Sherry Jones promised a work of “extensively researched historical fiction”. Whilst capturing the “fictional” dimension perfectly, the end result wreaks of an orientalist mindset, viewing Islamic culture and values through the prism of narrow western eyes. Her treatment of the Mother of the Believers, Aisha (RadiAllahu anha) has far more in common with a Jane Austen novel than a serious historical account. The style of her novel, choice of protagonist, as well as her subsequent statements, all suffer from a mistaken belief that the ‘’real’ Aisha (RadiAllahu anha) needs to emancipated from the shackles of a male dominated recording of history.
The Muslim response has differed greatly. Some disagreed with the content of the novel but argued, in a manner Voltaire would be proud of, to allow for the freedom to offend. Others countered, freedom of expression is a ‘fanciful idea’, that it is applied selectively rather than adhered to as the ‘sacred cow’ we are often led to believe. There is confusion regarding how Muslims should respond to this insult on Rasool Allah (salAllahu alaihi wasallam), his family and companions. How do Muslims walk the middle path between the expectation that the controversy will blow over if we remain silent and the want in some quarters to respond to this provocation by violent action that will undoubtedly be used as a further example that Muslims have no response besides a violent one. Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain has provided a more than adequate response to this concern.
The choice of response I have opted for, reflects the mix of articles I have come across that have addressed the ‘substance’ of Jones’ novel as well as anecdotal evidence surrounding the wider subject amongst Muslims. There seems to be a shying away from what are perceived as sensitive and controversial areas of Islam that we Muslims may lack confidence in addressing. This is not necessarily a discussion that would or should figure in discussions with non-Muslims, but it plays an important part in maintaining confidence in Islam as it impacts upon such crucial creedal matters as nabuwwah (prophethood) and wahi (divine revelation) amongst other things.
I have therefore chosen to address the following areas:
- The Ifk (slander/lie) against Aisha (radiAllahu anha). The incident which the book’s prologue introduces, albeit with a number of misrepresentations as well as clear untruths.
- The marriage of Aisha (RadiAllahu anha), described in the ensuing media circus around the novel as his (salAllahu alaihiwasallam’s) ‘child bride’.
Jones through ‘The Jewel of Medina’ steers a dangerous course. On the one hand the book claims to be ‘extensively researched and elegantly crafted’[i], but on the other hand the copyright section of the book points out,
The Jewel of Medina is a work of fiction. All characters, with the exception of well-known historical figures herein, and all dialogue, are products of the author’s imagination.
Despite these claims, it is necessary to separate the fictional accounts in Jones’ novel from the first hand accounts of the key incidents which seem to act as a backdrop to the story Jones wants to tell.
The author focuses on an imagined belief that Aisha (RadiAllahu anha) was struggling for her own freedom, whilst others decided her fate, in particular marriage.
In response, Jones explains,
“there’s a certain amount of projection that goes on when you’re writing fiction.” She argues, despite this, “Given Aisha’s strength of character I think it’s conceivable that she could have felt this way.”
Justifying making things up by claiming ‘she could have felt this way’ sweeps aside the narrations of Aisha (radiAllahu anha) herself, in favour of supposition.
Hadith al-Ifk
In the prologue to the book, Aisha (RadiAllahu anha) rides into Medina clutching Safwan al Mu’attal’s waist.[iii] The book is premised on the false claim that Aisha (RadiAllahu anha) and Safwan (RadiAllahu anhu) were childhood sweethearts, destined to marry.
Denise Spellberg, an associate professor of history and Middle Eastern studies at the University of Texas at Austin said about the insinuation of a relationship between Aisha (radiAllahu anha) and Safwan(RadiAllahu anhu),
Scenes throughout the book involve Safwan flirting with Aisha, hugging her, and kissing her. “The stuff of tawdry, lurid romance novels, not Islamic history,”
In the prologue, Jones, writing in the voice of Aisha (radiAllahu anha) says,
How close I’d come to betraying him with that trickster! Safwan had lured me with freedom, then tied my destiny to his desires. No different than any other man.
