Britain's Publishers Are Silenced by Islamist Bullies
TELEGRAPH BLOGS: Last October the London home of Gibson Square publisher Martin Rynja was firebombed because they were planning to publish Sherry Jones's historical novel about the chap the BBC calls simply "the Prophet".

Guess what? The Jewel of Medina will not be published in Britain. The book is now effectively banned in the country of Tom Paine and George Orwell, not by Government order but by religious bullies. Jewel has already come out in seven other countries, including Denmark and Serbia, but Britain is considered too dangerous for anyone who offends Islam.

So even though Somali minicab driver Abbas Taj and two others have been convicted of the crime, they have still won, through intimidation. >>> Ed West | Monday, May 18, 2009

A Surprising Interview with Sherry Islam-Is-a-Religion of Peace Jones
ALTMUSLIM.COM: Back in April of this year, I received a phone call from University of Texas, Austin professor Denise Spellberg, an Islamic Studies expert in whose class I have guest lectured the past two years. She brought to my attention a book she had been sent to review entitled Jewel of Medina, a book she found offensive for its portrayal of Aisha, the youngest wife of the Prophet Muhammad. In a turn from most literary depictions of Aisha, this one was heavily fictionalized, with a dramatic story arc that, to Spellberg, represented a racy novel rather than an accurate depiction of her life. (Spellberg should know - her own scholarly work on Aisha is known as one of the most authoritative books on the subject.)

As I had not heard anything of the book, I sent an e-mail inquiry to a private listserv for graduate students in Islamic studies, describing the phone call I just received and asked if anyone could tell me more about it. After hearing no response for three weeks, I got an email out of the blue from the author of that book, Sherry Jones, who asked if we were interested in writing an advance review. What I didn't know at the time was that someone on the Islamic studies list passed my e-mail out of the listserv, where it ended up on the website of Husaini Youths, an overseas forum catering to young Shia Muslims. There, some offended readers voiced concern at the as-yet unpublished book, suggesting a seven point plan for pressuring Random House, the book's publisher, to cancel publication.

But they needn't have bothered. In June, Wall Street Journal reporter Asra Nomani told me she was writing an article on the reaction to the book, identifying me through her research on the issue and asking me to comment. It was then that I learned that Random House had indeed withdrawn the imminent publication of the book (set for August 12 of this year), despite having paid Jones a reported $100,000 advance. Cited in Random House's cancellation was a reference to unnamed "Islamic scholars" who advised them that the book could provoke extremist Muslims. And in some corners, I was identified as the catalyst for this chain of events.

The response to the story was explosive, with people around the world decrying perceived Muslim threats to the author and publisher - except for the fact that no Muslims were involved in the actual censorship. As the story played out, it has been revealed that there had been no violence or even threat of violence in response to the book. Hopefully, this means Muslims have learned a valuable lesson from the response to The Satanic Verses (which made Salman Rushdie a celebrity) and the Danish cartoon controversy (which did untold PR damage to Muslims worldwide). Because censoring the book - even self-censoring - was something that I abhorred, I wrote a response here supporting free speech in this case, which has incidentally been republished in Lebanon, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates. Yet, the entrenched notion that Muslims are antithetical to free speech continues.

And then there's Sherry Jones herself. Jones spoke out when asked about the issue, contesting the description given of her book as "pornography." But as she felt that she was being used as a wedge between Muslims and those that dislike them, she began to withdraw from commenting further. While acknowledging her book would be controversial, she maintained that she wrote the book not just with respect, but with admiration for Aisha, and felt her interpretation and dramatization of her life would accentuate her known qualities, qualities which drew her to the subject matter after 9/11.

Sherry's insistence that she intended a respectful treatment of the subject matter, in addition to her reaching out to us before the controversy grew, made us wonder - is there more to this story than some would have us believe? Below, Sherry Jones speaks to us in detail about what her book represented, how she and I have weathered the storm, and about the sequel that she's already written. ”I Did All This in the Service of a Truth” >>> By Shahed Amanullah | September 4, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (US) >>>

Danish Publisher Hopes to Publish ‘Inflammatory’ Novel
THE GUARDIAN: A Danish publisher is in negotiations to buy Sherry Jones's novel about the child bride of Muhammad, which was dropped by Random House in America and pulled from bookshops in Serbia.

