Yadh Ben Achour was born in La Marsa into a family of scholars, magistrates and high officials of the Tunisian high bourgeoisie. His father Mohamed Fadhel Ben Achour was the MuftiofTunisia from 1962 to 1970. His Grandfather Muhammad al-Tahir ibn Ashur was one of the most renowned modern-era graduates of University of Ez-Zitouna and one of the great Islamic scholars of the 20th century.
Ben Achour advocated a radical paradigm shift that would allow for the rethinking of Islam as a cultural and religious system and subvert ideological and dogmatic constructs with hegemonic claims. He has developed an inclusive approach which seeks to deal with the islamic culture in its entirety, including elements characterised by the representatives of orthodoxy as heterodox, and therefore marginalised and repressed. He has adopted a multifaceted and holistic approach which looks between traditional dogma and axioms.[6]
He has received many national and international awards, and recognition for his outstanding scientific work.[7]
(ar) Conscience et droit : l’esprit civique et les droits modernes (الضمير و القانون : الروح المدنية و الحقوق الحديثة), Beirut-Casablanca, ed. Arab Cultural Center, 1998
Le rôle des civilisations dans le système international : droit et relations internationales, Brussels, ed. Bruylant, 2003
Introduction générale au droit, Tunis, ed. Centre de publication universitaire, 2005
La Cour européenne des droits de l'homme et la liberté de religion, Paris, ed. Pedone, 2005
Aux fondements de l'orthodoxie sunnite, Paris, ed. Presses universitaires de France, 2008
La tentazione democratica. Politica, religione e diritto nel mondo arabo, Verona, ed. Ombre Corte, 2010
La deuxième Fâtiha. L'islam et la pensée des droits de l'homme, Paris, ed. Presses universitaires de France, 2011
An International Constitutional Court: Bulwark against the Erosion of Constitutional Democracy, in Constitutionalism, Human Rights and Islam after the Arab Spring(eds. Rainer Grote, Tilmann Röder and Ali El-Haj, Oxford/New York, ed. Oxford University Press, 2016)
Quel islam pour l'Europe ? (with François Dermange), Geneva, ed. Labor et Fides, 2017
Tunisie : une révolution en pays d’islam, Geneva, ed. Labor et Fides, 2018
L'Islam et la démocratie : Une révolution intérieure, Paris, ed. Gallimard, 2020
Tunisie dix ans et dans dix ans (collective work), Tunis, ed. Leaders, 2021
The Islamic Question Before the United Nations Human Rights Committee, Naples-Ferrara, ed. Jovene / Università degli Studi di Ferrara, 2021
La révolution, une espérance, Paris, ed. Fayard / Collège de France, 2022.
La question islamique devant le Comité des Droits de l’Homme des Nations Unies, Paris, ed. Pedone, 2022
L’éthique des révolutions, Paris, ed. Maison des sciences de l’homme, 2023
