// Israel/Palestine: Oktoberfest in Palestine.

// Germany: Antisemitism on stage: Fassbinder’s late appearance. Politics or Pathology? Review of The Baader-Meinhof Complex. To Whom Honor is Due: A disgraceful capitulation.

// UK: Nick Griffin denies Iranian nukes.

// US: Crummy student occupations.

// From the archive: 1. Unweaving The Tangle: Zionism, Anti-Zionism, Antisemitism. 2. On antisemitism and Indymedia: a follow-up.

// Other variousnesses: Roland’s. Bob’s.

Hela inlägget från TT:

“En tolv år gammal flicka har dött i barnsäng i Jemen, uppger en människorättsorganisation.

Fawziya Abdullah Youssef dog i fredags. Förlossningen hade pågått i tre dagar och hon hade omfattande blödningar, meddelade organisationen på söndagen.

Barnet var dödfött.

Medlemmar av Jemenitiska organisationen för barnens rättigheter uppges ha fått omständigheterna i fallet bekräftade av vårdpersonal.

Flickan hade gifts bort mot sin vilja vid elva års ålder. Hon var född i en fattig familj med en far som led av njursvikt. Elvaåringen tvingades sluta skolan och gifta sig.

Barnäktenskap är vanliga i Jemen, som är det fattigaste landet i arabvärlden. Förra året beviljade en domstol skilsmässa i ett fall där bruden var åtta år. Pappan, som var arbetslös, hade tvingat barnet att gifta sig med en vuxen man. Han ska ha hävdat att flickan annars riskerade att bli kidnappad av mannen som hon i stället tvingades gifta sig med.

“I brist på en reglerad minimiålder för äktenskap är det omöjligt för lokala tjänstemän att förbjuda barnäktenskap, särskilt för flickor, och att straffa deras föräldrar eller makar för de katastrofala följder som sådana äktenskap får”, skriver människorättsorganisationen.”

Tolvåring död i barnsäng, MSN Nyheter

Tipstack till Lilla My!

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“Eine 12-jährige Jemenitin ist bei der Geburt ihres Babys in einem saudiarabischen Spital gestorben. Das zwangsverheiratetet Mädchen erlag bei der Totgeburt schweren Blutungen.

Das Mädchen war gemäss den Angaben der jemenitischen Kinderschutzorganisation Sijadsch mit 11 Jahren von ihren völlig mittellosen Eltern aus der Schule geholt und zur Ehe gezwungen worden.

Der Jemen zählt zu den ärmsten Ländern der Welt. Zwangsehen für minderjährige Mädchen sind keine Seltenheit. 2008 hatte eine 8-Jährige nach 2 Jahren Zwangsehe per Gericht die Scheidung von ihrem 20 Jahren älteren Mann erwirkt.

Bürgerrechtsgruppen fordern schon seit längerem ein Mindestalter von 18 Jahren für Eheschliessungen.

(sda/stom)”

Zwangsverheiratete (12) stirbt bei Geburt, Schweizer Fernsehen

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Obehaglig läsning om flickor i Etiopien som drabbas hårt på grund av graviditeter då de själv bara är barn:

”Tortyr av barn? Nejdå inte alls, det är ett normalt äktenskap för afrikaner. Eller kanske inte, för den flicka som misslyckas stöts ut från bygemenskapen. Så en viss norm existerar, och barnet bestraffas för att det inte är moget nog att fungera som en färdigutvecklad kvinna kan.”

Fistula-sjukhuset i Addis Abeba, Hedersrelaterat våld

.

Idag i Sydsvenskan finns en intervju med författarinnan till boken “Medinas Juvel”, boken som gav muslimer en ‘orsak’ att använda våld och hot:

“Upptäckten att profeten var en sexuell person var fascinerande för mig. Just det faktum att han var både religiös och sexuell. I den kristna kulturen tenderar vi att separera religiositet och sex.”

I säng med profeten, Sydsvenskan

“Efter mordbrandsattentatet hotas nu Martin Rynja, ägare av bokförlaget Gibson Square, med döden om han verkligen löper linan ut och låter publicera novellen “The Jewel of Medina”.

Anjem Choudary en tidigare ledare av det tidigare al-Mujaharoun säger: -”This book is an attack on the honour of Mohammed. It is clearly stipulated in Muslim law that any kind of attack on his honour carries the death penalty.”

Anjem Choudary “förespår” fler attacker på Martin Rynjas liv om han låter publicera “The Jewel of Medina“, Islam och islamistövervakaren

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Läs också:

12 åring dog under förlossningen, SpikHarry

Mvh/:)Smileth

The men who fire-bombed Gibson Square, the UK publisher of The Jewel of Medina (the book Random House turned down because of fear of terrorist threat), pleaded guilty Tuesday. The novel was ultimately published by Beaufort Books.

From NYT Arts Beat:

Two men pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges stemming from the firebomb attack on the home of a London publisher who had announced plans to release a novel about the life of A’isha, a wife of the Prophet Muhammad, Reuters reported. The men, Ali Beheshti, 41, and Abrar Mirza, 23, admitted that they had been involved in the attack on the north London home and office of Martin Rynja, whose publishing company, Gibson Square, delayed publication of the novel, “The Jewel of Medina,” by Sherry Jones after the bombing. Gibson Square acquired the British publication rights to the novel after it was dropped by Random House; in the United States, the book was released by Beaufort Books. A third man arrested in connection with the arson attack, Abbas Taj, 30, was scheduled to go on trial on Tuesday.

Want to know a secret? The sequel to this buzzed-about book is coming soon!

“När Medinas Juvel kommer på svenska i höst, får vi se hur muslimerna i Sverige förhåller sig till tryckfriheten denna gång. Det svenska förlaget Earbooks gör en viktig insats när de ger ut boken.

Det blev ju minst sagt pinsamma demonstrationer när de kränktas kör marscherade mot Lars Vilks rondellhundar. Då fanns det till och med dårar som ansåg att svensk lagstiftning borde justeras så att den passade muslimer.

Jag hoppas för de svenska muslimernas skull att dessa fåntrattar håller sig hemma i sina mörka rum denna gång.

Medinas juvel är en intressant beskrivning av Muhammeds äktenskap med en liten flicka och bokutgivningen har stoppats i andra länder på grund av de vanliga hoten från muslimer.

En religion som inte tål att granskas , ska granskas extra hårt och gärna beskrivas med satir och humor. Tål islam inte ens humor ska islam absolut inte tas på allvar.

Personligen anser jag att islam är ett stort och tragiskt vidskepligt spektakel.”

