Turkey's religious authorities are close to completing a significant revision of the reports and interpretations of what the Prophet Mohammed said and did, in a project likely to generate fierce debate in the Muslim world and the west.

The three-year project to reinterpret the hadith - reports and commentary on the words, deeds and opinions of Mohammed - is expected to be completed this year. Its aim is to edit out those hadiths that are used as justification, among other things, for the oppression of women in Sharia law.