Quran’s verse on "rebellious" women generates debate

Laleh Bakhtiar had spent two years working on an English translation of the Quran when she came upon Chapter 4, Verse 34.

She nearly dropped the project then.

The hotly debated verse states that a rebellious woman should first be admonished, abandoned in bed and ultimately "beaten" — the most common translation for the Arabic word "daraba" — unless her behavior improves.

"I decided it either has to have a different meaning, or I can’t keep translating," said Bakhtiar, an Iranian American who adopted her father’s Islamic faith as an adult and had not dwelled on the verse before. "I couldn’t believe that God would sanction harming another human being except in war."

• The following article addresses the issue of beating women in Islam from different perspective. Read complete Article

Children are "born believers" in God and do not simply acquire religious beliefs through indoctrination, according to an academic. Read From Original source

 

Bulgarian Orientalist Embraces Islam after Translating the Quran

Tofian Tiufa Nufa, a Bulgarian orientalist and lecturer at the University of Sofia, embraced Islam after translating the Quran into Bulgarian.

"I converted to Islam because it is the religion of Truth and one that emphasizes on equality among all people, respects all human rights and has founded the principles of peaceful life and security in human societies," said the Bulgarian orientalist about his conversion. Read More