Biographical Note
Tijani Boulaouali (Tissali, Driouch Morocco, 1973) is an Islamic scholar and researcher specializing in Islamic and Arabic Studies, Qur'an Translation, Qur'anic Studies, Qur'anic and Biblical Concepts and Narratives, and Interfaith Dialogue. He is the author of 20 single-authored books and a co-author of 15 others.
He currently serves as a university lecturer, researcher, and advisor for the Master’s program in World Religions and Islamic Theology at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven. He is also affiliated with the Leuven Centre for the Study of Islam, Culture and Society (LCSICS), the Research Unit of Arabic and Islamic Studies, and the Netherlands Interuniversity School for Islamic Studies (NISIS).
In addition to his academic work, he teaches Islamic Religion at the Flemish Ministry of Education and Training in Ghent.
Tijani Boulaouali earned his PhD in Arabic and Islamic Studies from KU Leuven. His doctoral research focused on the biblical reference framework used by contemporary Dutch translators of the Qur’an.
He has published a number of books, including:
The Pluralistic Alternative and the Management of Difference, On the Roots of Pluralism in Islam and its Extensions in the West (Casablanca 2021)
Mutual Fear Between Islam and the West (Casablanca, 2021)
Muslims and the Phobia of Globalization (Fez, Morocco, 2018)
The Image of Islam in the Dutch Academic Approach (United Arab Emirates, 2013)
Arabic Poetry: The Duality of Norm and Deviation (United Arab Emirates, 2012)
Islam and Amazighism Towards a Moderate Understanding (Casablanca, 2008)
Muslims in the West, Contradictions and Challenges (Cairo, 2006)
He is also the Chairman of the Ijtihad Center for Studies and Training (ICST) and the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Ijtihad Journal for Islamic and Arabic Studies in Europe.
Digital Pages
Awards and Recognitions
2021: Member of the Literary Award Jury for his poetry collection Murds Soil Melancholy in My Country, Salon Littéraire Oujda, Morocco.
2017: Award for Best Journalistic Work for the article The Wisdom of the Frog in a Pluralistic World, published in the Islamic World Journal.
2014: Nominee for the Thesis Awards at VU Amsterdam, Faculty of Religion and Theology, for his Master's thesis Islam and Western Pluralism: From the Approaches of Jacques Derrida, Hans Küng, and Henk Vroom (Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Nelly van Doorn-Harder).
2009: Recognized as one of the Top 100 Arab Writers in the World by the Arab World Press Forum, United Arab Emirates.
2006: First Prize in Literature (Arabic Poetry), awarded by the Al-Hidjra Foundation for Culture and Art, Amsterdam.
1992: First Prize in Literature, Lyceum Al-Amal Midar, Morocco.