Jones suffers from a desire to re-write history in order to make the story more juicy. In response to the criticism of her plot claim that Aisha (RadiAllahu anha) was planning to run off with Safwan (RadiAllahu anhu), she responds,
So I used her relationship with Safwan as a metaphor. I gave her a situation where she was tempted and she overcame it. And as we all do when are able to overcome temptation, she became a wiser and more mature and more spiritually aware person.”
It would have been far better had she made up the story and not defamed individuals Muslims love more than their own parents, wives and children. But then again, that book would not have caused the controversy and the resulting book sales.
Ummul Mu’mineen, Aisha (radiAllahu anha) describes the backdrop surrounding the slanderous false accusations levelled against her by the hypocrites.
Aisha (radiAllahu anha) says,
Whenever Allah’s Messenger intended to go on a journey, he used to draw lots among his wives and would take with him the one on whom the lot had fallen. Once he drew lots when he wanted to carry out a Ghazwa (expedition), and the lot came upon me. So I proceeded with Allah’s Messenger after Allah’s order of veiling (the women) had been revealed and thus I was carried in my howdah (on a camel) and dismounted while still in it. We carried on our journey, and when Allah’s Messenger had finished his Ghazwa and returned and we approached Medina, Allah’s Apostle ordered to proceed at night. When the army was ordered to resume the homeward journey, I got up and walked on till I left the army (camp) behind. When I had answered the call of nature, I went towards my howdah, but behold ! A necklace of mine made of Jaz Azfar (a kind of black bead) was broken and I looked for it and my search for it detained me. The group of people who used to carry me, came and carried my howdah on to the back of my camel on which I was riding, considering that I was therein. At that time women were light in weight and were not fleshy for they used to eat little (food), so those people did not feel the lightness of the howdah while raising it up, and I was still a young lady. They drove away the camel and proceeded. Then I found my necklace after the army had gone. I came to their camp but found nobody therein so I went to the place where I used to stay, thinking that they would miss me and come back in my search. While I was sitting at my place, I felt sleepy and slept.
In Jones’ made up version of events, Aisha (RadiAllahu anha) used the loss of her necklace to remain behind purposefully so she could execute her plan of running away with Safwan (RadiAllahu anhu). Jones utilises this interaction to feed further plot twists into her story, by claiming Aisha (RadiAllahu anha) and Safwan (RadiAllahu anhu) grew up together and were destined to be married, she veers into a true Hollywood style tale of temptation and subsequent redemption.
Aisha (RadiAllahu anha) continues to explain what happened free of Hollywood gloss,
Safwan bin Al-Mu’attil As-Sulami Adh-Dhakw-ani was behind the army. He had started in the last part of the night and reached my stationing place in the morning and saw the figure of a sleeping person. He came to me and recognized me on seeing me for he used to see me before veiling. I got up because of his saying: “Inna Lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun,” which he uttered on recognizing me. I covered my face with my garment, and by Allah, he did not say to me a single word except, “Inna Lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun,” till he made his she-camel kneel down whereupon he trod on its forelegs and I mounted it. Then Safwan set out, leading the she-camel that was carrying me, till we met the army while they were resting during the hot midday.
In subsequent interviews, Jones is adamant Aisha (RadiAllahu anha) may have fallen prey to temptation, but that’s ok, because she fought it and it made her stronger,
And so, ok, we don’t really know what happened in the desert with Safwan. People had accused her of adultery. She claims she didn’t commit adultery. God revealed to Muhammad that there was no adultery. But we don’t know if she was tempted. I thought this could be a good way to demonstrate that perhaps this is one way that Aisha became a woman. This is her coming of age tale. By being tempted and resisting, we all become stronger individuals.
It is inconceivable that Jones believes in the minutest possibility that her version of events has a semblance of truth to it, she had a very clear objective when drafting and re-writing her book and what really happened figured low in her priorities over the story she wanted to tell.
