More About Aisha

August 21, 2008 - 10:42am — Lee Hadden

The Washington Post has an article about the canceling of "The Jewel of Medina" by Sherry Jones.
"A Book Too Hot Off The Presses: Random House Feared Radical Muslim Backlash." By Michelle Boorstein, Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, August 21, 2008; Page C01.
The article says: Once upon a time, Sherry Jones was a Montana newspaper reporter who dreamed she could contribute to world peace with a novel about the prophet Muhammad and his feminist leanings. Then she wrote it. Today? She's the target of a Serbian mufti and a Middle Eastern studies professor with a lawyer.

Life has been a roller coaster lately for Jones, 46, who went from being a Book-of-the-Month Club pick to seeing her novel dropped by Random House, which said in a statement it had received "cautionary advice" that the fictionalized story of one of Muhammad's wives might "incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment."

A Random House spokeswoman said she could not think of any other time the company had canceled a book because of such fears.

Jones and her novel, "The Jewel of Medina," are subjects of debate from Egypt to Italy to Serbia, where 1,000 Serbian-language copies were printed before the local publisher backed out, too.

Finger-pointing abounds. Feminist Muslims are blaming censorship; Jones and her agent are blaming the Middle Eastern studies professor; and Random House is saying that Jones -- who says she doesn't fear Islamic retaliation -- should honor a non-disclosure agreement and stop talking about their dispute.