The Jewel of Medina
This article needs to be updated.(January 2010) |
OCLC 191922573 | |
The Jewel of Medina is a
Although the novel was originally scheduled for release in 2008, the publication run was canceled by Random House due to concerns about possibly inflammatory content. Domestic and international publication rights were subsequently picked up by other publishing houses.[3][2][4]
Cancellation
Random House signed Sherry Jones to a two-book contract in 2007, offering her an advance of one hundred thousand dollars,
Prior to publication, the Random House
Controversy
The Washington Post,[8] Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,[9] and Las Vegas Review-Journal[10] printed editorials critical of the cancellation. Irshad Manji wrote in The Globe and Mail that preemptive censorship was offensive to Muslims.[11] Adam Kirsch criticized Spellberg and Random House for depriving Muslims of the freedom to reimagine their religious tradition through the eyes of a novelist.[12] Carlin Romano argued that Spellberg's "aggressive act" was tantamount to advocacy of censorship.[13] Spellberg said that she did "not espouse censorship of any kind" and that she had "used [her] scholarly expertise to assess the novel...."[14][15]
Publication
The Jewel of Medina was published in Serbia in August 2008. After strong reactions from the Serbian Muslim community, Serbian publisher Beobook withdrew it from stores[21] but returned it to shelves shortly thereafter to forestall widespread piracy.[22] It remained the number-one bestseller in that nation for at least two months.[23]
On September 4, 2008, British publishing house Gibson Square announced that it would publish The Jewel of Medina in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth,
The following day,
On September 27, 2008, Rynja's
As of 2009, the book had been published in Germany, Denmark, Serbia, Italy, Spain,[23] India,[30] Hungary, Brazil, Russia, North Macedonia, Finland, Poland, Sweden, and the Netherlands.[3][15][22][31]
Reviews
Marwa Elnaggar criticized the book's portrayal of pre-Islamic Arabic culture, suggesting that Jones was influenced by "the idea of the exotic and mystical Orient."[32][33][34] Ethar El-Katatney critiqued the book as "flawed."[35][36][37][38]
Farzana Versey dismissed the writing as "chick lit . . . rather treacly."[39] The New York Times Book Review scathingly described Jones as "an inexperienced, untalented author" of "lamentable" prose.[40]
Anjem Choudary and Omar Bakri Muhammad condemned the novel as "blasphemous" and Jones as "an enemy of Islam," denouncing the story as "yet another chapter in the continuing war against Islam and Muslims."[41] Jones retorted that she was offering "the hand of peace with a book that is respectful" and urged Muslims to read the book and judge it for themselves.[citation needed]
Sequel
A sequel entitled A'isha: The Legacy of the Prophet internationally and The Sword of Medina domestically was published in October 2009.[42]
See also
- Aisha
- Pre-Islamic Arabia, the historical context of the novel
- The Cartoons that Shook the World, a similar case of pre-publication censorship
- Religious censorship
References
- ^ Jan Goodwin, Price of Honour: Muslim Women Lift the Veil of Silence on the Islamic World. London: Little, Brown Book Group, 1994
- ^ a b c d "Muhammad novel set for UK release". BBC News. 4 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
- ^ a b c d "Publisher of O.J. book to handle Muhammad novel". The New York Times. Associated Press. 5 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-08. [dead link]
- ISBN 978-0825305184.
- ^ a b Nomani, Asra Q. (2008-08-06). "You Still Can't Write About Mohammad". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
- ^ a b c Jones, Sherry (30 December 2009). "Censoring "The Jewel Of Medina"". The Washington Post. "Islam's Advance: PostGlobal" blog. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
- ^ "Book on Prophet Muhammad's wife dropped". Press Trust of India. NDTV. 7 August 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
- ^ Random Error, Editorial, Washington Post, August 22, 2008
- ^ Censorship never goes out of style by Bob Hoover, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 31, 2008.
- ^ Islamic intimidation trumps liberty again, Editorial, Las Vegas Review-Journal, August 25, 2008.
