Laleh Bakhtiar

Laleh Mehree Bakhtiar (born Mary Nell Bakhtiar; July 29, 1938 – October 18, 2020) was an Iranian and American Islamic and Sufi scholar, author, translator, and psychologist. She produced a gender-neutral translation of the Quran, The Sublime Quran, and challenged the status quo on the Arabic word daraba, traditionally translated as "beat" — a word that she said has been used as justification for abuse of Muslim women. Her translation, published in 2007, was the first translation of the Quran by an American woman.