Aisha (RadiAllahu anha) continues,
Then whoever was meant for destruction, fell in destruction, and the leader of the Ifk (forged statement) was ‘Abdullah bin Ubai bin Salul. After this we arrived at Medina and I became ill for one month while the people were spreading the forged statements of the people of the Ifk, and I was not aware of anything thereof. But what aroused my doubt while I was sick, was that I was no longer receiving from Allah’s Messenger the same kindness as I used to receive when I fell sick. Allah’s Messenger would enter upon me, say a greeting and add, “How is that (lady)?” and then depart.
That aroused my suspicion but I was not aware of the propagated evil till I recovered from my ailment. I went out with Um Mistah to answer the call of nature towards Al-Manasi, the place where we used to relieve ourselves, and used not to go out for this purpose except from night to night, and that was before we had lavatories close to our houses. And this habit of ours was similar to the habit of the old ‘Arabs (in the deserts or in the tents) concerning the evacuation of the bowels, for we considered it troublesome and harmful to take lavatories in the houses. So I went out with Um Mistah who was the daughter of Abi Ruhm bin Abd Manaf, and her mother was daughter of Sakhr bin Amir who was the aunt of Abi Bakr As-Siddiq, and her son was Mistah bin Uthatha. When we had finished our affair, Um Mistah and I came back towards my house. Um Mistah stumbled over her robe whereupon she said, “Let Mistah be ruined ! ” I said to her, “What a bad word you have said! Do you abuse a man who has taken part in the Battle of Badr?’ She said, “O you there! Didn’t you hear what he has said?” I said, “And what did he say?” She then told me the statement of the people of the Ifk (forged statement) which added to my ailment. When I returned home, Allah’s Messenger came to me, and after greeting, he said, “How is that (lady)?” I said, “Will you allow me to go to my parents?” At that time I intended to be sure of the news through them. Allah’s Messenger allowed me and I went to my parents and asked my mother, “O my mother! What are the people talking about?” My mother said, “O my daughter! Take it easy, for by Allah, there is no charming lady who is loved by her husband who has other wives as well, but that those wives would find fault with her.” I said, “Subhan Allah! Did the people really talk about that?”
The hypocrites conveyed a lie about the mother of the believers, in order to create mischief, some Muslims chose to relate the slanderous accusations as though they had a semblance of truth. Then ironically, 1400 years later, Sherry Jones insinuates to the reader, there may be some truth to the claim that Aisha (RadiAllahu anha) was tempted. And this is her treatment of someone in Islamic history she admires! She is no better than Abdullah ibn Ubay ibn Salul, the chief of the hypocrites and the originator of the slander.
Aisha (RadiAllahu anha) relates her reaction to the false claims,
That night I kept on weeping the whole night till the morning. My tears never stopped, nor did I sleep, and morning broke while I was still weeping, Allah’s Messenger called ‘Ali bin Abi Talib and Usama bin Zaid when the Divine Inspiration delayed, in order to consult them as to the idea of divorcing his wife. Usama bin Zaid told Allah’s Apostle of what he knew about the innocence of his wife and of his affection he kept for her. He said, “O Allah’s Messenger! She is your wife, and we do not know anything about her except good.” But ‘Ali bin Abi Talib said, “O Allah’s Messenger! Allah does not impose restrictions on you; and there are plenty of women other than her. If you however, ask (her) slave girl, she will tell you the truth.” ‘Aisha added: So Allah’s Apostle called for Barira and said, “O Barira! Did you ever see anything which might have aroused your suspicion? (as regards Aisha). Barira said, “By Allah Who has sent you with the truth, I have never seen anything regarding Aisha which I would blame her for except that she is a girl of immature age who sometimes sleeps and leaves the dough of her family unprotected so that the domestic goats come and eat it.” So Allah’s Messenger got up (and addressed) the people and asked for somebody who would take revenge on ‘Abdullah bin Ubai bin Salul then.
