It is probably to be expected that new translations of religious texts are always going to cause some measure of controversy and should the translator deviate in any measure from the generally established understanding of words or tracts of particularly significant text, then this controversy is assured all the more.

It is probably of no surprise then, that a new ‘more inclusive’ English translation of the Quran by a woman translator (the first such translation by an American woman) has brought a threat of it being banned and attracted harsh criticism from some Muslim communities. In particular, Muneer Fareed, the Canadian secretary general of the Islamic Society of North America said he would consider banning it, although subsequently, this threat has been challenged and successfully countered.

The translator of the new work entitled the ‘Sublime Quran’ is Dr Laleh Bakhtiar and her translation methodology was to use the most inclusive alternative for words and phrases encountered within the Quran. Because Arabic is a very rich language there are many such alternatives and Dr Bakhtiar used her understanding of Arabic in the context of the Quran as more poetic than didactic to arrive at a translation that rather than being strictly translated, left much of the interpretation to the reader so as to necessitate tolerance and openness.