Rached Ghannouchi

Not to be confused with the former Tunisian prime minister Mohamed Ghannouchi.

Rached Ghannouchi (Arabic: راشد الغنوشي‎‎ Rāshid al-Ghannūshī; born 1941), also spelled Rachid al-Ghannouchi or Rached el-Ghannouchi, is a Tunisian politician, co-founder of the Ennahda Movement and serving as its "intellectual leader". He was born Rashad Khriji (راشد الخريجي).

Ghannushi was named one of Time's 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2012 and Foreign Policy's Top 100 Global Thinkers and was awarded the Chatham House Prize 2012 (alongside Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki) by Prince Andrew, Duke of York, for "the successful compromises each achieved during Tunisia's democratic transition".

Early life

Al-Ghannushi was born outside El Hamma, in the governorate of Gabès in southern Tunisia. He received his certificate of attainment degree, equivalent to the Baccalauréat, in 1962 from the University of Ez-Zitouna. He entered the school of agriculture at Cairo University in 1964 but, following the expulsion of Tunisians from Egypt, he left for Syria. He studied philosophy at the University of Damascus, graduating in 1968.

Islamic Tendency Movement

In April 1981 Al-Ghannushi founded the Islamic Tendency Movement (Arabic: حركة الاتجاه الإسلامي‎‎ Ḥarakat al-Ittijāh al-Islāmī). The Movement described itself as specifically rooted in non-violent Islam, and called for a "reconstruction of economic life on a more equitable basis, the end of single-party politics and the acceptance of political pluralism and democracy." By the end of July, Al-Ghannushi and his followers were arrested, sentenced to eleven years in prison in Bizerte, and were tortured. Both the religious and secular community, including numerous secular political organizations, rallied in his support. He was released in 1984, but returned to prison in 1987 with a life sentence, then was again released in 1988. He moved to Europe as a political exile, where he lived for decades.

He attended The Islamic Committee for Palestine conference in Chicago in 1989. Following the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, Al-Ghannushi denounced King Fahd of Saudi Arabia for the "colossal crime" of inviting the U.S. to deploy forces. He also called for a Muslim boycott of American goods, planes and ships.

Rachid Al-Ghannouchi speaking in an Islamist rally circa 1980.

Al-Ghannushi continued to criticise Tunisian politics and the regime of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Following popular unrest in which Ben Ali was ousted, Ghannushi returned to Tunisia on 30 January 2011, after spending twenty two years exiled in London .

BBC apology in 2013

On 17 May 2013, the BBC published an apology on their website for previously publishing inaccurate statements about Ghannushi six months earlier on 21 November 2012. The article had accused Ghannushi of threatening to order troops on to the streets if the En-Nahda Party did not get the results he expected in the elections in 2011, and suggested he condoned the violent Salafist attack on the United States embassy and the burning of the American School in Tunis in September 2012. Acknowledging that none of these accusations and suggestions were in fact true, the retraction concluded: "The BBC apologises to Mr Ghannouchi for these mistakes and for the distress they caused him." Tunisia's Ennahda distances itself from political Islam.

Recenlty the Party leader Rached Ghannouchi calls for more democratic embrace after being labelled "moderate Islamists" for 30 years

Awards

Chatham House prize in 2012, Ghannushi and Marzouki.

• One of the first in FP Top 100 Global Thinkers in 2011.
• The Chatham House Prize from Chatham House for the year 2012 in London (with Moncef Marzouki).
• The Ibn Rushd Prize for Freedom of Thought for the year 2014 in Berlin.
• Lifetime membership of Aligarh Muslim University Students' Union in 2015.

Further reading

• alhiwar.net 6.5.2007

External links

• Official website of Rachid Ghannouchi
• Interview with Rachid Ghannouchi
• The Nahdha Party
• Al-Hiwar forums and news
• Works by or about Rashid Ghannushi in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Rachid al-Ghannouchi collected news and commentary at Al Jazeera English
• Rashid Al-Ghannoushi: Ben Ali's regime aims to destroy Tunisian people's Islamic opposition, identity, Khaled Hamza, Ikhwanweb, 2 November 2006, interview
• Rashid al-Ghannushi, A Leader of Pure Islam, Rohama, 27 January 2011
• Rachid Ghannouchi, the Islamist Who Believes in Inclusion and Compromise - Fanack Chronicle