Vérité, rationalité, I'jaz scientifique, ed. Mohamed Talbi, Tunis, 2016Dieu est amour : guide du musulman coranique, ed. Nirvana, Tunis, 2017

In Italian

Rispetto nel dialogo. Islamismo e cristianesimo, éd. San Paolo, Roma, 1994Un'urgenza dei tempi modern : il dialogo fra gli universi culturali, ed. Fondation Giovanni Agnelli, Turino, 1997Le vie del dialogo nell'Islam, ed. Fondation Giovanni Agnelli, Turino, 1999Islam e libero pensiero. Laicità e democrazia nel mondo musulmano, ed. UTET Università, Milano, 2005Università del Corano, ed. Jaca Book, Milano, 2007

In Dutch

Dialog mit Afrika und dem Islam, ed. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, 1987

In Arabic

Al-Turtûshî, al Hawâdith wa-l-Bida, ed. Imprimerie officielle, Tunis, 1959Tarājim Aghlabīyah : mustakhrajah min Madārik al-Qādī ʻIyāḍ, ed. Imprimerie officielle, Tunis, 1968Manhajiyyat lbn Khaldûn al-Tâ'rîkhiyya, ed. Dâr al-Hadathâ, Beyrouth, 1981Dirāsāt fī tārīkh Ifrīqīyah wa-fī al-ḥaḍārah al-Islāmiyah fī al-ʻaṣr al-wasīṭ, ed. University of Tunis, Tunis, 1982Al-dawlaẗu al-aġhlabiyyaẗ : Al-tārīkẖ al-siyāsī, ed. Dār al-Gharb al-Islāmī, Beyrouth, 1985Nahnou wa al-ġharb, ed. Abdelkarim Ben Abdallah, Tunis, 1992 Iyal Allah : Afkar Jadidah fi 'Alaqat al-Muslim bi-nafsihi wa bi al-Akharin, ed. Cérès, Tunis, 1992Fi Tārīkh Ifrīqīyah, ed. Beït El Hikma, Carthage, 1994Ummat al-Wasat, ed. Cérès, Tunis, 1996Al-Islâm : Hurriyatun wa Hiwâr, ed. Dâr al-Nahâr, Beyrouth, 1999Li yatma'inna qālbî : Quādhiyatû el-îmān, ed. Cérès, Tunis, 2007Quādhiyatû al-Hâquîqua, ed. Mohamed Talbi, Tunis, 2015Dalil al-muslim al-Cor'ānî, ed. Mohamed Talbi, Tunis, 2016Al-Ṣiraa' al-lāhoutî fi Al-Qayrawân ayam al-aġhaliba, ed. Sotumedias, Tunis, 2017