Tahar Ben Jelloun (Arabic: الطاهر بن جلون, romanized: aṭ-Ṭāhir bin Jallūn; born 1 December 1944) is a Moroccan writer who rose to fame for his 1985 novel L'Enfant de sable (The Sand Child).

In January 2003, Ben Jelloun was nominated one of the two candidates for the 16th seat of the Académie Française,[2] the moderating body of the French language.

[4] Today, Ben Jelloun is known for his literary career but also his appearances on French media outlets in which he speaks about the experiences of people of North African descent living in France.

His 1996 novel Les raisins de la galère (The Fruits of Hard Work) is a reflection on racism and traditional Muslim ideas about a woman's place.

In 1993, he received the journalistic award Golden Doves for Peace, issued by the Italian Research Center Archivio Disarmo.

[9] He also has written L'Islam expliqué aux enfants, translated as Islam Explained (2002), and Le Terrorisme expliqué à nos enfants, translated as On Terrorism (2016) in response to the 1990s protests against French immigration laws,[10][11] the Islamophobia following the September 11 attacks in the United States, and the November 2015 Paris attacks,[12] respectively.

In September 2006, Ben Jelloun was awarded a special prize for "peace and friendship between people" at the Lazio between Europe and the Mediterranean Festival.