On Aug. 1, we lost another great battle in our war against Islamofascism, and the defeat went by almost without notice. On Aug. 1, the book publisher, Random House, announced that it had reversed its decision to publish a historical novel about the child bride of Muhammad because the company feared the book “could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment.”
The cancellation came after review copies of the novel had already been sent out, and it was about to be sent to bookstores. The 432-page novel, The Jewel of Medina, was described by Random House as “a fascinating portrait of A’isha, child bride of the prophet Muhammad, who overcame great obstacles to reach her full potential as a woman and a leader.”
Random House came up with a lame excuse after receiving unsolicited advice not to publish and after consulting with experts. A Random House spokesman said, “We thought it was not a good time, with tensions running as high as they do, to publish this.” The censorship came about because an American academic, Denise Spellberg, associate professor of Islamic history at the University of Texas, was sent an advance copy and strongly objected to this fictionalized account of A’isha’s life. Ms. Spellberg alerted the editor of a popular Islamic Web site, who sent e-mails out saying that Ms. Spellberg found the book “incredibly offensive.” And that protest made it to Random House. (Our academic institutions, which should be in the forefront of free speech, are now in the forefront of political correctness that destroys free speech.)
