Mohamed Fadhel Ben Achour (October 16, 1909 – April 20, 1970) was a Tunisian theologian, writer, trade unionist, intellectual and patriot born in La Marsa.

Biography

Born October 16, 1909, in a family of Scholars, Magistrates and High Officials of the upper middle class of Tunisia, he began to learn the Quran and Arabic grammar from the age of three years. He also learns French language at the age of nine. He made his entry in 1922 in University of Ez-Zitouna where he is directly enrolled in second year. In 1928, he obtained the first diploma of Zitounian high school leaving, then called tatwi. In 1931, he enrolled at the Faculty of Letters of Algiers as a free auditor. He then rapidly gravitated to the various ranks of the Zitounian teachers: he succeeded in 1932 in the assistance of second-level teachers and, in 1935, in first-degree teachers at the University of Ez-Zitouna. A few years later, he became director of the Khaldounia, General manager of the Institute of Islamic Research, annexed to Khaldounia, then the first Dean of the Faculty of Religious Sciences of Tunis and finally member of the Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo and of the Arab Academy of Damascus.

Defense of the Code of Personal Status

As the Grand Mufti of the Tunisian Republic, he was one of the religious who defended the provisions of the Code of Personal Status (CPS) in Tunisia, as they represent possible interpretations of Islam. He described the CPS as "a necessity of modern times [...] but always in accordance with the foundational texts of Islam."

Family

Mohamed Fadhel Ben Achour married Sabiha Djaït, the daughter of Sheikh Mohamed Abdelaziz Djaït, in 1938. The couple had six children: two sons, Yadh and Rafâa, and four daughters: Hela (a philosophy professor), Raoudha, Rabaâ (an academic), and Sana (an academic and jurist).

Honours

Publications