Läs mer på Germunds blog

Läs också inlägget:

Islam och Sveriges Radio / Sveriges Television

/Fröken Sverige

Another review of The Jewel of Medina. I’m wondering if in the author’s view, the only way to be “liberated” as a woman is to be jealous, sleep around, and to not enjoy your husband? And that “liberation” means no rules or restrictions? Just a flippant thought I know, but it occurs to me nonetheless.

Assalamu alaikum, a review from Aaminah Hernandez (I’m glad she did this Mashallah). And from what she says I’m not sure I could have stomached the book either. Why write a “fictionalized” acount of the book, with the seemingly same old tired played-out agenda, when a nonfiction account, that was well-researched and respectful, would have probably been ver so much more interesting?

I guess because then that would have gone against whatever the agenda of the author was or is.

The Jewel of Medina by Sherry Jones

A’isha is a 6 year old girl who, after her parents betrothed her to Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, was required to remain in her family home until she had her first menstrual period.  For an adventurous girl such as herself, she is tortured by the limitations placed on her simply because she was betrothed.  She dreamed of escaping to freedom with the Bedouins with Safwan, her childhood friend during the entire length of her purdah.  When she witnesses a woman from her clan dragged away by a man who would disgrace her as well,  A’isha can barely contain herself from taking up a sword and defending her neighbor herself.  She may have been young and she may have been a girl, but she had the heart of a warrior.   It was this spirit which caught the eye of Muhammad and changed her destiny.

I first heard about this novel in August when it was reported that Random House was pulling its publication for fear of angering Muslims and perhaps inciting violence.  This reminded me of the events surrounding Salmon Rushdie and The Satanic Verses.  I found the decision disappointing.  Self-censorship out of fear of what might happen is in some ways worse than forcible censorship because it isn’t always as visible.  How many other books have never been published out of fear?  Thankfully, it was finally published by Beaufort Books in the United States.  When I snagged a copy of this book through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program, I was very curious to see just what it was that caused such a large publisher to back down.  This is a novelization of a portion of Muhammad’s life through the eyes of his most notorious wife.  Still, he was portrayed with warmth and empathy.  His charisma and love of Allah are obvious, but so is his humanity.  While I suppose any fictionalization of Muhammad may anger some Muslims, no offense was intended.  Canceling this publication was much ado about nothing.

As most established religions have struggled against the treatment of women and their roles in society, A’isha’s character is especially interesting as (to Western eyes) Muslim women seemed to be the most imprisoned by their faith, family, and spouse.  The only issue I had with this novel was the story line surrounding the way in which the rules surrounding facial covering became part of Muslim life.  Making a vision seem convenient to Muhammad felt like an “easy out” that was not at all in line with his character.  I do not know exactly how this came to be part of the Islam faith, but it seems to have sprang more from the existing culture than from Allah.

The Jewel of Medina is a fast paced and engrossing look at the beginnings of Islam through the eyes of a young girl who eventually becomes the third wife of the Prophet Muhammad.  At the beginning I was reminded of The 19th Wife because of the common themes of plural marriage and being married to a prophet.  The 19th Wife and The Jewel of Medina are both ambitious novels attempting to provide insight on the origins of world religions through the stories of the women involved.  Interesting that both novels would be published this year.  For me, Jones’ novel worked where Ebershoff’s did not.  From the moment that A’isha is married to the much older Muhammad, I could not put the book down. This novel’s insights into living among sister-wives were more compelling and, as there is only one voice telling the story, the reader is always fully aware of the opinions coloring the story.  While we can’t truly understand today without knowledge of the past, by leaving the modern out of The Jewel of Medina Sherry Jones brought early Arabic culture and the roots of Islam to life without much of the  cynicism of today.

I cannot recommend this novel enough.  It is a wonderful way to learn about the origins of Islam through the eyes of a complex and strong young girl and then woman.  A’isha does not conform to my ideas of a typical Muslim woman anymore than she did during her day and age.  She had to fight for her place in Muhammad’s harim and for the place of women in her society.  Being so much younger than her husband, A’isha’s story does not end upon Muhammad’s death and I am eagerly waiting for the sequel.  The Jewel of Medina, like all of the historical fiction I’ve enjoyed, has peaked my interest in Islam, Muhammad and his wives.  I absolutely enjoyed the adventure and I’m sure you will, too.

******
To buy this novel, click here.

Hello everyone.  I haven’t been very prolific in my blogging or my commenting this month because ever since Thanksgiving one or more of us have been sick.  Danny has been sick since Thanksgiving.  Allison has had a cold/congestion last week that kept Danny and I up a couple of hours a night for a few nights until we discovered that nasal spray helped her.  Then, I was off on Friday with Emma.  She had a temperature of 104, keeping us up a good part of the night Friday/Saturday.  Needless to say, I’m a bit exhausted and haven’t had much energy.  What time I do have I need to put into finishing my Christmas cards.  I make them by hand and I’m really under the gun to get them out by Wednesday.  Normally I have them out the first week of December…

I am currently reading The Conqueror by Georgette Heyer.  I’m enjoying it, but it’s not as compelling as The Reluctant Widow (although, it’s becoming more compelling as of what I read during my lunch break).  I was also able to finish The Jewel of Medina by Sherry Jones (I absolutely loved) and My Husband’s Sweethearts (enjoyable).  I’m hoping to have those reviews between now and Wednesday if I can.

I am feeling a whole lot better about my near fatal ARC pile up now that I’ve finished over half of those that I promised.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now and it feels good.  I’ve been peaking at what is ahead and I’m really excited.  The Triumph of Deborah is up next, followed by Tomato Girl.  Both of those novels read very well over the first few pages.

I recently found out about a fun Book Club application for Facebook.  I don’t know if any of you have Facebook accounts or not, but you might be interested in it, too.  I’ve been using it some over the weekend and enjoy it.  It allows users to create their own book clubs and I like how that is set up.  I think this might work a whole lot better than what we used for Immortal.  Check it out and let me know what you think.  I’m planning on starting a Historical Fiction book club.  I’ll post an update.  If anyone would like to add me as a friend on Facebook, my email address for that is speedhaven (at) gmail (dot) com.

As much as I love the holidays, I’m looking forward to the New Year and getting back into my blog and yours!

147. The Jewel of Medina by Sherry Jones (2008)

Length: 432 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction

Started: 19 November 2008
Finished: 21 November 2008

Sheesh, so much scandal!
Muhammad’s favorite wife in
Islam’s early days.

The LibraryThing Early Reviewer algorithm must really think I’ve got a thing for books written from the perspective of one of the wives of the founder of a polygynous religion… The last ER book I got was The 19th Wife, back in May, and then nothing until this one.