The Jewel of Medina tells the story of Aisha, one of Muhammad's wives, from the age of six to 18 when Muhammad dies. It was bought by Random House US for a reported advance of $100,000, but then dropped after the publisher was told by academics and security experts that publication was potentially more risky than Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses and the Danish publication of cartoons of Muhammad.

Last week, Serbian publisher BeoBook withdrew 1,000 copies of the book from shops across Serbia, following protests from an Islamic pressure group. BeoBook also apologised for publishing the novel.

Now small Danish publisher Trykkefrihedsselskabets Library (Free Speech Library) is in negotiations with Jones's agent over publication of The Jewel of Medina in Denmark. Co-owner Helle Merete Brix said that the fact that Random House was prepared to pay $100,000 for the book showed its quality, and that she was determined not to "bow to any censorship".

She added: "I think that whether you are Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, Hindu or atheist you have to be able to bear insults. You can't say 'I'm a Muslim, and that means I should be above criticism'. You can freely insult Jesus Christ, you can mock other religions."

Brix said that, following Jyllands-Posten's publication of the cartoons of Muhammad in 2005, which prompted protests across the Muslim world, she felt it was "deep in the mentality of Danish people that we will not tolerate people saying 'you can't say or publish that'…There is a growing awareness in Denmark that we have to keep it the bastion of free speech that it has been for many years." Danish Publisher Hopes to Publish ‘Inflammatory’ Novel >>> | August 26, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Denmark)

Robert Spencer: Random House and the Islamic War against Free Speech
FRONTPAGE MAGAZINE: Although when Random House canceled publication of Sherry Jones’ trashy novel about Muhammad’s nine-year-old wife, Aisha, it was succumbing not to actual threats but to the sheer prospect of threats, no one has accused the venerable publisher of “Islamophobia.” Even in today’s hyper-politically correct public square, everyone seems to take for granted that when certain Muslims don’t like something, they threaten to murder the people involved. Random House’s pre-emptive self-censorship constitutes tacit recognition of what Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the Secretary General of Organization of the Islamic Conference, recently termed the “red lines that should not be crossed” -- lines he was dictating to the West. “In confronting the Danish cartoons and the Dutch film ‘Fitna’,” Ihsanoglu declared, “we sent a clear message to the West regarding the red lines that should not be crossed. As we speak, the official West and its public opinion are all now well aware of the sensitivities of these issues. They have also started to look seriously into the question of freedom of expression from the perspective of its inherent responsibility, which should not be overlooked.”

Random House paid $100,000 for Sherry Jones’ racy historical novel about Muhammad and his nine-year-old wife, Aisha, The Jewel of Medina, only to withdraw the book just days before its scheduled August 12 publication date. Random House deputy publisher Thomas Perry explained that they decided to drop the book after receiving, “from credible and unrelated sources, cautionary advice not only that the publication of this book might be offensive to some in the Muslim community, but also that it could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment.” They decided “to postpone publication for the safety of the author, employees of Random House, booksellers and anyone else who would be involved in distribution and sale of the novel.”

Sherry Jones is an unlikely candidate to be the next Salman Ruhdie, and her novel is hardly in the same league as Dutch politician Geert Wilders’ film Fitna, which vividly depicted Muslims acting upon the dictates of the Qur’an’s violent passages. The Jewel of Medina, by contrast, is a Harlequin Romance-level trivialization of Muhammad’s marriage to Aisha, luridly depicting the child as finding, at the moment of the consummation of her marriage to Muhammad, “the bliss I had longed for all my life” – yes, her entire nine years. Random House and the Islamic War against Free Speech >>> By Robert Spencer | August 22, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (US) >>>