An artist's rendering of A'isha (www.amazon.co.uk)
Why Random House cancelled ‘The Jewel of Medina’
Sherry Jones just wanted a nice blurb for her novel, said Ron Hogan in Mediabistro's Galleycat blog. But when she sent a scholar an advance copy of The Jewel of Medina—a racy fictional account of the life of one of the prophet Mohammed’s wives, A'isha—she got swept up in a holy war. Random House, fearing violent reaction by Muslim extremists, decided not to publish.
“The series of events that torpedoed this novel," said Asra Q. Nomani in The Wall Street Journal, “are a window into how quickly fear stunts intelligent discourse about the Muslim world.” As a Muslim writer, “this saddens me” because “fiction can bring Islamic history to life in a uniquely captivating and humanizing way.”
True, “anyone should have the right to publish whatever” he or she “wants about Islam or Muslims,” said Shahed Amanullah in AltMuslim.com, but Muslims shouldn’t “be expected to be passive consumers of these views.” Violence is certainly never the right response, but “offended” Muslims have “the right—indeed, the responsibility—to vigorously critique anything written about them or their religion.”
Comment on this article
Recent comments | 3 total
I actually had Dr. Spellberg for a class at UT. I thought she was a great professor, and an extremely intelligent woman. We didn't agree on everything, but she was extremely fair and open to different perspectives. The fact that she trashed this book probably indicates that it was just that - trashy. When you submit your book to someone and ask for criticism, you should expect criticism - especially when you ask a history professor, an expert in the field. I read historical romance ebooks all the time, but I would never, ever ask one of my history professors for a review of them. Random House pulling this book has, I believe, less to do with Professor Spellberg's critique and more to do with fear of a backlash. While I personally disagree with this decision, as a business, they are well within their rights to do so. And the fact that this book has generated so much buzz before even becoming available is great for Sherry Jones - someone will snap this book up immediately, and everyone will want a copy. It's a win-win.
Let's not continue to pretend that offended Muslims "vigorously critique anything written about them or their religion" when the facts are that they tend toward death threats and even murder as their critical genre. Yes, I know that some Muslims are peaceful and generous, but even those rarely speak out when Islam is used as the alibi for violence. Remaining silent, perhaps partly in fear of their own people, they carry with them some responsibiity for the violence that is seen around us. In some parts of the world it is enough of a response not to consume at all if one objects to "these views." Just don't buy or read the book.
Clash of levels of civilization. When the Archdiocese of Boston was very upset with the publication of "Sex with the Virgin Mary" did they threaten to bomb Amazon.com. No they are civilized. Get upset-sure violence No way.
digg del.icio.us stumbleUpon newsvine reddit furl