Summary: This book is essentially a love story set amidst the early days of Islam. It’s told from the point of view of A’isha bint Abi Bakr, the child bride of the Prophet Muhammad. Betrothed at six, married at nine, and widowed at nineteen, A’isha wanted nothing more than to be a warrior, fighting to protect her loved ones and her infant religion against the rival tribes that want to destroy it. However, in a time and society where women were treated as property, A’isha chafed against the restrictions put on her due to her gender, struggled to maintain her position as head wife as Muhammad’s harem increased in size, and ultimately used her independent spirit to become Muhammad’s favorite, as well as his political adviser and confidant.

Review: There has been a mighty kerfluffle surrounding publication of this book (if you haven’t heard about it, there’s a pretty good summary of things on Wikipedia), but after having read it, I kind of fail to see what the hubbub is all about. Granted, I am not Muslim, but from an outsider’s point of view, I think that Sherry Jones was actually very respectful towards early Islam, and towards Muhammad in particular. Muhammad is painted very clearly as a man, with a man’s weaknesses and vices, which means that while he’s certainly portrayed as being wise and holy, he’s also shown to be flawed and fallible – human, in other words. Secondly, A’isha is a relatively important and contentious figure in the Sunni/Shi’ite split, so this book’s sympathetic portrayal of her automatically alienates a large chunk of the potential readership. I can’t say whether either of these things are technically blasphemous under the tenets of Islam, but I certainly don’t think either of them are meant to be disrespectful – quite the contrary, in fact.

I also don’t think the book itself is worthy of so much kerfluffle as novels go. It was a pretty standard historical romance: seemingly mis-matched man and woman overcoming obstacles and temptations, with true love winning out in the end, etc., etc. There was an interesting story to be told here about women and women’s rights, love and duty and freedom, but I felt like it never quite reached its potential, getting lost instead in a seemingly never-ending stream of jealous bickering and brattishness. The language, too, worked against the story, with somewhat stilted dialogue, an over-reliance on internal monologuing, and an overabundance of florid metaphors.

Despite the less-than-stellar writing and plotting, I did enjoy the setting of the novel. I knew very little (almost nothing, in truth) about the foundation of Islam, and this book was a pretty palatable way to learn some religious history. While it certainly wasn’t a terrible read, neither was it a great one, and that unexceptional-ness was its downfall; it could have (and should have) been much more than it was. On the whole, though, I think this book is going to sell way more copies based on the controversy surrounding it than it ever would on the strength of its own merit. 3 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Worth reading if you want to know what the controversy’s all about… but I’d get it from the library instead of the bookstore.

This Review on LibraryThing | This Book on LibraryThing | This Book on Amazon

Links: Jewel of Medina website; A nice post from Kim summing up the controversy

Other Reviews: A Reader’s Respite
Did I miss your review? Leave a comment with the link and I’ll add it in.

First Line: Scandal blew in on the errant wind when I rode into Medina clutching Safwan’s waist.

Vocab:

• p. 97: “To lighten my complexion, I smoothed a lotion made with gypsum on my face, and I lined my eyelids with collyrium, using a lavender stem to spread the dark paste.” – A medicinal lotion applied to the eye; any preparation for the eye.
  .

Geraldine Brooks wrote a very amusing review of Sherry Jones’s Jewel of Medina in the Washington Post.

It’s shocking that Random House got cold feet about Muslim reaction and refused to publish Sherry Jones’s The Jewel of Medina. But what’s even more shocking is that they paid good money to acquire such a dreadful novel in the first place.

By now, this cliché-ridden abaya-ripper is a cause celebre, so it’s hard to shut out all the noise and evaluate the book simply as a work of historical fiction. But I will try.

Yet with all this intriguing material at her disposal, Jones unaccountably fails to create a rich psychological portrait of an important and under-examined woman. Instead, she concocts a steamy Orientalist stew that must have Edward Said spinning in his grave. There are some facts in these pages, but they’re drowning in ahistorical and under-researched claptrap.

Okay, okay . . . The Jewel of Medina is fiction. Jones is entitled to imagine whatever she wants. But if you wish to claim that your novel is “extensively researched,” why lurch around in time and space, grabbing at concepts such as hatun, or leading wife, which Jones knows full well belongs to the Ottoman empire of centuries later, or purdah, which exists in Persian, Urdu and Hindi but not Arabic? Why refer to an Islamic veil by the modern Western term “wrapper”? Why have Muslims bowing to Aisha, when bowing is an alien custom to desert Arabia and to Islam’s egalitarian ethos?

So perhaps the fairest thing is to let the book speak for itself. Aisha’s crush, Safwan, is described as: “Tall, handsome Safwan, with the chiseled face of a purebred steed and hair as thick and glossy as a horse’s mane.” There are words that strike despair into the heart of a reader. “Steed” is one of them. “Loins” another: “Desire burned like a fire in Muhammad’s loins, unquenchable in one night, or two, or three.”

Turns out the reviewer, Geraldine Brooks, wrote Nine Parts of Desire, which I read about ten years ago. Now I’ll have to read it again.

Last week was a wonderful week for Literate Housewife’s mailbox (front porch, actually).  It was a bonanza of wonderful books and was by far the most exciting mail week I’ve had since I started my blog.  So, what was it that makes me so excited?  Take a look:

The Reluctant Widow and The Conqueror by Georgette Heyer ~ sent by Sourcebooks


The ENTIRE Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer ~ won as part of Maw Books’ month long awareness campaign for Darfur and sent to me by Hatchette Book Group.  I cannot tell you how left out I’ve felt about this from day one.  Now I can hardly wait to make it through my existing ARCs so I can dive on in.  With the movie, I’m having a hard time not scrapping everything and reading Twilight…

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford and signed by the author (!) ~ won from Marcia’s contest (lucky, lucky me!!!).  Marcia’s review is wonderful and I cannot wait (again).

The Jewel of Medina by Sherry Jones ~ snagged as part October’s Early Reviewer from LibraryThing.  It’s been at least 5 months since I snagged my last book, but in October I hit the jackpot – and it was completely accidental.  Given the number of ARCs I have, I only picked a couple historical fiction looking books in October and almost didn’t.  When I requested The Jewel of Medina, I didn’t connect it at all to the controversy earlier this year when Random House decided to pull this book for fear of offending Muslims.  Now, published by Beaufort Books, I can see what the entire stir was about.  Yeah!

Mordbrand mot förlagschefens bostad (tre islamister gripna för det) som tog över utgivningen från Random House vilka i sin tur la ner alla planer på utgivning när muslimer fick nys om boken – The Jewel of Medina.

Och att författaren (Sherry Jones) är mordhotad och flyttad till hemlig ort behöver väl knappast nämnas för er..

Nu har boken blivit läst av en muslim vid namn Shelina Zahra Janmohamed. Hennes inställning till publikationen och rent allmänt till det fria västs andeväsen och sätt att leva går att utläsa i hennes åsikt om boken:

“Even if you feel that it is your duty to read it in the defence of freedom of speech, don’t do it, I beg you – go out and enjoy the last sunny days of autumn, play with your children, watch paint dry – you’ll thank me for it.”

-Shelina Zahra Janmohamed

Ingressen på BBC News:

“A romantic telling of the life of one of the wives of Islam’s prophet has caused controversy among some Muslims – and its publication has been indefinitely postponed in the UK amid fears of a violent reaction. But is The Jewel of Medina actually any good? Blogger Shelina Zahra Janmohamed is one of the few people in Britain to have read it.”

Kommentarer under artikeln:

“Thank you for such an insightful and intelligent review of this book. It sounds like a huge missed opportunity!Tina Place, Barnstaple

I’m sick of religious people claiming that they are “personally offended” when their ideas are criticised. If you don’t like it then don’t buy it, but please stop whining on like a spoilt child about your “right to be offended”.Franchesca Mullin, Belfast, Northern Ireland

For this book not to be published due to the possibility of a violent backlash is shocking and represents another blow against our civil freedom. George, London
How can this be freedom of speech, when you slander someone’s beloved? What happens if someone writes such filth about Jesus (May God have mercy on him) or any loved person for that matter! What is wrong with the world!Khalid Abdul, Warsaw, Poland

I would like to see more REAL information and history on Islam. I remember religious education in school, one lesson each on Islam, Judaism and Hinduism and the rest was Christian theology. This needs to changeJohn Lee,
As a Christian, I was not offended by The Da Vinci Code as I read it as the enjoyable fiction it was. I only hope Muslims can view this book in a similar fashion.TS, Bromley, England

Shelina Zahra Janmohamed is right that where we have free speech, we must also have the freedom to be offended. However, too often freedom of speech is oppressed by the freedom of the offended (often using their right to free speech to attempt to suppress others’ free speech). If someone wishes to say something religiously offensive, that is between them and God.CS, Manchester, England

Why do people have to take this sort of trashy romantic fiction seriously? This seems like a case of silly people taking a silly book seriously, and serious people totally ignoring it.Anne Boyce, Halifax, England

Let’s be clear here. The author of this work has not driven “a wedge between Muslims and others by fictionalising core characters”. The wedge between Islam and the free world is caused by the threat of violence by the radical minority!Dino, Cape Town

I thought religion WAS fiction (romantic or not)!Bryn Roberts, Richmond, Yorkshire, UK

Isn’t it about time that ALL religionists (sorry, best word I can come up with) should stop taking it so seriously? Lighten up.Tony P, Darlington

I think it is time that we stop playing with the faith of others because. Creating civil unrest is unreasonable.Sostenes Mtenga, Tanzania

As an RE teacher, I can see that there is nothing historical about this book. It is pure fiction from the imagination of the author. I do not think Muslims would see it as honouring their Prophet, but a direct insult if anything. Freedom of speech is one thing, but delusional thinking that it is honouring the Prophet is clear proof of the author’s orientalist mindset.James, London, UK

I agree with you. Great article. Billy, New York

I agree wholeheartedly with Shelina’s article, which is well-balanced. I cannot fathom the purpose of using ‘Aisha’ as the foundation for a ‘fictional’ story. It is no different to fabricating truth about Mary. Irfan Waraich, Leicester, UK

It sounds like Jewel of Medina is a definite miss from both a literary and historical perspective – but Aisha’s life sounds utterly fascinating. Is there any chance of a serious biography? Isobel, Salisbury, UK

Christianity has already been subjected to this treatment, after a fashion, with Nikos Kazantzakis’ The Last Temptation of Christ. Why not?Tony, Ajax, Ontario”

Hela artikeln på BBC News

Officiell site för boken

By Faye Lyons-White

Outstanding success in specialised field

The James Joyce Award is presented by the Literary and Historical Society of University College Dublin to individuals who have achieved outstanding success in their particular field.

The award is named after one of the society’s most distinguished alumni, author James Joyce, who has written a number of literary classics including Ulysses and Finnegans Wake.

Previous winners of the award include comedian Will Ferrell; author Bill Bryson; music producer and arranger Sir George Henry Martin; author JK Rowling; and ex-footballer Gary Lineker.

Fatwa and Fear

Sir Salman Rushdie went into hiding in 1989 after a fatwa was issued against him by Iranian leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, following the publication of his fourth novel, The Satanic Verses.

After many years living under police protection, Rushdie returned to public life in 1998 after a conciliatory statement was made by Iran.

However, the fatwa is still in place as it can only be annulled by its issuer. Khomeini died in 1989.

In a recent interview with The Times, Sir Salman Rushdie stated that he is still glad that he wrote The Satanic Verses, despite being driven underground. 

Rushdie is not the only literary figure who has been targeted by Muslim extremists over controversial content.

The home of London publisher, Martin Rynja, was attacked over the release of Sherry James’ book, The Jewel of Medina. The novel is a story of the relationship between the Prophet Muhammad and his nine-year-old bride, Aisha.

According to The Guardian, the publication of this novel has been postponed, as has the three-day publicity tour planned to promote the book.

Success despite Fatwa

Despite the problems Sir Salman Rushdie has faced over the publication of The Satanic Verses, he has continued to publish novels and he has won many awards for his contribution to the literary world.

Rushdie’s latest novel, The Enchantress of Florence, was published in April 2008.

In July 2008, Rushdie was named Best of the Booker for his novel Midnight’s Children. Winning the Man Booker Award in 1981 and the Booker of the Bookers in 1993, Midnight’s Children received its latest award after the Best of the Booker shortlist went to a public poll.

To see original Story, Sir Salman Rushdie receives James Joyce Award, click here.

To contact Faye Lyons-White, e-mail faye.lyons-white@my.westminster.ac.uk

This post was written by Marwa El Naggar and previously published at alt.muslim and IslamOnline.

There’s something not quite right about seeing a citation for One Thousand and One Nights in a bibliography for a novel about the Lady Aishah, Prophet Muhammad’s famous wife.

What it says about an author who would, in writing about the early Muslim community, use the collection of stories that has given us Aladdin, Ali Baba (he of the forty thieves), Sinbad the sailor, and the wife-killing yet story-loving king, Shahrayar, is a lot that makes any discerning reader uncomfortable.

This anomaly in the bibliography is certainly much more indicative as a factor that “stunts intelligent discourse about the Muslim world” than “fear”, as Asra Nomani put it in a Wall Street Journal article about Random House’s last-minute decision to not publish the book.

But the citation does, however, fit in with the idea of the exotic and mystical Orient, an idea that is fed word after word, and page after page of the much-debated novel about the Prophet’s wife, which hits bookstores in the US and UK this week.

I started reading the unpublished manuscript of the novel, The Jewel of Medina provided so generously to me by author Sherry Jones, fully prepared to enjoy myself.

By the time I reached the end of the book, I didn’t know what to make of it. How could anyone claiming to write about the relationship between Lady Aishah and Prophet Muhammad fail to mention some of the most famous incidents in the story so well known to Muslims?

Jones’s portrayal of Aishah’s jealousy was so heavy-handed that she seems to have forgotten about the incident where Lady Aishah, in her jealousy, threw a plate carrying food that another wife had prepared for the Prophet, breaking it.

Prophet Muhammad, who in Jones’s novel always frowns at Aishah’s jealousy, is reported to have reacted by smiling and explaining Aishah’s behavior to his friends who were present, saying, “Your mother was jealous…”, reminding them that Aishah, despite her human and natural faults, was after all, a mother of the believers, thereby deserving the respect of all.

But perhaps this portrayal of an indulgent and patient Prophet didn’t fit in with Jones’s own portrayal of a condescending and perpetually disapproving Prophet.
Take a Bow?

In the novel, respect is portrayed in a manner that belies the Western cultural framework the writer imposes on the story.

We find two men greeting the Prophet as he walks home with Aishah, “Both of them bowed to Muhammad…” Elsewhere, “A man with a black face as shiny as his bald head bowed before us: Bilal.” And when he walks in on his wife Sawdah preparing the food, “Muhammad greeted her with a deep bow.” Aishah gives the Prophet “a respectful bow.”

In cringe-producing, true to Hollywood-style drama, towards the end of the book, Muhammad and his wives acknowledge Aishah as the leader of the “harem”:

Zaynab stepped forward, her plump arms outstretched, her gold eyes flashing. “We have heard how you pled for us to our husband,” she said. “Now—” a sob caught in her throat, snagging her words, “—we have come to thank you,to make you our hatun.” I opened my mouth, but, in my astonishment, no words would come. Then, in one motion, my sister wives joined Zaynab in stretching out their arms to me, then folding themselves in a deep bow. Muhammad stood in their center, his wild hair flying, his smile leaping like light from his face before he whisked off his turban and bowed nearly all the way to the ground. (341)

Never mind that the word hatun is not Arabic, and would never have been used by the Arabs at that time. Never mind that the idea of the Prophet’s wives competing for the position of the most important wife in the “harem” is a dubious one that has never been documented.

Anyone who knows anything about Islam knows that Muslims do not bow to each other to show respect. Bowing may have been a pre-Islamic custom in Arabia, and was certainly a Western custom, but Islam, with its egalitarian message, forbade anyone to bow to any human. Muslims are supposed to bow only to God, and therefore, Muslim ritual prayers include bowing.

Respect was much more nuanced, displayed in the way people talked and listened, the expression in their eyes and on their faces, and the position of their bodies. For example, it is known that Prophet Muhammad showed respect to whomever he was listening to by being attentive and by turning his whole body to face that person.
Cross-Cultural Confusion: On purdah & Hijab

Although historical fiction obviously differs from history texts in its very nature of being fiction, to be of any merit, it should remain true to its subject in terms of social conditions, manners, and culture.

The portrayal of the sub-continental custom of purdah (again, not an Arabic word) within the context of early Islamic society is definitely one leap too far, even if we take artistic license into consideration.

Even in pre-Islamic Arabia, when women were much less respected, the idea of locking girls up in their houses until marriage was unknown. In fact, Aishah’s older sister, Asma’ was a shepherdess, an occupation that could hardly have been possible if Jones’s purdah had been the custom.

The depiction of Aishah’s reaction to the Quranic commandment that the Prophet’s wives cover their faces also betrays the writer’s Western background. For any Western woman writing in a post-feminist 21st century, the only possible reaction of a woman who is supposed to be described as a brave heroine with a fiery spirit to this commandment is obviously to see it as “oppressive”.

To suggest otherwise, it seems, would mean being disloyal to Western culture and ideals.
Casting History Aside

Perhaps one of the most striking liberties that Jones took in the writing of The Jewel of Medina concerns what is referred to in Muslim history and in the Qur’an as “the incident of false accusation”, or, “hadithatul ifk”.

Sherry Jones claims that she has approached her subject matter “respectfully”, and I would never doubt her intentions. However, I do have a problem reconciling this with the fact that in one of the most important and telling incidents in the life of Aishah, Jones chooses to ignore Aishah’s own well-documented narration of the incident. Instead, Jones misuses her artistic license to make up a completely unrecognizable, yet juicier, alternative story.

The problem with Jones’s version of the story starts at the very beginning of Aishah’s story, when Jones has the young Aishah engaged to Safwan ibn Al-Mu’attal. All sources indicate that Aishah, before her engagement and marriage to Prophet Muhammad, had been engaged to marry Jubayr ibn Mut’im, and not Safwan.

Yet Aishah’s supposed engagement to Safwan serves Jones an excellent purpose. It provides a complexity of plot that was probably too juicy to pass up, even for the sake of accuracy and historical honesty.

In Jones’s version, Aishah harbors a love for Safwan since childhood. Even after her marriage to the Prophet, she continues to yearn for Safwan, and he continues to flirt with her, urging her to run away with him to join a Bedouin tribe, as they had planned to do since childhood.

Part of Aishah’s problem with Prophet Muhammad, according to Jones’s story, is this love that she has for Safwan, and it is only after the incident of the false scandal, that she realizes that Safwan would never provide her with the freedom she longs for.

There are many other striking contradictions between the story told by the historical Aishah and that narrated by Jones’s fictional character. While the historical Aishah points out that Safwan only recognized her because he had seen her in the days before the Prophet’s wives were told to cover their faces, Jones has Aishah plotting with Safwan, after a heavy session of flirting, to run away.

While the historical Aishah says that she returned to Madinah riding Safwan’s camel while Safwan led the camel, and in some versions, walked behind the camel, Jones has Aishah riding into Madinah on a horse with her arms around Safwan’s waist, and her cheek resting against his shoulder.

While the historical Aishah said that she was not aware of any scandal or talk against her in the beginning, Jones whips up a deliciously dramatic scene in which Aishah rides into Madinah to hear the people shouting “Adulteress!” at her.

Yes, the idea of having a young girl in love with her fiancée since childhood, and harboring that love throughout her tumultuous marriage to another, older man, does have the makings of a good story. But unfortunately for Jones, this is not the story of Lady Aishah.
Can’t We Write About Muhammad?

I would have loved to ask the exasperated Asra Nomani why she thinks that “you still can’t write about Muhammad”, which was the title of her Wall Street Journal article.

There is a lot of literature that has been written about Prophet Muhammad in the Muslim world. Muhammad’s life, as well as the lives of his Companions and wives, including the Lady Aishah, has been the subject of novels, plays, and even movies and TV series. Jones has done nothing new, except that she has taken much greater liberties with history and fact than others have.

