Mohamed Habib Marzouki

Mohamed Habib Marzouki (محمد الحبيب المرزوقي; also, Abu Yaareb al-Marzouki and Abou Yaareb al-Marzouki; born 29 May 1947) is a Tunisian academic, philosopher and translator. Along with intellectual work, he involved in politics for a short time following the Jasmine revolution. Resigning only a year later, he declared his intention to step out of political work for good and count on writing to incite social change.

A central theme of Marzouki's thought is reconciling, or even unifying, philosophy and religion. According to him, ending the conflict between philosophy and religion (or Islam in particular), which he believes is an ancient one, is the only possible way to bring about actual reform in the Islamic world in particular, and the world in general. To achieve the "civilizational revival of the Islamic nation, he argues, Muslim nations must overcome the ideas of Arabic Renaissance so that they can resume what he calls their current civilizational mission in the context of globalization, holding that "without strong and independent economies and serious ethics of work, social growth may remain a wishful thinking".

Early life and education
He was born in Ferryville, French Protectorate of Tunisia. The thirteenth in a family of fifteen children, he received a PhD in philosophy from the Sorbonne University in 1972. He taught at the University of Tunis between 1980 and 2006 and at the International Islamic University of Malaysia.

Political career
He was elected to the Constituent Assembly as a representative of the Islamist party Ennahda for the district of Tunis on 23 October 2011, and was subsequently appointed advisor, with cabinet rank, to the Culture and the Education ministers. He later resigned from the assembly on 6 March 2013, and returned to teaching philosophy. Upon retirement, he left a bitter note to conclude his experience in which he accused Ennahda, then-governing party, of nepotism and exploiting power as if it were a "spoil of war".

Views
In his writings, Marzouki is keen on commenting on the significant goings-on of social and political life, along with the abstract problems that make up the body of his output.

He considered the 2023 Quran desecration in Sweden a sign for a defensive position in the lay West towards a growing inclination to Islam among the elite. He also commended Turkey for its balanced position between the East and West.

from German

 * 1) This translation was winner of Sheikh Zayed Book Award in 2012.
 * 2) Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion, published in two volumes: