Sherry Jones, a correspondent for the Bureau of National Affairs, was all set to receive the first copy of her new book from Random House. Entitled The Jewel of Medina, the novel takes as its protagonist A'isha, the child bride of Mohammad. But Jones insists, the novel is not a "bodice-ripper." Indeed, there are no sex scenes at all. Says, Jones, "I have deliberately and consciously written respectfully about Islam and Mohammad...I envisioned that my book would be a bridge-builder."But then she learned that her publishers at Random House finally remembered that there's one religious group that no one messes with nowadays. Even "deliberately, consciously, respectfully" messes with.
And they pulled the publication.
Random House deputy publisher Thomas Perry said in a statement the company received "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. In this instance we decided, after much deliberation, 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."
Now unless this is a clever enough publicity stunt (and that's certainly possible -- generate a lot of controversial, but free, publicity and then publish the novel a bit later on), the Random House execs have shown not only an inexcusable naiveté about Muslim intolerance but an unconscionably weak dedication to the freedoms of thought and speech they have always claimed to champion.
Does Sherry Jones' The Jewel of Medina deserve to be published? I don't know. It certainly doesn't sound like anything I'd ever have an interest in reading. In fact, maybe the world of letters will be better off for not having it clutter up the shelves.
But not for this reason.