Pointing out all the mistakes in the novel not just in portraying the Lady Aishah, but in portraying almost all the characters, including the Prophet, would take much more than this article.

Yet given all its inaccuracies, its faults, and its biases, should publication of The Jewel of Medina be stopped? By all means, it should not. The hullabaloo that was created by Random House’s decision will also guarantee that the novel’s publishers have their marketing work cut out for them.

I just hope that it is not marketed as an “extensively researched” historical novel about the Lady Aishah, because whatever research Jones did, she certainly does not appear to have used it or benefitted from it. The Jewel of Medina is fiction in the purest sense of the term, with little or nothing of history in it.

I also hope that readers will take it for what it is: an attempt by a Western writer with little knowledge of Arabic, Arabia, Islam, and Muslims using her own Western, 21st century values, ideals and emotions to portray an unrecognizable version of the well-known and well-documented story of Aishah.

If Jones had set out to tell the “untold” or an “alternative” story of the heroism and courage of Aishah, she could have saved herself the trouble. The Lady Aishah has already been seen as a heroine and revered as a role model by Muslim women since the beginning of Muslim history.

An even more inconvenient truth – According to the Food Climate Research Network, most of our plans for fighting global warming are off track. Their new report on the impact of food on the environment suggests that the only way to avoid massive climate change is to ration our meals to four modest portions of meat and a single liter of milk per week.

A tip of my hat to Beaufort Books – I’ve blogged about the epic saga revolving the release of Sherry Jones’ fiction book The Jewel of Medina before. The offices of Gibson Square Books, the UK publisher, were attacked by arsonists, and Random House refused to publish the novel in the US for fear of similar attacks. The book mirrors the story of Islamic Prophet Mohammed marrying the six-year-old A’isha who went on to become one of his favorite wives. And while Muslims must believe this story as much as Christians must believe in the Crucification of Christ, they’d rather not allow anyone to talk about it because, let’s face it, it’s kind of embarrassing to admit worshiping someone so wretched. Well now courageously, Beaufort Books has stepped in to release it in the states.

Are chimps people too? - An article in Wired Magazine poses the question of whether the definition of personhood whould been extended to our evolutionary cousins.

A brief look at herbal medicines

WHAT’S THE HARM?

HIV Positive children in Dominican Republic being treated with massage therapy instead of antiretrovirals – Of course no study has shown massage produces any objective improvement in outcome for HIV/AIDS patients.

Witch doctors in Burundi are getting albinos killed – Witch doctors are perpetuating the myth that the body parts of albinos are valuable in attracting gold, witch is leading many to kill albinos for their severed body parts.

Why We Fight:

AND NOW FOR A MOMENT OF SCIENCE:

Bonobos Hunt And Eat Other Primates, Too – “Unlike the male-dominated societies of their chimpanzee relatives, bonobo society—in which females enjoy a higher social status than males—has a “make-love-not-war” kind of image. While chimpanzee males frequently band together to hunt and kill monkeys, the more peaceful bonobos were believed to restrict what meat they do eat to forest antelopes, squirrels, and rodents.

Not so, according to a study, reported in the October 14th issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, that offers the first direct evidence of wild bonobos hunting and eating the young of other primate species.”

Playing Pinball With Atoms: Nano On-Off Switch – “With nanotechnology yielding a burgeoning menagerie of microscopic pumps, motors, and other machines for potential use in medicine and industry, here is one good question: How will humans turn those devices on and off?

n an advance toward giving humans that control, scientists in The Netherlands are reporting use of an external electrical signal to control an atomic-scale mechanical device that looks like the flippers on a pinball machine.”

Vitamin D: Guidelines Double Amount For Young – “The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is doubling the amount of vitamin D it recommends for infants, children and adolescents. The new clinical report, “Prevention of Rickets and Vitamin D Deficiency in Infants, Children, and Adolescents,” recommends all children receive 400 IU a day of vitamin D, beginning in the first few days of life.”

Archaeological Dig Uncovers Roman Mystery – “University of British Columbia archaeologists have dug up a mystery worthy of Indiana Jones, one that includes a tomb, skeletons and burial rites with both Christian and pagan elements.

“”Alla” muslimer är kränkta igen. Åtminstone om man ska tro upprördheten över Sherry Jones bok The jewel of Medina. Boken, som planerades att släppas på Random House, har skapat en ny Rushdieaffär. Denna gång är dock stödet för verket och författaren inte lika starkt och självklart.
En omtänksam själ, islamkännaren Denise Spelling vid universitet i Austin, Texas varnade för att romanen gör narr av muslimer och deras historia. På några sekunder spreds nyheten på internet och hoten har inte låtit vänta på sig. Så upprepas historien om kränkta muslimer än en gång. Självutnämnda företrädare för över en miljard människor hotar å alla muslimers vägnar att mörda folk som vill förlägga romanen.”

“Totalitära regimer avundas nog den rädsla som islamisterna effektivt har lyckats ingjuta i det fria ordets utövare. Detta tillgjorda och löjeväckande hukande för islam (ingen annan religion kommer undan så lätt) har under de senaste tjugo åren inskränkt yttrandefriheten för publicister, bildkonstnärer, musikskapare (operan i Berlin) och romanförfattare ett antal gånger för mycket.”

Läs mer av Dilsa Demirbag-Sten på Expressen

/Fröken Sverige

“”Alla” muslimer är kränkta igen. Åtminstone om man ska tro upprördheten över Sherry Jones bok The jewel of Medina. Boken, som planerades att släppas på Random House, har skapat en ny Rushdieaffär. Denna gång är dock stödet för verket och författaren inte lika starkt och självklart.
En omtänksam själ, islamkännaren Denise Spelling vid universitet i Austin, Texas varnade för att romanen gör narr av muslimer och deras historia. På några sekunder spreds nyheten på internet och hoten har inte låtit vänta på sig. Så upprepas historien om kränkta muslimer än en gång. Självutnämnda företrädare för över en miljard människor hotar å alla muslimers vägnar att mörda folk som vill förlägga romanen.”

“Totalitära regimer avundas nog den rädsla som islamisterna effektivt har lyckats ingjuta i det fria ordets utövare. Detta tillgjorda och löjeväckande hukande för islam (ingen annan religion kommer undan så lätt) har under de senaste tjugo åren inskränkt yttrandefriheten för publicister, bildkonstnärer, musikskapare (operan i Berlin) och romanförfattare ett antal gånger för mycket.”

Läs mer av Dilsa Demirbag-Sten på Expressen

/Fröken Sverige

It occurred to me today while thinking about the release of The Jewel of Medina that in the course of the Church’s 2000 year history, not once has any woman, to my knowledge, become outraged at the Church’s treatment of Mary Magdalene.

