In FrontPage today I discuss more implications of the Random House decision to drop Sherry Jones's silly and stupid novel The Jewel of Medina:
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 Rushdie, 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.But Islamic jihadists seem to have little patience for semi-erotic children’s fiction. They are indignant over Jones’s book not because its depiction of the prophet of Islam having sex with a child is inaccurate – the most respected sources of Islamic tradition say he did that. Rather, what apparently angers them is that the novel makes this known. The ordinary understanding of slander in the West is that it involves making false charges that defame another person. But in Islamic law, the definition of slander doesn’t involve falsehood. The Shafi’i manual of Islamic law ‘Umdat al-Salik defines “slander” as “to mention anything concerning a person that he would dislike.” Nothing is said about whether or not what is said is true -- only that the person would dislike it. And this is based on a statement of Muhammad to the same effect.
Muslim anger over The Jewel of Medina is now international. Muamer Zukorlic, leader of the Islamic Community in Serbia (where the novel was published but then hastily taken off bookstore shelves) said that the book was “offensive to Muslims” and that its withdrawal was not enough. The publisher, he said, “needs to sincerely repent because of the incident he caused” – and he compared the controversy to the international unrest over Danish cartoons of Muhammad in 2006: “Obviously someone wishes to join the ranks of those who produced the cartoons in Denmark several years ago and it is an insult to all Muslims of the world, especially for us here in Serbia.”
All this makes it imperative that someone have the courage to publish the book – not because it has any merit, but as a signal that the West will not be intimidated into abandoning the freedom of speech. It is becoming increasingly common for Americans to bow to pressure from Muslims to accommodate Islamic practices and mores, and for the specter of violence to inhibit discussion of the elements of Islam that jihadists use to justify terrorism. Where will all this accommodation end? It will not end until America is a Sharia state, unless enough Americans begin to resist. And in the meantime, how many of our freedoms and rights will we allow to be eroded away before we stand up and call a halt to this?
For Random House to have axed Jones’s book, as silly and stupid as it is, because of the possibility of violence is only to reinforce the idea that when it comes to speaking about Islam, there are certain lines that non-Muslim Westerners must not cross. And with that lesson re-taught, our freedoms will continue to erode.
The publisher, he said, “needs to sincerely repent
um is that not muslim speak for sayING YOU MUST CONVERT OF WE WILL KILL YOU ???????????????
When dealing with Islam, we need to watch out for a great number of red lines. It is easy to insult Muslim sensitivity, and we certainly don't want to do that.
I guess it will not be until one of our 'Red lines' are crossed that we will do anthing more than we are today. I don't know what this 'Red line' will be, but it will be crossed. It is only a matter of time. I prefer sooner rather than later.
Shame on Random House for caving into the "perpetually offended", whatever be the merits of the novel. Muslims are forever offended, be it a novel, cartoons, film, or fashion show. They not only want to lead a totally drab life themselves, they also want to impose it on us. We must reject that notion resoundingly and tell them to take a hike. Will some sane publisher please come forward?
I've not yet heard anyone criticize the author and the publisher for the book's depiction of pedophilia. Writing about a 50 year old having sex with a child is perverted.
The book says she was 11, which is not accurate according to the authoratative hadith. Did the author make her older in order to attempt to deflect criticism that she is writing kiddy porn?
Consider this bizarre excerpt, "the pain of consummation soon melted away. Muhammad was so gentle. I hardly felt the scorpion's sting. To be in his arms, skin to skin, was the bliss I had longed for all my life."
Give me a break. An 11 year old girl does not think like this when being penetrated by a 50 year old man. Give me a break ... abuse is not bliss.
I think the lack of criticism of the author's pedophilia subject is telling since I believe that Islam is held to a different standard. If someone had written about a past Pope who had a secret 11 year old wife in such a manner, I believe that people would ask why a mainstream publisher would be involved in kiddy porn and why the author would write a supposed "love story" about a child and a 50 year old man.
Why are Islamic societies held up to a lower standard of human civility? I see this time and time again. If there was a Christian country where half the girls were "married" as children, there would international campaigns against it.
Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ Who said: If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Many people throughout the history of the west suffered dearly to bring us to the freedom that we now enjoy and probably take for granted. To think that we would allow islam to drag us back to the days when men and their entire families were burnt at the stake for "blashpemy", is apalling.
Rather than allow islam to dictate to us, we should be encouraging, inviting and as a last resort, demanding islam come up to the level of society people in the west enjoy, thereby freeing millions of our fellow human beings from servitude to ignorance and superstition.
No one has the right NOT to be offended. (apologies to Salmon Rushdie)
Good news; The book will be published in Denmark
http://jp.dk/uknews/article1417184.ece
I can not back the publication of this trashy novel. Its a book of fiction and it doesn't help our cause.
