Women of Islam - 6

Laleh Bakhtiar (USA, 1938-Present)

 

Laleh's Quran translation, "The Sublime Quran" (2007), is the first translation of the Quran into English by an American woman.

 

Her translation incorporates alternative meanings to Arabic terms that are ambiguous or whose meaning scholars have had to guess due to the antiquity of the language.

 

Notably, her translation of Chapter 4, Verse 34 has gained a lot of attention. She translates the Arabic word daraba as "go away" instead of the common "beat" or "hit."

 

Her Quran translation is used in many mosques and universities and has been adopted by Prince Ghazi Bin Muhammad of Jordan.


From Huffington Post



Women of Islam - 1

 

Nusayba bint Ka'b Al-Ansariyah (Arabia, unknown-634 C.E.)

Nusayba was of one of the first advocates for the rights of Muslim women.

 

Notably, she asked the Prophet Muhammad,

"Why does God only address men (in the Quran)?"

Soon after this exchange, the Prophet received a revelation in  Chapter 33, Verse 35

that mentions women can attain every quality to which men have access.

The verse also conclusively settled that women stand on the same spiritual level as men.

She was viewed as a visionary who transcended her own generation.

From Huffington Post