Olfa Youssef is a Tunisian university professor and a writer specializing in Arabic

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...

and Applied Islamic Studies. Her publications deal with themes related to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

, the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

, the place of women in Islam,

religious freedom Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...

and cross-religious dialogue.

Biography

Olfa Youssef was born in 1964 in the coastal city of

Sousse Sousse or Soussa ( ar, سوسة, ; Berber:''Susa'') is a city in Tunisia, capital of the Sousse Governorate. Located south of the capital Tunis, the city has 271,428 inhabitants (2014). Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf ...

, where she received her primary and secondary education. She then studied at the École Normale Supérieure de Tunis to receive a BA and an "aggregation" diploma. Being valedictorian during most of her studies, she was awarded and honored by President

Habib Bourguiba Habib Bourguiba (; ar, الحبيب بورقيبة, al-Ḥabīb Būrqībah; 3 August 19036 April 2000) was a Tunisian lawyer, nationalist leader and statesman who led the country from 1956 to 1957 as the prime minister of the Kingdom of T ...

in 1987. Youssef's PhD in Arabic language and literature defended in 2002 deals with the subject of “Polysemy in the Quran.” Youssef occupied various administrative positions including serving as the director of the Higher Institute for Children's Executives in

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...

as well as the head of the

National Library of Tunisia The National Library of Tunisia (Tunisian Arabic, Arabic: ''المكتبة الوطنية التونسية'') is the legal deposit and copyright library for Tunisia. It was founded in 1885, then known as the ''French Library'', and then the ''Peop ...

from 2009 to 2011.

Academic work

In 2003, Youssef published her doctoral study "Polysemy in the Quran" which adopts a linguistic approach in its analysis of the Quranic text to come to the poststructuralist conclusion that meaning is inevitably multiple. Generally, Youssef claims that although certain dogmas have always been taken for granted throughout the long history of Islam, there is no proof in the Quran that makes them unquestionable rules. Such ideas are expressed, for instance, in her book ''The Confusion of a Muslim Woman: On Inheritance, Marriage and Homosexuality'' (2008). After reading such a book, conservatives concluded that Youssef insinuates that

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

is not illicit in Islam, that a girl is not necessarily supposed to inherit half of her brother's part from their parents, and that a man does not necessarily have the right to be

polygamous Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is ...

. The book led to controversies and court suits. Youssef wrote ''The Dramatic Discourse of Mahmoud Messadi's The Dam'' and co-authored ''The Dramatic Discourse of Mahmoud Messadi's The Dam'' (1994) and published ''Women in Quran and Sunnah'' (1997), ''The Quran at the Risk of Psychoanalysis'' (2007), ''Bereft of Reason and Religion'' (2003), and ''Yearning'' (2010) among other books.World Cat author listing
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Youssef, Olfa Tunisian academics 1964 births Living people Women scholars of Islam Proponents of Islamic feminism Tunisian Muslim theologians Arab linguists Tunisian feminists Tunisian women's rights activists