Mohamed Talbi (), (16 September 1921 – 1 May 2017) 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 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 (at the time) 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.

Awards Ribbon bar Country Honour Tunisia Grand Officer of the Order of the Republic Tunisia Commander of the Order of Merit Tunisia Officer of the Order of the Independence France Officer of the Legion of Honour Spain Commander of the Order of Civil Merit

Administrative positions

Member of the Real Academia de la Historia (1970) Member of the editorial team of the Encyclopaedia of Islam (1978) Member of the Universal Academy of Cultures (1994) President of the Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts (2011-2012)

Other acknowledgements 1979 : Premio letterario internazionale del Mediterraneo (Italy) 1985 : The Léopold Lucas Prize (Germany) 1987 : The Cultural National Prize (Tunisia) 1991 : The Literature National Prize (Tunisia) 1994 : Hiroshima Prize for Peace and Cultural (Sweden) 1997 : The Senator Giovanni Agnelli International Prize (Italy) 2017 : Ibn Khaldun Award in Humanities (granted posthumously; Tunisia) 2024 : Prix Fondation de la Maison de Tunisie (granted posthumously; Tunisia)

Bibliography In French Al-Mukhassass d'Ibn Sïda : études et index, ed. Imprimerie officielle, Tunis, 1956 Histoire générale de la Tunisie (collective book), tome II « Le Moyen Âge », ed. Société tunisienne de diffusion, Tunis, 1965 L'émirat aghlabide (186-296/800-909) : histoire politique, ed. Adrien Maisonneuve, Paris, 1966 () Biographies aghlabides extraites des Madarik du Cadi Iyād (critical edition), ed. Imprimerie officielle de la République tunisienne, Tunis, 1968 Ibn Khaldûn et l'Histoire, ed. Société tunisienne de diffusion, Tunis, 1965, republishing. Maison tunisienne de l'édition, Tunis, 1973, republishing. Cartaginoiseries, Carthage, 2006 Islam en dialogue, ed. Maison tunisienne d'édition, Tunis, 1970 Islam et dialogue, réflexion sur un thème d'actualité, ed. Maison tunisienne d'édition, Tunis, 1972 Étude d’histoire ifrîqiyenne et de civilisation musulmane médiévale, ed. Université de Tunis, Tunis, 1982 Réflexions sur le Coran (with Maurice Bucaille), ed. Seghers, Paris, 1989 () Études sur la tolérance (collective book), ed. Beït El Hikma, Carthage, 1995 Un respect têtu (with Olivier Clément), 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 (with Gwendoline Jarczyk), ed. Albin Michel, Paris, 2002 () Universalité du Coran, ed. Actes Sud, Arles, 2002 () Oriente-Occidente : cartografías de una distancia [Direction], ed. Fondation Marcelino Botín, Santander, 2004 Réflexion d'un musulman contemporain, ed. Fennec, Casablanca, 2005 Afin que mon cœur se rassure, ed. Nirvana, Tunis, 2010 Gaza, barbarie biblique ou de l'extermination sacrée et humanisme coranique, ed. Mohamed Talbi, Tunis, 2010 L'Islam n'est pas voile, il est culte : rénovation de la pensée musulmane, ed. Cartaginoiseries, Carthage, 2010 Goulag et démocratie, ed. Mohamed Talbi, Tunis, 2011 À Benoît XVI, ed. Mohamed Talbi, Tunis, 2011 Ma 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, 2011 Jean Fontaine, « Recension : Talbi Mohamed, Histoire du Christ, ed. Mohamed Talbi, Tunis, 2011 (555 p.) », Groupe de recherche islamo-chrétien, 20 juin 2011 Méditations sur le Coran : Vérité, rationalité, I'jaz scientifique, ed. Mohamed Talbi, Tunis, 2016 Dieu est amour : guide du musulman coranique, ed. Nirvana, Tunis, 2017

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

In Dutch Dialog mit Afrika und dem Islam (with Léopold Sédar Senghor), ed. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, 1987

In Arabic Al-Turtûshî, al Hawâdith wa-l-Bida (), ed. Imprimerie officielle, Tunis, 1959 Tarājim Aghlabīyah : mustakhrajah min Madārik al-Qādī ʻIyāḍ (), ed. Imprimerie officielle, Tunis, 1968 Manhajiyyat lbn Khaldûn al-Tâ'rîkhiyya (), ed. Dâr al-Hadathâ, Beyrouth, 1981 Dirāsāt fī tārīkh Ifrīqīyah wa-fī al-ḥaḍārah al-Islāmiyah fī al-ʻaṣr al-wasīṭ (), ed. University of Tunis, Tunis, 1982 Al-dawlaẗu al-aġhlabiyyaẗ (184-296/800-909) : Al-tārīkẖ al-siyāsī (), ed. Dār al-Gharb al-Islāmī, Beyrouth, 1985 Nahnou wa al-ġharb (), ed. Abdelkarim Ben Abdallah, Tunis, 1992 (Collective Work) Iyal Allah : Afkar Jadidah fi 'Alaqat al-Muslim bi-nafsihi wa bi al-Akharin (), ed. Cérès, Tunis, 1992 Fi Tārīkh Ifrīqīyah (), ed. Beït El Hikma, Carthage, 1994 Ummat al-Wasat (), ed. Cérès, Tunis, 1996 Al-Islâm : Hurriyatun wa Hiwâr (), ed. Dâr al-Nahâr, Beyrouth, 1999 Li yatma'inna qālbî : Quādhiyatû el-îmān (), ed. Cérès, Tunis, 2007 Quādhiyatû al-Hâquîqua (), ed. Mohamed Talbi, Tunis, 2015 Dalil al-muslim al-Cor'ānî (), ed. Mohamed Talbi, Tunis, 2016 Al-Ṣiraa' al-lāhoutî fi Al-Qayrawân ayam al-aġhaliba (), ed. Sotumedias, Tunis, 2017

References