But it is no business of Random House to determine what's "offensive to some in the Muslim community"- and it is not for a publishing company to concern themselves whether the publishing of books "could incite acts of violence".
Not only are the Danes going to publish the book if the Author agrees to it. But Kurt Westergaard the cartoonist who drew the cartoon of Mohamed with the bomb in his turban has been making fun of the Jordanians. A group of Jordanian Lawyers have been trying to get him extradited to Jordan to stand trial on the charge of blaspheming the prophet. Instead of just ignoring them he has been baiting them. He has set out a set of conditions if he is to attend the trial in Jordan. He wants a television in his cell plenty of books a Christmas tree at Christmas and pork chops served twice a week because that is what he gets served in Denmark. The permanently aggrieved have reacted with there usual hauteur and arrogance condemning him for his impertinence. Meanwhile the Danes are laughing knowing full well that Kurt has no intention of going to Jordan and wonder why the Jordanians could be so foolish to think that he would ever go too Jordan and why the Jordanians lack a sense of irony. Denmark 1 Jordan 0
By the way the offer to publish the book came from Denmark, here is a quote from there website
The publisher's spokesperson Helle Merete Brix told Berlingske Tidende (a Danish National Newspaper) that The Free Speech Library has been in contact with Sherry Jones' agent and received a preliminary, positive response.
In a mail to The Free Speech Library Ms. Jones' agent Natasha Kern expresses her appreciation that a Danish publisher is prepared to stand up for free speech after all that Denmark has already been through.
We should all appreciate the Danes for standing up for all of us, I certainly do. The worse thing though is when I look at the politicians of my own country I get a feeling of overwhelming contempt
RE: "The ordinary understanding of slander in the West is that it involves making false charges that defame another person. But in Islamic law, the definition of slander doesn't involve falsehood. The Shafi’i manual of Islamic law ‘Umdat al-Salik defines “slander” as “to mention anything concerning a person that he would dislike.” Nothing is said about whether or not what is said is true -- only that the person would dislike it. And this is based on a statement of Muhammad to the same effect."
Thank you, Robert, for informing of their definition of slander--I didn't know this. It certainly help explain why the easily-offended Mohammedan is so typically easily offended (and frequently violent).
I can think of the innocent Arab "brethren" and Jews who were murdered due to orders from Mo as in the excellent article, "Muhammad's Dead Poets Society,"
http://www.americanthinker.com/2006/03/muhammads_dead_poets_society.html
[Mo acted exactly like Charles Manson in that both manipulatively sent their blinded followers out to kill innocent people--both were too cowardly to do it themselves.]
RE: " And this is based on a statement of Muhammad to the same effect."
If you have time, it would be informative and helpful if you will give us specific koran/hadith verses that demonstrate this.
God Bless You and Thank You for all you do!
sheik yer'mami, isn't it part of our cause that people can write trashy historical novels and get them published if they are lucky enough to find a publisher. And not have the not yet published book pulped because someone might be offended by it and take violent action because of this. Not to mention the more serious writers who might find all this just a little bit chilling.
Everybody is "preemptively surrendering" to Islam in this disgraceful country of ours, the United States of America. Surrendering at all levels, big guys and small guys, the White House, the State Dept., the Pentagon, the CIA, even the FBI on whom we have to rely as our only defence from terrorists, the media, the academia, the campuses totally enslaved by Muslims, cowering low before them. The rot of pathological cowardice is now rapidly spreading down from the sociopathic elites, throughout the American populace: the American-born students turned into Muslim students dhimmies and groupies, the abominable, cowardly American jurors acquitting jihadist after jihadist after jihadist throughout this country, terrified that the defendants families and fellow jihadists learn where they live - which happens all the time - and go after them and their families. This is not "the land of the free". It is the land of the slaves. This is not "the home of the brave". This is the land of the cowards. The American democracy has degenerated into a dhimmocracy. The only thing that enabled this country to keep its head above the EUrabia sewage was the First Amendment freedom of speech. But what good is it if the Americans do not dare to exercise it? The government bans the usage of terms "jihad" and "Islamic Terrorism". Imagine it banning the term "Nazi Germany" during WWII, leaving the citizens to try to guess whom the war is against: the Mexicans? the Chinese?
The publishing houses were the last remaining redoubt of free speech, but now one of the biggest of them has capitulated. The last cards of the "Free America" charade are crumbling. Does it mean that the truth-telling books by courageous Americans such as Robert, Paul Sperry, Steven Emerson, Kenneth Timmerman, Barbara Newman and Tom Diaz will be censured, just as the trashy book of this silly multiculturalist woman, who apparently just tried to flatter the Muslims, was censured?
The United States of America and the West European democracies represent cowardice without precedent in the entire history of the world.