On that day I kept on weeping so much that neither did my tears stop, nor could I sleep. In the morning my parents were with me, and I had wept for two nights and a day without sleeping and with incessant tears till they thought that my liver would burst with weeping. While they were with me and I was weeping, an Ansari woman asked permission to see me. I admitted her and she sat and started weeping with me. While I was in that state, Allah’s Messenger came to us, greeted, and sat down,. He had never sat with me since the day what was said, was said. He had stayed a month without receiving any Divine Inspiration concerning my case. Allah’s Messenger recited the Tashahhud after he had sat down, and then said, “Thereafter, O ‘Aisha! I have been informed such and-such a thing about you; and if you are innocent, Allah will reveal your innocence, and if you have committed a sin, then ask for Allah’s forgiveness and repent to Him, for when a slave confesses his sin and then repents to Allah, Allah accepts his repentance.” When Allah’s Apostle had finished his speech, my tears ceased completely so that I no longer felt even a drop thereof. Then I said to my father, “Reply to Allah’s Messenger on my behalf as to what he said.” He said, “By Allah, I do not know what to say to Allah’s Messenger.” Then I said to my mother, “Reply to Allah’s Apostle.”
She said, “I do not know what to say to Allah’s Messenger.” Still a young girl as I was and though I had little knowledge of Quran, I said, “By Allah, I know that you heard this story (of the Ifk) so much so that it has been planted in your minds and you have believed it. So now, if I tell you that I am innocent, and Allah knows that I am innocent, you will not believe me; and if I confess something, and Allah knows that I am innocent of it, you will believe me. By Allah, I cannot find of you an example except that of Joseph’s father:
“So (for me) patience is most fitting against that which you assert and it is Allah (Alone) Whose help can be sought”.
Then I turned away and lay on my bed, and at that time I knew that I was innocent and that Allah would reveal my innocence. But by Allah, I never thought that Allah would sent down about my affair, Divine Inspiration that would be recited (forever), as I considered myself too unworthy to be talked of by Allah with something that was to be recited: but I hoped that Allah’s Messenger might have a vision in which Allah would prove my innocence.
By Allah, Allah’s Messenger had not left his seat and nobody had left the house when the Divine Inspiration came to Allah’s Messenger. So there overtook him the same hard condition, which used to overtake him (when he was Divinely Inspired) so that the drops of his sweat were running down, like pearls, though it was a (cold) winter day, and that was because of the heaviness of the statement which was revealed to him. When that state of Allah’s Messenger was over, and he was smiling when he was relieved, the first word he said was, “Aisha, Allah has declared your innocence.” My mother said to me, “Get up and go to him.” I said, “By Allah, I will not go to him and I will not thank anybody but Allah.” So Allah revealed:
“Verily! They who spread the Slander are a gang among you.” (24.11-20).
When Allah revealed this to confirm my innocence, Abu Bakr As-Siddiq who used to provide for Mistah bin Uthatha because of the latter’s kinship to him and his poverty, said, “By Allah, I will never provide for Mistah anything after what he has said about Aisha”. So Allah revealed:
“Let not those among you who are good and are wealthy swear not to give (help) to their kinsmen, those in need, and those who have left their homes for Allah’s Cause. Let them Pardon and forgive (i.e. do not punish them). Do you not love that should forgive you? Verily Allah is Oft-forgiving. Most Merciful.” (24.22)
Abu Bakr said, “Yes, by Allah, I wish that Allah should forgive me.” So he resumed giving Mistah the aid he used to give him before and said, “By Allah, I will never withold it from him at all.”
And Allah subhanahu wa ta’aala posed a question to the believers in relation to the response of the hypocrites,
And why did ye not, when ye heard it, say? – “It is not right of us to speak of this: Glory to Allah! this is a most serious slander!” [Surah an-Nur: 16)
Surely this should be our response to Jones’ attack, which is wrapped in the garbs of establishing a bridge of understanding between people. Her work is a most serious slander.