Mary Magdalene is always: whore, prostitue, harlot, jezebel, and leper.

She is never recognised as being one of the two women who discovered the empty tomb on the third day.

She is never recognised as being one of the first women in the Jesus Movement.

She is never acknowledged as one of Christianity’s matriarchs.

Apparently she’s a Saint, but she’s still a reformed prostitute and a minor saint at that. In fact, until my recently-converted-to-Anglicanism friend pointed it out in an Orthodox icon, I did not know she was a saint and I grew-up surrounded by icons!

Saint Augustine was a drunkard and a womanizer before he found G-d, yet he is one of the most revered of the Christian writers.

Saint Francis of Assisi was a merchant’s son, a man who longed to become a troubador and enjoy a life of pleasure.

Popes used to have families and mistresses and bastard children running hither and thither, but that’s chalked up to medieval living and dynastic rule, not the comprehensive immorality of these supposed representatives of G-d on earth. Apostolic succession does not have a clause for bastard children and mistresses. Apparently however, there is one against women and recognising the true authority of women in the Church.

So why have we never stood up as women and put our fists down and said, “ENOUGH!”

We are tired of being of the virgin/whore dichotomy!

We are tired of our matriarchs being put into black and white categories without the same chance of redemption that our patriarchs had!

We are tired of listening to stories of Good Girls of the Bible, Bad Girls of the Bible.

Why can we not get outraged? Our Muslim sisters are furiously protesting the publication of The Jewel of Medina right now, a book that purports to tell the fictional story of ‘Aisha, the Prophet Muhammad’s favourite wife. They have organised boycotts of the book, written editorials, and flooded message boards with their opinions expressing their distress that one of their beloved matriarchs is being offended in a mass-publication. The author of the outrage is not even Muslim! She is no religious authority at all, yet people are enraged.

They are outraged within six months. We have had 2000 years to get angry and express our righteous discontent, yet none of us as women have gone to the head of the Church and said, “Enough! I am tired of this bastardisation of one of our matriarchs.”

The Church portrays Mary Magdalene as a prostitute for two millenia and we as women say nothing. A woman named Sherry Jones writes a book about ‘Aisha and we immediately run to the aid of our Muslim sisters and cry-out with them.

So what are we afraid of?

The Jewel of Medina goes on sale in the United States today. *queue scary music.*

Two weeks ago, I got a copy of the novel from Beaufort Books, the U.S. publisher, to review for the magazine I work at. I read the book, interviewed Denise Spellberg—the associate professor of history and Middle Eastern studies at the University of Texas who advised Random House not to publish Jewel—and also managed to wrangle a one hour-interview with author Sherry Jones.

My article can be read here and here. It’s shameless self-promotion, but I promise you it’s a fascinating read.

If you’re interested, you can also listen to the interview here:

(If the player takes too long to load, you can listen to or download the interview here and here. And if you don’t have an hour to spare, you can download the transcript here).

And now for my op-ed:

I initially began reviewing this novel by deciding to list all the inaccuracies and false facts I found in it. But once I realized I’d already filled four pages of text and I was only 40 pages into the book, I stopped.

Purple prose aside (and there’s a lot of that), my biggest beef with The Jewel of Medina is the author’s insistence that the book is “extensively researched” and based as close as possible to historical facts when the reality is that Jones has taken liberties with history that would make historians gnash their teeth. If she’d only just added the disclaimer “this book is loosely based on real facts,” it would have been so much easier to stomach.

In my interview with her, she admitted that

“A novel has a protagonist, […] a narrative, thriving action, tension, climax, [and] resolution, and […] I didn’t find that the lives of the characters conformed to that structure. So I had to introduce elements and make some changes for the sake of putting together a novel.”

In other words, she had to distort history and sensationalize it in order to get people to read it. Sex and violence sells. And what better way to draw in readers than with a racy, completely fictionalized and very controversial version of hadith al-ifk? (the accusation of adultery made against ‘Aisha). Which, by the way, was made available online months ago. A teaser, if you like.

In other words, it’s libel. If Lady ‘Aisha was alive today, she could sue.

But is it not libel because Jones has said her novel is fiction? I remember the fuss that people kicked up when the book Confidential by Allison Jackson was published. Basically, Jackson found look-alikes of celebrities and photographed them in compromising situations (the back cover of the book is the Queen of England sitting on a toilet reading a magazine with her granny underwear around her ankles. Other photos include “George Bush and Tony Blair chatting in the sauna, Osama Bin Laden playing backgammon, and Monica Lewinsky lighting Bill Clinton’s cigar”). Fauxtography at its best. But, and here’s the rub, she didn’t get into any trouble because she stated that the photos were of look-alikes.

It’s understandable why the celebrities would be annoyed with Jackson. But at least with her book, the reader knows that everything is false. But with Jones’ book, how will the inaccuracies be discernible by non-Muslim readers? Advising them to read the novel with a healthy grain of salt will not help them differentiate between what is fact and fiction. Consequently, the fiction will end up circulating in mainstream literature and Muslims will have to work hard to counteract the ideas put forth by Jones’ book.

And it’s not just the obvious boo-boos (hadith al-ifk interpretation, the hatun [great lady of the house], purdah [seclusion, a sub-continental custom that did not apply to the Islamic age], Lady ‘Aisha being a warrior, etc), but little things mentioned oh-so-subtly: you’ll get your hand cut off for stealing even when you’re starving, you’ll get stoned if you’re seen speaking to a man, and other random things like the Prophet’s favorite meal and decorating camels with kohl (eyeliner) and flowers before slaughtering them (huh?).

One more thing: why is it al-Lah and not Allah?!

To be fair to the author, she does represent certain situations, events and personas in a good light. But the novel includes many glaring inconsistencies; I’d be reading, and suddenly something so blatantly wrong reared its head and jarred my concentration. What we call in Arabic el sem fel ‘asal (poison in honey). It’s especially galling when you realize that many strands of the truth are taken to weave a tale that is not quite true—though a lot more sensational.

The Prophet, for example, appears as a just and fair leader, although Jones alludes to the idea that he might have been marginally corrupted by power. His kind treatment of women shines through and even though it’s not a glowing portrayal, neither is it at all fair to liken Jones’ representation of him to the Danish cartoons.

But the poison here is Jones portraying him as a man who, to put it bluntly, was sex-obsessed, looking at women as if they were “a bowl of honey” with “nostrils flared,” and “no duty in his lust filled gaze.” He marries complete babes because he desires them—and oh, they also happen to be political alliances. Not the other way around. The Egyptian women arrive in belly-dancing suits, and with their eunuchs. Oh, and did I mention the catfights? And that One Thousand and One Arabian Nights is one of Jones’ sources? ‘Nuf said.

