Abdelwahab Meddeb

Abdelwahab Meddeb (1946–2014) grew up in a cultured patrician family in Tunis, studying at the Collège Sadiki and the University of Paris-Sorbonne. Deeply rooted in classical Arabic poetry, Sufi mysticism (especially Ibn Arabi), and French philosophy, Meddeb was an eloquent defender of a tolerant, pluralistic Islamic Enlightenment.

For sixteen years on France Culture, Meddeb hosted Cultures d'Islam, introducing hundreds of thousands of listeners to Islamic arts, architecture, philosophy, and history. In his influential 2002 book The Malady of Islam (La Maladie de l'Islam), published after September 11, Meddeb delivered a fearless critique of religious extremism, urging the Muslim world to reclaim its heritage of poetic freedom, spiritual love, and rationalist inquiry.