The Scorpion's Sting

From the WSJ:

Starting in 2002, Spokane, Wash., journalist Sherry Jones toiled weekends on a racy historical novel about Aisha, the young wife of the prophet Muhammad. Ms. Jones learned Arabic, studied scholarly works about Aisha's life, and came to admire her protagonist as a woman of courage. When Random House bought her novel last year in a $100,000, two-book deal, she was ecstatic. This past spring, she began plans for an eight-city book tour after the Aug. 12 publication date of "The Jewel of Medina" -- a tale of lust, love and intrigue in the prophet's harem.

It's not going to happen: In May, Random House abruptly called off publication of the book. The series of events that torpedoed this novel are a window into how quickly fear stunts intelligent discourse about the Muslim world.

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 translator, among other horrors. In an interview about Ms. Jones's novel, Thomas Perry, deputy publisher at Random House Publishing Group, said that it "disturbs us that we feel we cannot publish it right now." He said that after sending out advance copies of the novel, the company received "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."

After consulting security experts and Islam scholars, Mr. Perry said the company 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."

While this may well provide further evidence of mainstream media's poor record in standing up for free speech in the face of Muslim intolerance, there are some complications. For a start, the author of the WSJ piece is herself a Muslim, and the person who advised against publication was Denise Spellberg, an associate professor of Islamic history at the University of Texas in Austin:

In an interview, Ms. Spellberg told me the novel is a "very ugly, stupid piece of work." The novel, for example, includes a scene on the night when Muhammad consummated his marriage with Aisha: "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." Says Ms. Spellberg: "I walked through a metal detector to see 'Last Temptation of Christ,'" the controversial 1980s film adaptation of a novel that depicted a relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. "I don't have a problem with historical fiction. I do have a problem with the deliberate misinterpretation of history. You can't play with a sacred history and turn it into soft core pornography."

No Satanic Verses, then.

The principle's there, of course: fear of violence is the wrong reason for not publishing. But it's hard not to think that Random House's main mistake was to agree to publish The Jewel of Medina in the first place. Couldn't they see this coming?

Update: see Ophelia Benson at b&w.

Comments

[Dom]

I just finished the WSJ article when I saw your post. It's really the same old dilemma. If Random House does not publish because they "saw it coming", then isn't that premptive censorship -- exactly what the extemists want. All the murders, fires, and riots were meant to make sure others would "see it coming" and act accordingly.

On the other hand, I'm getting tired of it all. An American blogger stole a Catholic eucharist and drive a nail through it, then poured coffee grounds on pages torn from a Koran. "Okay" I thought, "the points been made. Let's move on."

[Noga]

Judging by the consummation scene, this novel, or whatever, is an apologia for Islam's less salutary aspects and Muslims should be delighted to have it published. After all, Aisha's age (nine) at the time of the related event is commonly used by critics of the religion of peace to suggest that its founder was a pedophile. He was fifty four when the alleged consummation took place. According to this narrative, Aisha, a child of nine, was a fully mature woman in body and mind and could speak of "the bliss I had longed for all my life." A pretty sick fantasy of the author's own mind.

[Ophelia Benson]

"An American blogger stole a Catholic eucharist and drive a nail through it"

But not just at random or out of the blue or for the hell of it - he did it in response to threats against and intimidation of a student who received a 'eucharist' at a university service (not in a church) and left with it instead of eating it.

[Dom]

Well, I have no sympathy for the student. He received exactly the response he wanted, right down to the threats and intimidation.

I'd say of the student what I said of the blogger: It's been done before.

[Sara]

I actually had Dr. Spellberg for a class at UT. I thought she was a great professor, and an extremely intelligent woman. We didn't agree on everything, but she was extremely fair and open to different perspectives. The fact that she trashed this book probably indicates that it was just that - trashy. When you submit your book to someone and ask for criticism, you should expect criticism - especially when you ask a history professor, an expert in the field. I read historical romance ebooks (like these: https://www.booksonboard.com/index.php?F=RITA) all the time, but I would never, ever ask one of my history professors for a review of them. Random House pulling this book has, I believe, less to do with Professor Spellberg's critique and more to do with fear of a backlash. As a business, they are well within their rights to do so. And the fact that this book has generated so much buzz before even becoming available is great for Sherry Jones - someone will snap this book up immediately, and everyone will want a copy. It's a win-win.

[Dom]

"The fact that she trashed this book ..."

She stirred up trouble at Muslem websites, and then warned Random House that trouble was brewing ... trouble that she started. That's not criticism.

"It's a win-win". Who does the second "win" refer to?