Ghannouchi’s Concept of Ḥurriyya and Its Realisation in Transitional Tunisia
Julius Dihstelhoff / Imad Alsoos
Ghannouchi’s Concept of Ḥurriyya and Its Realisation in Transitional Tunisia
MECAM Papers English | 2025
Abstract
This paper explores Rachid Ghannouchi’s conceptualisation of ḥurriyya, or freedom, as a dynamic principle rooted in Muslim heritage yet responsive to modern realities. Tunisia’s democratic experiment (2011–2021) demonstrates that Ghannouchi’s ḥurriyya thrives in flexible institutions which balance rights and duties but fails when it becomes an object of polarisation among competing yet exclusive ideologies.
Ghannouchi’s ḥurriyya creatively attempts to balance a relational practice of liberties such as individuals’ free conscience, economic justice, and institutional flexibility, translated into a legal basis within Tunisia’s 2014 Constitution.
Ghannouchi rejects the dichotomy of Western freedom vs. Islamic obedience, anchoring ḥurriyya in Qurʾanic principles of dignity and how it was executed in the state of Medina’s constitutional pluralism.
While the Arabic term ḥurriyya means freedom, it is employed to functionally and conceptually explore Ghannouchi’s unique narrative of a Muslim democracy in Tunisia. Ghannouchi’s model is neither “Islamised democracy” nor “secularised Islam,” offering a path to reconcile Islamic governance with modern political values.
According to this conception, ḥurriyya is not only the goal of a just society but also the catalyst to promote democratic and social transformation. It is an ongoing process of infinite transition and permanent negotiation.
Context
The framework of ḥurriyya offers a blueprint for Muslim societies which seek to transcend ideological polarisation. The aim is to bridge universal values with Islamic ethics, offering an alternative to both rigid secularism and literalist interpretations of Islamic political heritage. Though modern values have been developed within ethical systems outside Islam, they can be respected on their own terms.