In this day and age where gossip is more exciting than news, where reality television is preferred over reality, where newspapers infer guilt or innocence, tales of sexual misdemeanour and indiscretions, Sherry Jones enters the fray and slanders and defames the mother of the believers in a manner that trivialises who she was and how dear she is to the Muslims. For Muslims, Allah has freed Aisha (RadiAllahu anha) of the inferences of both the leaders and conveyors of the Ifk and the present day purveyors of defamatory lies.
Part two will bi iznillah respond to the false claims regarding the marriage of Aisha RadiAllahu anha and the slanderous accusations regarding the Messenger’s marriages
Yusuf Patel
October 11, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Jzk. May Allah (swt) reward you. Look forward to reading part two…
ws
October 16, 2008 at 5:46 pm
May Allah reward you with light in the darkness of Qiyamah and May Allah grant you high position amongst the believers.
Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu
October 17, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Nay, we hurl the truth against falsehood and it crashes into it, and lo! it vanishes! Al-Qur’an.
Jazakallahu khairan!
October 20, 2008 at 2:42 am
as-salaamu ‘alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuhu!
Your very helpful counsel regarding “Jewel of Medina” also includes necessary insights regarding the writer, Sherry Jones, who indeed has been “viewing Islamic culture and values through the prism of narrow western eyes,” with a “mistaken belief that the ‘real’ Aisha (RadiAllahu anha) needs to emancipated from the shackles of a male dominated recording of history.” Her depictions of Rasulullah sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, ‘A’ishah radi ALLAHU anha, and ‘Ali radi ALLAHU anhu, “are products of the author’s imagination” which has been shaped her entire life by America’s jahiliyyah ~ which appears to be a deeper ignorance even than that of Makkah and Madinah prior to the sending down of Islam.
We need to look with mercy, not scorn, on those afflicted by such an imagination, trapped but for ALLAH’s Mercy in America’s jahiliyyah. To each other, and to all except the most dedicated enemies of humanity, those who knowingly deny and deliberately falsify Islam, we should be saying “May ALLAH have Mercy on you,” as we want for ourselves, because that is what we have been shown.
I have spoken with Sherry Jones and, insha’ALLAH, expect to speak with her again, in suitable company, at some length. I find her sincere in her desire to “build bridges” for Americans to Islam and muslims. Her daughter Mariah, fourteen years old, also testifies to this. What distinguishes Sherry Jones from most Americans ignorant of Islam is her realization that ALLAH’s Mercy to humanity has been grossly falsified, particularly as it emancipates, honors, and empowers women. This is what she seeks to overcome by making her novel, with its fictionalized characters, one with which American women can identify.
She may have done this, and if she has, I believe her reward with ALLAH will surpass all I have done in forty years to convey Islam to Americans, and her faults will be forgiven.
Sherry Jones was completely oblivious to our completely predictable reactions to her fictionalizations of those we love more than life itself. Along with most Americans “viewing Islamic culture and values through the prism of narrow western eyes,” she anticipated only the “rabid, unjustifiable hatred of all things Western” emphasized and often manufactured by America’s media. “It grieves my heart to hear of extremists calling for violence against me when I have written a book from the heart, with only love and respect for A’shah, Muhammad, and Islam,” she wrote in a personal eMail, and her personal amazement at having been brought only that far out of her complete, life-long immersion in America’s jahiliyyah is manifestly apparent.
The novel and its imagery fit neatly into that darkened American fantasy that Americans imagine to be Islam. It could most accurately be characterized as “an Arabian Nights romantic adventure novel, filled with imaginary people bearing well-known muslim names and recognizably American characters, that also shows American readers a genuine liberation and empowerment of women that Islam actually established.” Americans have been attracted to dark fantasy, and “Jewel of Medina” is one in which they can become immersed. The result in many cases will be that a fantasy will have debunked the deliberate falsification of Islam as “a hell for women” in a way that reaches the hardened hearts of deceived Americans.