- ^ Pre-emptive Censorship is Offensive to Muslims by Irshad Manji, The Globe and Mail, August 22, 2008.
- ^ Freedom's Gift to Religion by Adam Kirsch, The New York Sun, August 26, 2008
- ^ 'The Jewel of Medina': Anatomy of a Ruckus by Carlin Romano, The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 19, 2008.
- ^ Spellberg, Denise (2008-08-09). "I Didn't Kill 'The Jewel of Medina'". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company. Retrieved 2019-09-14.
- ^ a b Nawotka, Edward (13 August 2008). "UT professor's complaints lead to cancellation of book about Muhammad's wife". Austin American-Statesman. http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/5495 alternate archive. Archived from the original on August 16, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
- ^ Bone, James (16 August 2008). "Salman Rushdie attacks 'censorship by fear' over The Jewel of Medina". The Times. London. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
- ^ a b Flood, Alison (12 August 2008). "Call for compensation after shelving of Islam novel". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
- ^ Poser, Bill (25 August 2008). "Rushdie 1, Fish 0". Language Log. Retrieved 2008-08-27.
- ^ Fish, Stanley (24 August 2008). "Crying Censorship". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 August 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
- ^ Honan, Edith (7 August 2008). "Random House pulls novel on Islam, fears violence". Reuters. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
- ^ "Book "offending Muslims" withdrawn". B92. 17 August 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-09-17. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
- ^ a b ""Islam offending" book back on shelves". B92. 15 September 2008. Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2008-09-15.
- ^ a b c Sherry Jones, Real Clear Politics (31 December 2008)
- ^ "Once Feared Historical Novel Finds Home in Britain". Gibson House website. 8 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
- Alvaro Vargas Llosa (10 September 2008). "The Freedom To Publish". The New Republic. Archived from the originalon October 6, 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ^ "Beaufort Books Secures Deal to Publish Once Feared Historical Novel The Jewel of Medina" (Press release). Beaufort Books. 8 September 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
- ^ Jamie Doward and Mark Townsend (28 September 2008). "Firebomb attack on book publisher". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
- ^ Adam Fresco, "Radical Muslims guilty of firebomb plot on publisher of Prophet Mohammed book", The Times, 15 May 2009.
- ^ John Bingham (28 September 2008). "Radical Islamic clerics warn of further attacks after publisher is firebombed". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
- ^ "Controversial book on child bride of Prophet released".
- ^ Lyall, Sarah (2008-09-28). "Attack May Be Tied to Book About Muhammad". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
- ^ Elnaggar, Marwa. "When Sherry Jones Writes About 'A'ishah". IslamOnline. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
- ^ "When Sherry Jones Speaks Out - IslamOnline.net - Art & Culture". Archived from the original on October 10, 2008. Retrieved October 14, 2008.
- ^ "A Second Look at Jewel of Medina - IslamOnline.net - Art & Culture". Archived from the original on February 18, 2011. Retrieved October 14, 2008.
- ^ "The "Flawed" Jewel of Medina". Muslimahmediawatch.org. 2008-10-07. Retrieved 2013-10-12.
- ^ El-Katatney, Ethar (October 2008). "Flawed Jewel". Egypt Today. Archived from the original on 2008-10-09. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
- ^ Jones, Sherry. "Sherry Jones (by Ethar El-Katatney)" (MP3) (Telephone interview). Interviewed by Ethar El-Katatney. Retrieved 2008-10-07.[dead link]
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). muslimahmediawatch.files.wordpress.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 May 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Versey, Farzana (Summer 2008). "Who Says You Can't Write about Muhammad? How Liberal Fiction Dictators Play with History". State of Nature. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
- ^ Adams, Lorraine (2008-12-14). "Thinly Veiled". The New York Times.
- ^ "The Jewel of Medina". Islam for the UK. 2 October 2008. Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
- ISBN 978-0825305207.
External links
- Official website
- Prologue From the Novel 'The Jewel of Medina' at Fox News(August 19, 2008)
- Discussion with Anita Diamant and Rebecca Kanner at the Wayback Machine (archived 25 April 2016)