But contrast their out-of-control bellicosity, their murderous aggression toward the small Christian people of Serbia. What now? Another bombing and now total extermination of the population of Serbia, except, of course, the Muslim minority that complained that the brief publishing run of the trash-book in Serbia "offended them"? Whould anyone be surprised after what the US and NATO criminals did in Kosovo war to please the Muslims? It is now known for a fact that ALL the allegations of "Serb atrocities in Kosovo" by the US and EUrabian governments and media were total lies - not most of the allegations, not 99% - all were total, absolute lies: "the Massacre in Racak", "100,000 Albanians imprisoned in the soccer stadium in Pristina", "dead bodies in a freezer truck", "1,000 dead bodies in the Trepca mine", "Albanian leaders executed", "rape camps", etc. With those brazen lies, the US and NATO criminals had outdone even Hitler who staged the infamous Gleiwitz hoax to use it as an excuse to invade Poland. All that the Serbs did was trying to defend themselves and their families from terrorists, in their own country - that was the extend of their "crime". And the unspeakable evil that the cowardly US and European criminals did unto that much-suffered Christian people, just to get on the good side of the Muslims. To just say that the West had lost its moral compass in this heinous did would be a vast understatement. All stops of immorality had been pulled. In Kosovo, the bottom fell out of the Western civilization's morality. Nothing good can come out of this.
Ruslan Tokhchukov, EnragedSince1999.
philip,
I think it is most important that the general public gets a clear picture of what islam is all about.
A 'romantic novel' that makes Aisha older then she was, presents pedophilia as something acceptable -that "scorpion sting"- euphemism, it is just crap. It doesn't deserve wider distribution.
This kind of stuff confuses the permanently misinformed and produces more moral equivalence.
How many halfwits are out there who already claim that girls marrying at the age of eleven used to be quite common even amongst Europeans?
Censorship is one thing we're all against, but we still have to differentiate about what's helping our cause. This book doesn't educate in any way about Islam, it confuses. Therefore it doesn't deserve our support.
Its just not good enough.
Here is one of the definitive milestones along the way, in the development of the doctrine and practice of Free Speech in the English-speaking world - John Milton's Areopagitica:
http://www.uoregon.edu/~rbear/areopagitica.html
Read it slowly and attentively. It is not an 'easy' or a 'quick' read. But it is well worth the effort.
"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."
Exactly what I said on a previous thread.
A nine-year-old child "longing" for sexual intercourse. Yeah, right.
Sherry Jones is such an imbecile it defies description. She is *beyond* imbecilic.
"Censorship is one thing we're all against, but we still have to differentiate about what's helping our cause. This book doesn't educate in any way about Islam, it confuses. Therefore it doesn't deserve our support.
Its just not good enough."
Posted by: sheik yer'mami at August 22, 2008 5:30 PM
I agree. That it's "just not good enough" is an understatement. It's crap, utter crap.
I cannot back the publication of this trashy novel. Its a book of fiction and it doesn't help our cause.
But it is no business of Random House to determine what's "offensive to some in the Muslim community"- and it is not for a publishing company to concern themselves whether the publishing of books "could incite acts of violence".
Posted by: sheik yer'mami at August 22, 2008 2:36 PM
Agree. That RH would take "Muslims" into account on whether they would publish a book or not - THAT'S THE PROBLEM. Who the hell are Mohammedans? A bunch of Barbarians. RH - you are laughable.
I put a few pieces of artwork satirising Islam on Flickr and they cannot be found by anyone through the search facility - I omitted Islam from the tags but included things like fascism and blasphemy.
Even odder, I posted two of them in a blasphemy and 'freedom of speech about Islam' group and when going to those groups from my webpage see them there. When I go these groups as an unsigned in user they are not there. I have heard of a program by which trolls posting in blog comment sections do not realise that their comments have been deleted because it is still there and visible to them alone. Flickr seems to be doing something like this.
For what they're worth ( and a small depiction of paradise on one of them uses the Jimi Hendrix 'Electric Ladyland' cover which includes shadowy scenes of nudity, so some may find it offensive)
they're at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29528119@N02/
Thanks darcy,
its exactly the point I've been trying to make. There is too much confusion out there and we need clarity, not more claptrap.
We need all our combined energy to expose Islam for what it is:
the ultimate barbaric, violent, misogynistic cult based on plunder, slavery and annihilation of many cultures and civilizations much more advanced than Islam ever will be.
How much longer will it take to get the message out into the main-stream?
You're welcome, shiek.
It's ironic - RH kowtowed to Muslims like the sniveling PC cowards that that are, but...they really did the world a favor by not publishing such stupidity.
Check out wallyUK's link above - funny!
Oops, "like the sniveling PC cowards that THEY are..."
Bears repeating, anyway.
