In a statement on Tuesday, the Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani described French philosopher and Islamologist Yahya Christian Bonaud as a prominent figure in the field of Islamic sciences, and a professor of philosophy and religions, who had been in the past few years extensively active in promoting and introducing Islamic teachings particularly in Europe.
Yahya Christian Bonaud was making a visit to Côte d'Ivoire in Afria to address Muslims about the month of Muharram and ideologies of Imam Hussein when he passed away in an accident.
He was born in 1957 into a Catholic family in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany and lived in Germany and Algeria until he was ten years old, and then moved to Strasbourg. Bonaud converted to Islam in 1979 after being influenced by works of famous French Muslim philosopher René Guénon.
He then began studying Arabic which eventually made him acquainted with works of Henry Corbin, who had introduced Shia Islam to the West.
While writing his thesis, he spent seven years in Iran studying under the guidance of Seyyed Jalal-ed-Din Ashtiani in Mashhad. He lived in the northeastern Iranian city for 15 years. Bonaud has left behind valuable translations, writings and interpretations in French about Quranic verses. His French translation of the Holy Quran was published in Qom in 2000.
MNA/4704243