Mohammed Arkoun Biography

Professor Mohammed Arkoun (Kabyle: Muḥemmed Arkun; Arabic: محمد أركون‎; 1 February 1928 – 14 September 2010) was an Algerian scholar and thinker. He was considered to have been one of the most influential secular scholars in Islamic studies contributing to contemporary intellectual Islamic reform. In a career of more than 30 years, he had been a critic of the tensions embedded in his field of study, advocating Islamic modernism, secularism, and humanism. During his academic career, he wrote his numerous books mostly in French, and occasionally in English and Arabic. He appeared on numerous occasions on French TV and magazines, on Berbère Télévision speaking in Berber, and on Al Jazeera speaking in Arabic.