(Though again, to be fair, there are no sex scenes. With all the fuss, I was expecting pages and pages of heaving bosoms. Elhamdulelah there wasn’t).

Image via Beaufort Books.

Lady ‘Aisha is the heroine of the novel. However, she is portrayed as an impulsive, petty, solipsistic, flighty, irrational, irresponsible, vindictive liar who breaks her promises and only wants the glory of the battlefield. And those were only some adjectives I jotted down while reading.

The author is a 21st century western woman, and it filters through. Lady ‘Aisha enjoys her “last day of freedom” before her arranged marriage, “a fate chosen by others, as though I were a sheep or a goat fatted for this day,” and hates the “ridiculous inventions such as purdah and hatun and durra [second wife] and their traditions of male superiority that made chattel of women.”

When she hears the verse about hijab, or veiling, “words I could have lived the rest of my life without hearing,” she says the prophet might as well have “buried [us] alive” or “put blinders on us.” Seclusion to her, which Jones has her endure since the age of six, was living within the “dark, cold walls of a tomb.”

It seems as though Jones cannot quite manage to divorce herself from western mentality and put herself in the shoes of a woman who lived in a very different time and place. She almost forces Lady ‘Aisha into being a feminist, with the criteria being (of course) that she believes veiling is oppressive, women are treated badly, she doesn’t need or want male protection, etc., etc.

“If I were a man, I’d be riding through the desert now. No one would lock me away or call me “parrot” or judge my worth by the number of children I had. I’d be in charge of my life as only men could be, with their swords and their horses, their courage and their wits.”

Okayyy. But c’mon, a six-year-old dreaming of the freedom to choose her own destiny? And wanting a sword in her hand? Wanting to “charge through the desert, wild and free?” Really?

In the end, the book is not really worth all the hype. What is though, is what comes next.

There’s no denying that many Muslims will be offended by the depiction of their sacred figures. I consider myself pretty open minded and tolerant, and yet my gut clenched more than once while reading this book. It’s just very very hard for those who aren’t Muslim to wrap their heads around the respect Muslims give to their prophet, his companions, and the mothers of the believers.

I interviewed the author and I genuinely believe she had good intentions, and just didn’t-quite-get-it. It’s a shame Muslims didn’t pay more attention to her book before it was published. When I interviewed her, she told me that had she known bowing was not a part of Islamic culture (when Lady ‘Aisha becomes the hatun, the prophet and his wives bow to her), she would not have included it. She says no Muslim organization would give her the time of day to review her book.

The question is, have Muslims developed thicker skins? Regardless if you believe Jones was well intentioned and just didn’t get it or cashing in on the Islamophobic wagon, the truth is she’s being given a platform to speak on and has said, more than once, that her intentions were to honor Islam and that she will continue to defend Islam in her public speaking.

So, yeah, I’m sure bombing the home and office of the book’s publisher is the way to go about proving to her and the world that Islam is a great and tolerant religion.

The novel will be published and there is nothing Muslims can do to control that. What they can control are their reactions. Random House deciding to self-censor themselves shows that they already believe the worst about Muslims. I’m not suggesting we put up and shut up, but that we answer free speech with free speech.

Muslims, if they get it right, can use the publication of this book as a platform to educate people about the characters who are so much a part of their lives and as a starting point to really teach non-Muslims about the life of ‘Aisha, who was a woman far more fascinating that Jones was able to portray.

The book, warts and all, does have potential. Jones will have piqued the readers’ interests, and instead of letting the wrong facts in the book stand, Muslims can seize the opportunity to teach many who might never have heard about ‘Aisha and her life about her.

And if they get it wrong, Muslims will end up muddying the image of Islam even more. Is that what Lady ‘Aisha would have wanted?

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE ORIGINAL ENTRY AT “SKEPCHICK”

The Followers of Christ church is a fundamentalist Christian cult renowned for killing children, and sadly they’ve added another to the death toll: 16-year old Neil Beagley died in June of a urinary tract blockage that can be fixed with a simple procedure. Neil’s parents murdered him by knowingly withholding the life-saving medical treatment because they believed that prayer would convince a god to save him. Often in cases of faith healing not working, the death is attributed to the god teaching the family a lesson, or punishing the deceased for not having strong enough convictions.

To summarize: a boy died because of his parents’ uncritical acceptance of religious doctrine.

The parents have just pled not guilty and will face trial in January 2009. Read more about the FoC on Rick Ross’ comprehensive site.

In other news, gangs of ultra-orthodox Jews in Israel are beating, kidnapping, and hospitalizing people who do not meet their standards of modesty. Though not all the fundamentalists say they approve of the violence, few have the temerity to speak up.

Also, last month fundamentalist Muslims fire-bombed the house of a publisherbecause he plans to print The Jewel of Medina, a book about the prophet Mohammud that no one has read yet.

Finally, somewhere, some time in the past week or so, a fundamentalist atheist was told that without religion we’d have no moral compunction to be good. The fundamentalist then shrugged and went back to his book.

Happy Sunday everyone!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE ORIGINAL ENTRY AT “SKEPCHICK”

With its UK release in suspended animation, The Jewel of Medina is being rushed to shelves in the United States by publisher Beaufort Books.

The UK publishing house Gibson Square was set on fire last weekend, allegedly in opposition to its previously expected October release of Jewel. Martin Rynja of Gibson Square is currently under police protection after the arrest of four suspects in connection with setting the fire.

Eric Kampmann, president of Beaufort Books, hopes that advancing the publication will “reduce or eliminate any chance of violence,” and that once people actually read the book, their focus will turn to the story and the author, Sherry Jones.

After having been pulled from shelves in Serbia in early September, The Jewel of Medina is once again available in Serbian bookstores and will be in U.S. bookstores on Monday, October 6, 2008.

The UK publication of The Jewel of Medina has been put on permanent hold after the fire-bombing of the London offices of its publisher Gibson Square Books last week. It’s owner, Martin Rynja has gone into hiding.
http://www. thefirstpost. co. uk/people,1457,sherry-jones-book-put-on-hold,47888

- Chalmer

Twenty years after the publication of the book that almost cost him his life, Sir Salman Rushdie is still glad that he wrote The Satanic Verses. In an interview with writer and broadcaster Clive James, filmed exclusively for The Times website, he said he “wouldn’t not have wanted” to be the writer asking the big questions about religion and civilisation posed by the book.

The interview comes after a petrol bomb attack on the home of the publisher of a controversial novel about the Prophet Mohammed. Martin Rynja, 44, whose Gibson Square publishing house will release The Jewel of Medina by American author Sherry Jones, in the UK was unhurt, but is under police protection.

Click here for highlights of the interview: