September 3, 2008

British Publisher Will Release Controversial Novel About Muhammad's Bride

A novel canceled by Random House Inc. in May, after warnings from a University of Texas at Austin historian, has found a new publisher in Britain.

London-based Gibson Square Books announced today that it had agreed to publish The Jewel of Medina, which tells of A’isha, the child bride of the Prophet Muhammad.

Random House terminated its contract with the book’s author, Sherry Jones, after Denise Spellberg, an associate professor of history at Texas, warned that the book could spark violent protests like those that followed the 2005 publication of cartoons in a Danish newspaper depicting the Muslim prophet with a bomb in his turban.

Gibson Books, however, seems to relish the controversy and describes the book as “a meticulously researched love story of the Prophet Mohammed.”

“The Jewel of Medina is a perfect fit with Gibson Square’s publishing list of distinguished best sellers that contribute important, well-researched, but controversial points of view and have suffered rejection by other publishers as a result,” the company said in a written statement.

In an e-mail message, Ms. Jones said that the book also would be published in Brazil, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Russia, and Spain. A U.S. publisher is expected to be announced next week. —Eric Kelderman

Comments

1. I am glad that there is one publisher courageous enough to publish truth which is “a meticulously researched “ material. It is a disservice to the world to shy away from publishing materials that are true but controversal as long as they are not grossly offensive, e.g. nudity

   — Sam    Sep 3, 03:36 PM    #

2. Correction to Sam: It is a disservice to the world to shy away from publishing nudity, as long as it is not grossly offensive, e.g. pornography. Or how ‘bout: It is a disservice to the world to not publish something because someone else’s sensibilities are touched, as long as children cannot access pornography. Actually, kidding aside, I will go out on a limb and say it is a disservice to the world to tell other people what they cannot read and see.

   — bp    Sep 3, 03:42 PM    #

3. Truth? This is a novel right? Still should be published.

   There are many novels about Jesus, at least. I’m sure many exist about other historical religious figures.

   That Muslim sensibilities so easily take offense is certainly not a reflection on the Prophet. Like Jesus, nothing written about him changes who he is.

   — Green Eyeshade    Sep 3, 03:51 PM    #

4. This outcome is as it should be. Whatever the literary merits or otherwise of the book, Dr Spellberg had no business attempting to get another author’s publishing contract cancelled. Her action was thoroughly unprofessional; Random House’s, craven. I am glad that Gibson Square at least was not swayed by pressure of this kind.

   — Gustave    Sep 3, 04:09 PM    #

5. it’s a novel. It doesn’t have to be researched at all. Do any of the critics ever browse the aisles of book stores reading novels which deal with cristian motives. No one cries foul when Mary had two other husbands, Jesus traveled to Mars and some obscure group is again dominating the world – and nobody should cry foul because these are fictious novels. I have a problem when the protection of a religion is advocated to avoid violence while the same behavior accepted towards another one.

   — JS    Sep 3, 04:09 PM    #

6. Amen JS. You speak the truth! Shame on Random House. Shame on Ms. Spellberg. Yeah for reading banned (by Random House) books. I hope this one becomes a best seller. I for one will read it . . . just to tick off the Muslims that will surely protest and to help the author get rich to boot! Freedom of speech, religion and a free market.

   — conservative in education    Sep 3, 04:27 PM    #

7. Any religion that objects to a novel of this sort casts suspicion on itself. Religions and religious groups with real merit can stand public scrutiny and discussion. Those who complain about such discourse automatically cause me to wonder what they’re hiding…and they’re usually hiding something. However, as this deals with one of the world’s major religions, in this case the doubt will be cast upon the people who protest, not the religion.

   — Al    Sep 3, 05:13 PM    #

8. All good points. Seems that remembering that in every religion there are radicals and fundamentalists…lest we forget the Christian abortion clinic bombers. At any rate, freedom of speech is essential but speaking ignorance (such as the Danish picture of Mohammed with a bomb in his turban) shouldn’t be supported. Of course people are free to remain ignorant but must the spewage of hatred and intolerance be supported by laws and supposed “enlightened thinkers”? The fact that few non-Muslims understand or care about the significance of depicting Mohammed visually and thus supports the ignorance of the cartoonist, saddens me. The fact that few have stopped to realize the significance of the image regardless of who was depicted and equally egregious. Depicting every member of one religion as a terrorist, as violent, as evil is wrong and sickening. It seems the historical memory is indeed short and people forget how African Americans, Native Americans, Jews, Catholics, women, and many others have been demonized, dehumanized, villianized and more in order to be dominated. The ways in which marginalized groups have been treated in the U.S. and globally is a matter of historical record that often gets over looked and minimized without thinking of the current or contemporary effects. I just think that there is a little more to the stories we are told by our medias and politicians that we must think critically about before admonishing members of particular groups.

   — who really knows    Sep 3, 05:32 PM    #

9. Random House’s cowardly actions just guaranteed this’ll be a bestseller for Gibson Square. I hope they make oodles of money off this one.

   — Ashley    Sep 3, 06:41 PM    #

10. It is unfortunate that after repeated requests not to publish this book, from many Muslim scholars and diplomats, it is going to be published.

    Historically ignorance and illiteracy has always played a big part in people publishing negative compositions on Islam and prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him). Furthermore, time after time these people have tried their best to offend Muslims with their derogatory comments and disparaging remarks. People with strong faith always have and will continue to look away from this sort of conduct and pay not too much attention to this.

    These writers and publishers deliberately fabricate truth and prevaricate Islam. They are misguided and their only intentions are is to defame Islam. They will never succeed doing that.

    May God guide these misguided publishers, writers and people to truth.

    — Faisal    Sep 4, 10:02 AM    #

11. Ahhh #10, truly all good points… But do you really desire to go ahead and absolve any “marginalized persons” of any accountability for any anti-social activities in which they choose to engage, based on some perceived injustices having befallen them (or more likely, people in their category, two or three generations before them)? Additionally, I wonder, just who it is in civilization that someone else has not marginalized or at least tried to marginalize at some points — either individually or corporately. By your implied rationale, just about anyone could justify engaging in violence.

    #13 — writers and publishers might indeed write and publish fabrications. However, I would question whether it’s really their sole intentions to prevaricate and defame Islam. Rather, it appears that their sole intention is to make money, regardless of any potential secondary outcomes.

    In any case, I hope Gibson Square succeeds with this project. If the book really is well-researched, we may have another perspective into the life and times of the late first century middle east. Moreover, I’m not so quick to castigate Random House. I don’t know if under a potential threat of having my corporate headquarters bombed that I would choose a course different from theirs.

    — Virginia Nose Picker    Sep 4, 10:21 AM    #

12. I am saddened somewhat by the unabashed bias in some of these responses, however I am thankful for your perspective “Who really knows?” (I hope you know who you are, though :-) ) I remember well the clinic bombings, death threats to publishers of Wiccan books, lobbying for banning books with sexual content or overtures of homosexuality, magic (have we forgotten the hoopla over Harry Potter already?), atheism, and more. I don’t think you meant to imply that marginalized groups are subsequently not responsible for their actions though. Just as I am sure that the Virginia Snot Miner (I like that better) and Argentine didn’t mean to imply as they did that those who oppress others are not responsible for their actions if the marginalized group react in ways the oppressors find inappropriate. Indeed, it takes two to tango, and there is often responsibility on both sides of a conflict. And we would do academia well if we applied our critical thinking to these sensitive and emotionally charged subjects like we do when we pick apart others’ research, less we prove ourselves unworthy of being called educated or intellectual.

    Faisal, having spent several years living in and enjoying Muslim culture as well as Western cultures, I am sure you know that we all have a tendency to consider our own personal perspective as “The Truth” when it is really just our “personal truth.” Faith based knowledge (I know some will not agree with that phrase) seems particularly vulnerable to this. There are many facts about every religious leader I have ever read about that those who follow them revile and wholly believe to be untrue. But that doesn’t make them so, and it hurts us to consider what we have been raised to believe may not be completely true. In that light, I think it was not entirely appropriate for you to suggest that any of those who posted here required guidance from anyone so that they could come to hold your truth as their truth. That said, I can understand your frustration over some of the blatant bias and ignorance evident in some of the posts, and you should see that you are not the only one who laments and challenges that.

    There is much benefit in the sharing of perspectives and grappling with knowledge and perspectives that are different from our own, even when they are – perhaps especially when they are – antithetical to our own. How else would we have come to believe the earth was round and that ours is not the only planetary system, etc. etc.? So I am thankful for the diversity of perspective and understandings and hope the novel will be well received and help those not of the Muslim culture come to understand and appreciate its splendor and flaws, and hopefully come better recognize the splendor and flaws of their own culture along the way.

    — Stan    Sep 4, 11:00 AM    #

13. Stop talking about Islam or die die die

    Muslims are always threatening anyone talks about Islam or Muhammad because they are not confident of their religion. If they are confident of their religion, I doubt it, why they never tried to correct all those misconceptions about Islam peacefully rather than die die die ….

    — Jk from Palestine    Sep 4, 11:25 AM    #

14. It’s odd that a number of posts here accuse Muslims (wrongly) of threatening the book’s publisher with violence, the injunction of a fatwa, etc. This is manifestly untrue: the reason Random House withheld U.S. publishing of the book by Ms. Jones was due to the urging of non-Muslim scholars of Islam (among them Ms. Spellberg). To my knowledge, no threat by any Muslim was ever made against any person or institution regarding this matter. Thus, to disparage Muslims for their behavior about the book, or to smear Islam in general, is quite unfair.

    — JamesDee    Sep 4, 04:31 PM    #

15. It is time that we read more novels about other worldly faiths. Let us hope that there is no nudity and/or provocative words included in the novel. I do agree with Prof. Denise Spellberg that the novel may spark violence and protests in the Middle East, and elsewhere. This may also encourage the radical extremists to react negatively and may attempt to revenge on the publisher and their distributors worldwide.

    — Doris    Sep 7, 05:29 AM    #

16. Westerners wont bomb a publishing house, they’ll bomb entire nations and steal resourcesand call it “liberation.”
    What pathetic lying hypocrites you are. Books critical of Israel and your Zionist overlords rarely make it to publication…I wonder why…

    — Unimpressed    Sep 9, 08:01 PM    #

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