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Three men have been jailed for an arson attack at the home of a publisher days before his novel about the Prophet Mohammed was due to be published. Martin Rynja's home in Lonsdale Square, Islington, north London, was targeted on 27 September last year. Abbas Taj, 30, Ali Beheshti, 41, and Abrar Mirza, 23, from east London, were each jailed for four-and-a-half years. They were convicted of conspiracy to commit arson, being reckless as to whether life was endangered. The attack took place as the Jewel of Medina, a novel about the Prophet's child bride A'isha, was to be published...

Appraising 'The Jewel of Medina' “The Jewel of Medina,” a controversial work of historical fiction by American author Sherry Jones, was supposed to have gone on sale Oct. 15 in the United Kingdom. A series of events, however, have delayed its British release indefinitely. The book, which went on sale in the United States on Oct. 6, describes the life of Aisha, the young girl who became the Prophet Mohammed’s third — and according to many sources, favorite — wife. Some Muslims have labeled the book blasphemous and have branded the author an enemy of Islam. An associate professor of...

Three men have been charged with plotting to attack the publisher of a controversial novel dealing with the Prophet Muhammad, British police said Thursday. The three - salesman Abrar Mizra, 22; cab driver Abbas Taj, 30; and Ali Beheshti, 40 - were arrested Saturday near the north London home and office of Martin Rynja, who plans to publish "The Jewel of Medina," police said. They were arrested after a fire broke out at Rynja's building, but police have refused to disclose any details. The men were charged with plotting to endanger life and damage property. Beheshti was also charged with...

Spokane, Wash. (AP) -- Sherry Jones knew it would be hard to get her first novel published. Getting "The Jewel of Medina" into bookstores was even harder. After overcoming the formidable hurdles any new author faces, Jones was overjoyed to sell the book to Random House. Then Random House canceled its publication at the last minute for fear the historical novel about Aisha, child bride of the prophet Muhammad, would incite riots in the Muslim world.

To be published next month, “The Jewel of Medina” may enrage conservatives and liberals alikeBy David Paulin Random House's cancellation of “The Jewel of Medina” ignited a furor last month – all when a Op-Ed article in the Wall Street Journal revealed why the historical novel was pulled by cowed publishing executives. They feared it might push Muslim fanatics into a murderous frenzy, similar to what occurred during Europe's infamous “Cartoon Riots,” and after publication ten years ago of Salman Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses." The episode provided a “window into how quickly fear stunts intelligent discourse about the Muslim...

Gibson Square, known for having sold other controversial books, such as Alexander Litvinenko's "Blowing Up Russia", said it was "imperative" that "The Jewel of Medina" by American author Sherry Jones be available to the public. Random House Publishing Group, which is owned by German media company Bertelsmann AG, has admitted pulling the novel about Mohammed and his wife Aisha. The book was supposed to have been published last month, but the company said at the time that "credible and unrelated sources" had warned that the book "could incite acts of violence." Washington-based Ms Jones criticised the initial decision not to...

Publisher Random House has pulled a novel about the Prophet Mohammad's child bride, fearing it could "incite acts of violence." "The Jewel of Medina," a debut novel by journalist Sherry Jones, 46, was due to be published on August 12 by Random House, a unit of Bertelsmann AG, and an eight-city publicity tour had been scheduled, Jones told Reuters on Thursday. The novel traces the life of A'isha from her engagement to Mohammad, when she was six, until the prophet's death. Jones said that she was shocked to learn in May, that publication would be postponed indefinitely. "I have deliberately...

A US publisher has cancelled the publication of a novel about the youngest wife of the Muslim prophet Mohammed amid a growing controversy over the book. The Jewel of Medina, a debut novel by journalist Sherry Jones about Mohammed's child bride A'isha had been due for release in the US last week. But publisher Random House released her from the contract amid the controversy and her agent said Jones was now looking for a publisher in another country to pick up the rights. "Random House made the decision to cancel its US publication of the novel The Jewel of Medina...

A US publisher has cancelled the publication of a novel about the youngest wife of the Muslim prophet Mohammed amid a growing controversy over the book. "The Jewel of Medina," a debut novel by journalist Sherry Jones about Mohammed's child bride A'isha had been due for release in the United States last week. But publisher Random House released her from the contract amid the controversy and her agent said Jones is now looking for a publisher in another country to pick up the rights. "Random House made the decision to cancel its US publication of the novel 'The Jewel of...

The war on free speech by Islamic fanatics has claimed another victim. This time they did it without killing anyone, staging a riot or even issuing a threat. Fear alone turned out to be enough for Random House to drop plans to publish a novel about a wife of the prophet Muhammad. Probably the only surprising thing about this story was that Random House had, in the first place, signed on to the idea of publishing The Jewel of Medina by journalist Sherry Jones. The deal was inked last year even though the world already had witnessed the murder of...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Publisher Random House has pulled a novel about the Prophet Mohammed's child bride, fearing it could "incite acts of violence." "The Jewel of Medina," a debut novel by journalist Sherry Jones, 46, was due to be published on August 12 by Random House, a unit of Bertelsmann, and an eight-city publicity tour had been scheduled, Jones told Reuters . The novel traces the life of A'isha from her engagement to Mohammed, when she was six, until the prophet's death. Jones said that she was shocked to learn in May, that publication would be postponed indefinitely. "I...

Prophet Muhammad novel scrapped Plans to release a novel about Prophet Muhammad's child bride A'isha have been scrapped by US publishers Random House over fears it could spark violence. The Jewel of Medina, the debut novel by journalist Sherry Jones, was due to hit shelves on 12 August. Random House said it had been advised the book "might be offensive" to some Muslims, and "could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment." "We decided, after much deliberation, to postpone publication," it added. The decision was taken "for the safety of the author, employees of Random House, booksellers and...

My first post. The Jewel of Medina, a debut historical novel by Sherry Jones, a journalist who spent years studying Arab history, focuses on the life of A'isha, one of the prophet's wives to whome he is said to have become engaged when she was six. It was due for release next week, but in May was pulled after the publisher was told the book could be seen as "offensive to some in the Muslim community". The Wall Street Journal reported that Denise Spellberg, associate professor of Islamic history at the University of Texas, who saw proofs of the book,...

...the company has decided not to publish Sherry Jones’ historical novel “The Jewel of Medina” about Mohammed’s child bride Aisha. The book was part of a $100,000 two-book contract with the author. Shame on Random House! This act of abject cowardice and de facto censorship is one of the most disgraceful incidents I can think of in the history of American publishing. As Asra Q. Nomani writes in the WSJ: Random House feared the book would become a new “Satanic Verses,” the Salman Rushdie novel of 1988 that led to death threats, riots and the murder of the book’s Japanese...

According to an article in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, Random House has reneged on an agreement to publish a novel about Aisha, Muhammad’s young wife. The Jewel of Medina, written by Sherry Jones, allegedly has some racy material, enough to provoke one of the writers who vetted the book, Denise Spellberg, to warn the publisher that it could inspire violence. Random House decided not to publish the book for “fear of a possible terrorist threat from extremist Muslims” and concern for “the safety and security of the Random House building and employees.” Addressing this today is Catholic League president Bill...