There is a difference between those who falsify Islam to hide it from others and deny it, and those who falsify Islam in ignorance. Abu Bakr radi ALLAHU anhu condemned his kinsman for repeating the slander, and ALLAH ta’ala corrected Abu Bakr, who pardoned and forgave. The fantasies of “Jewel of Medina” are known to be fictions before a reader even opens the book. It’s hardly the same thing that Abu Bakr forgave, it’s not even close to it. It’s Hollywood’s “Islam” except it’s subtly different: a world in which women are respected and influential, not kept in various conditions of slavery relieved only by resort to sexual wiles, as women still are in America.
Muslims who spend time in America’s imaginations will find little of ALLAH’s Mercy there, but an abundance of darkness covered by darkness. We do not need to make it darker for them when we have the light of ALLAH’s Mercy.
Sherry Jones lights a candle in a cave filled with cobwebs. Others are making her a target of animosity in order to provoke and denigrate muslims. Muslims who follow them down that path can only obscure that candle.
was-salaam,
abujamal
October 23, 2008 at 11:17 am
Wa alaikum salaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,
May Allah reward you for your comment.
My personal thoughts put across on my blog does not seek to look into the heart of Sherry Jones, but the end product that has stoked up such controversy – her book. My address to Muslims is a call to sift fact from fiction. Seeking refuge in the label ‘fiction’, does not excuse the way she has marketed her book. The fact she has tried to imagine what A’isha (radiAllahu anha) would have done based upon, what it seems, an American teenager would say or do in a similar situation – may offer something new to a non-Muslim reader – but is insulting to Muslims. I have read at length her many interviews, and although she has sought to mollify Muslims with an explanation of her intention, what matters is what has been published in America and likely to be published in the UK, where I am from, at the end of this month.
I do appreciate where you are coming from, but you seem to be saying because of her environment, she should be excused from writing something she perceives to be a good contribution. She lives at a time where knowledge is available at a touch of a mouse, if she is claiming to write a book of fiction based on history, I would have expected her to read more than she did before inflicting this book on us. Ignorance cannot cut it as an excuse here.
Abu Bakr Siddiq (radiAllahu anhu) was rebuked by Allah because he witheld money from his family member, the spreading of the slander of Mistah was not forgiven, and Allah rebuked the Muslims who spread the slander, some of whom were lashed as punishment.
Nothing would please me more than for Islam to penetrate the hearts of the entire world, but that is different from the clear offence of this book.
If we cannot speak out against the smallest of the munkaraat (evils), we will settle for proportional evils in time to be accepted as well, and that is the beginning of the end of our hatred of evil.
JazakAllahu khairan brother
Do keep in touch
Wassalam
Yusuf
October 24, 2008 at 8:47 am
as-salaamu ‘alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuhu!
Jazakullah khayr!
I’ve read a little more than half of the book, and as expected, I’m both dismayed and elated.
Dismayed because most of Jones’ fictional characters show little of the gracious manners and mutual affection we know of the faithful even in our times, and much of the cultural background of the novel reflects the jahiliyyah that Islam displaced. I am not surprised, because Sherry Jones has not had much of an opportunity ~ if she has had any at all ~ to know muslims established on Guidance, or to experience or witness the love that brings together the hearts of those who love ALLAH and His Messenger sallallahu ‘alaihi wa salaam and the faithful.
Elated because the novel does show the nascent muslim ummah under attack, defending against unwarranted and bitter aggression; the treachery of the munafiqeen and the mushrikeen; the poverty and privation suffered by the faithful; and the practical political reasons behind the marriages of the prophet sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam; as well as debunking other lies and slanders told by the deniers.
Dismayed because the publishers found a gold mine of things to agitate the muslims, written by someone without a clue about how the fictions would be seen by the muslims.
