Rached Ghannouchi is cofounder, intellectual leader, and current head of the Ennahda Party, the largest political party in Tunisia. In 2016, under Ghannouchi’s direction, Ennahda separated itself from Islamism and divided its political activities from its religious ones. In 2019, he was elected Speaker of the Tunisian Parliament. David L. Johnston is Affiliate Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary and adjunct lecturer at St. Joseph's University (Philadelphia). His recent book is Muslims and Christians Debate Justice and Love and his blog humantrustees.org.
Rached Ghannouchi is one of the most influential, most interesting, and most promising thinkers and leaders of political Islam today. Finally, the magnum opus of his political thought on public and personal freedom is available in English. It is an important document for how human rights and freedoms can be squared with the claims of Islamic political movements. -Frank Griffel, Yale University Rached Ghannouchi presents the case for Islamic democracy in this in-depth study of public freedoms in an Islamic state. David Johnston's clear translation should be read by anyone interested in the emerging movements of Muslim democrats.-John O. Voll, co-author of Islam and Democracy after the Arab Spring Rached Ghannouchi is one of the world's most influential Islamist thinkers, and his Public Freedoms in the Islamic State is essential reading for anyone interested in the relationship between Islam and democracy. -Anne Wolf, author of Political Islam in Tunisia: the History of Ennahda