Feminist translation of Quran verse termed misleading

Feminist translation of Quran verse termed misleading
Feminist translation of Quran verse termed misleading

By ANI
Monday March 26, 05:38 PM
Washington, Mar.26 (ANI): A "feminist" translation of a Quranic verse by a US-based Iranian-American woman scholar is being denounced as inaccurate and misleading. Academic Laleh Bakhtiar, who has spent seven years on a translation of the Quran is being criticised for her interpretation of Verse 34 of the Surah Al Nisa. The verse as translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali says, "As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty or ill conduct, admonish them (first), (next) refuse to share their beds (and last) beat them (lightly) but if they return to obedience, seek not against them means (of annoyance) for God is most high, great (above you all)". Bakhtiar says the most common translation for the Arabic word "daraba" is not hit or smite but to "go away". She said when she came upon the verse she could not believe that God would sanction harming another human being except in war. Her translation is due for publication in April. There are at least 20 English translations of the Quran in which the word "daraba" has been translated as "beat, hit, strike, scourge, chastise, flog, make an example of, spank, pet, tap and even seduce". According to a New York Times report, Bakhtiar spent three months decifering the meaning of "daraba". She does not speak Arabic, but she learned to read the holy texts in Arabic while studying and working as a translator in Iran in the 1970s and 80s. Her eureka moment came on roughly her 10th reading of the Arabic-English Lexicon by Edward William Lane, a 3,064-page volume from the 19th century, she said. Among the six pages of definitions for 'daraba' was 'to go away'. "I said to myself, Oh, God, that is what the prophet meant," the Daily Times quoted Bakhtiar, as saying. Bakhtiar says she expected opposition, not least because she is not an Islamic scholar. Men in the Muslim world, she said, will also oppose the idea of an American, especially a woman, reinterpreting the prevailing translation. The NYT report said that verse 4:34, with its three-step programme, is often called a reform over the violent practices of seventh century Arabia, when the Quran was revealed. (ANI)