Americans live in fictional universes and in their imaginations, and think nothing of it ~ they readily differentiate between fantasy and reality when it really matters to them, and fiction is a recreational escape from the miseries and despair of their lives in jahiliyyah. They cannot fathom the thinking of people who recognize fiction and falsity as an attack on the truth, or misguidance, even though they know their politicians lie to them and make false promises to get elected. Just as someone raised in a muslim family or neighborhood cannot fathom the mind of jahiliyyah, so most Americans cannot understand how deeply muslims feel about Islam and the early muslims.
But the publishers certainly knew exactly what they were doing to stir up anger and insanity among the muslims, that’s why they published the novel and why the promotion included comparing it with Rushdie’s hostile fiction.
No, I’m not saying that Sherry Jones “should be excused” for not knowing what she was doing in depicting her fictional characters in her own image. I’m saying that she should be shown what she has never had any opportunity to see, not what the publishers want to provoke with her unflattering depictions of our most beloved predecessors. Knowledge of Islam is decidedly NOT “available at the touch of a mouse,” knowledge of ritual, doctrine, opinion, contention, and history is all anyone can find on the Web. To know the Companions radi ALLAHU anhum ajma’een, it is necessary to know the faithful of today, person to person, in real circumstances. What is written must be brought to life before their eyes, by real people they can touch and see. WE, not the writings, are the invitation to ALLAH’s Message and His Messenger sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, and if we are not an invitation, then we are a barrier.
This is especially true of people like Sherry Jones, who on her own discovered in her readings something in Islam she finds not only worthwhile, but admirable. We have to see to it that the muslims she meets now are also admirable, and hostility toward her ~ instead of toward the knowing deniers and deliberate falsifiers ~ is not going to lead to that result.
The publishers and propagandists are another matter entirely. I engage the enemies of humanity and the deniers and falsifiers of Islam, ALLAH raised me to Islam from their fictionalized and falsified “society,” I see them every day. They know what they are doing with Sherry Jones and her innocent ignorance of Islam.
I can well imagine a zionist sitting at a desk rubbing his hands with glee, knowing that “Jewel of Medina” can be used to stir up a world of trouble that will make the Salman Rushdie events look mild. I can imagine his disappointment when Random House realized that publishing the book could bring physical attacks to their offices, and his delight in having that fear to use to promote the book ~ and violence ~ elsewhere. The FBI even told Sherry Jones that she had “not been targeted” ~ as if they could possibly know whether that was true. These people have Sherry Jones out in public, a walking target, oblivious to the intensity of feelings that the media have stirred up ~ and will try to stir up ~ over this book.
But the reality is that ALLAH ta’ala exonerated ‘A’isha radi ALLAHU anha of any part at all in the slander, and the mothers of the faithful were the gracious moral giants we know them to be, and the plot of the hypocrites failed. It can never be made to succeed in dividing the faithful or frustrating the establishment of Islam, it was over and done with 1400 years ago and is another undeniable evidence of ALLAH’s Favor on the faithful. The fictional “Jewel of Medina” is no threat at all, it’s only as harmful as the muslims might make it become by allowing the enemies of humanity to provoke angry reactions. It cannot change the victory of Islam over denial.
And it is the enemies of humanity, the publishers and provokers, the knowing deniers and deliberate falsifiers, who are despicable. Sherry Jones, an American raised in jahiliyya who has discovered a very little about Islam and wants to know more, is a friend of the muslims ~ of whom she knows very little.
So yes, be hard against the deniers, and compassionate toward the faithful. But definitely take a closer look and identify the real enemies, and do not convict those they have deceived all their lives about Islam ~ especially when their victims are starting to discover the truth.
There is a lot more Islam in America than the deniers, or even most of America’s muslims, can see. Sherry Jones will not have difficulty “building bridges” in person. I think she can be forgiven a small misstep: we, after all, have what she has been trying to find in the darkness of America’s jahiliyyah.
was-salaam,
abujamal