And let's not forget the avalanche of vile books and cartoons, TV and radio shows, in the Muslim world, that defame other religions, especially Judaism and Christianity, with the most awful lies that the Muslim mind can devise. Yet, an historical account of Islam or a mildly lampoonish cartoon about their revered prophet and they start sharpening their swords. This is the ultimate in hypocrisy.
Bravo to the Danes!
Right on, darcy: just look what Sherry Jones has to say:
SHERRY JONES, AUTHOR OF "THE JEWEL OF MEDINA"
I wrote my novel to honor Islam
I wrote my novel, "The Jewel of Medina", to honor Islam. I wrote it to honor A’isha bint Abi Bakr, the youngest and most beloved bride in the Prophet Muhammad’s harem, a remarkable woman of intelligence, wit, and strength who helped shape the destiny of one of the world’s great religions.
I also wanted to honor Islam’s Prophet, Muhammad, by portraying him as a kind, gentle, wise, and pious leader who respected women and granted them rights they had never possessed before; who gave away all he owned to the poor; and who admonished his followers to walk the peaceful path, to fight in self-defense only.
I knew that some people would dislike my book. After all, “The Jewel of Medina” portrays Muhammad as a real man, and A’isha as a real woman, complete with weaknesses, temptations, and flaws. Some believe that both were perfect, even though Muhammad said in the Qur’an that he was a “mortal man.”
So when I learned only a few days ago that my book was being published in Serbia, I was impressed. BeoBook, a small publishing house in a country that had seen much strife, was more courageous, it seemed, than Random House, one of the biggest publishers in the world. Fear of a hypothetical terrorist attack by radical Muslims had caused Random House to back out of publishing “The Jewel of Medina” only a few months before it was supposed to debut.
But I was saddened on Aug. 16 to hear that BeoBook publisher Aleksandar Jasic had halted publication of “The Jewel of Medina” because of protests from some in the Serbian Muslim community. And, to be honest, I was confused. Did these Muslims, after reading my book, really think I had “degraded” Muhammad and A’isha?
I’d thought I was doing the opposite. My intentions were to celebrate these great historical figures while dispelling misunderstandings about Islam.
For instance, in my research I found compelling arguments that Muhammad did not have a sexual relationship with A’isha while she was a young girl. I was excited to share this information with people who think Muhammad was a pedophile. The Muhammad I came to know would have waited until A’isha was physically and emotionally ready before having intercourse with her. He does so in my book, waiting until she is 14.
Also, my book explores what really might have happened in the famous “affair of the necklace,” when A’isha strayed from her caravan, then rode into Medina with another man. According to my research, she was accused of adultery, but a revelation from God declared her free of guilt. My novel, too, exonerates A’isha, but only after she has been tempted. In this way she becomes a true heroine, one who learns from her mistakes and matures into a more devoted wife and more devout Muslim.
Almost everything in my novel has already been written in the 29 books I read -- in the hadith, or the Qur’an, or in non-fiction books by scholars. None of those books inspired the kind of outrage that “The Jewel of Medina” has withstood (even though virtually no one has read my novel yet). I see this controversy as a testament to the power of fiction.
I know that power. Novels can give the gift of empathy, helping us to understand those who are not like us by placing us inside their hearts and minds. I began my novel as a tribute to A’isha and to all the women who played crucial roles in the forming of the early Islamic community. As I read, and as I wrote, I developed a keen empathy for these women, and a respect for Muhammad.
“The Jewel of Medina” is not meant to be the definitive version of A’isha’s life, or of Muhammad’s character. It is only my interpretation of history, based on my research, experiences and imagination. I do not fear the consequences of publishing this book, because I believe that anyone who reads it will discern, and perhaps share, my admiration for Muhammad; his cousin and son-in-law, Ali; A’isha; her sister-wives; her father Abu Bakr, and so many other fascinating figures from Islamic history.
For that understanding to occur, though, people need to read “The Jewel of Medina.” Someday soon, I hope, Serbians as well as Americans will be able to do so -- and then, to sit down and discuss the book and its ideas. Writing is, after all, a dialogue between the writer and the reader. How illuminating it would be for us all if the reader’s voice could be included in this conversation. Perhaps we might learn a few things -- not only about Islam, but about one another.
Rubbish from beginning to end. We need books that expose Islam, not books that 'honor' Islam, what a crock!
Sherry Jones be gone!
http://www.blic.co.yu/infocus.php?id=2753
Oh - she has evidence that he waited for Aisha to turn the ripe old age of 14! This woman is so full of it.
I still hope that her bull---- novel is published soon. Intelligent people will see it for what it is - and the sickness that is Islam will be exposed even more.
On the subject of Aisha - how old she was, or wasn't - new visitors to this site may find it useful to read the exchange entitled 'Really, Really Wishing Aisha Weren't Nine" between Mr Spencer and a Muslim apologist that took place on this site in May 2007.
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/016333.php#comments
It's a classic.