JEWEL  OF MADINA

Reviewed by: Affaf Azhar  (Dill Sey)

www.Affaf.ca     affafazhar@hotmail.com

The Jewel of Madina, a novel is the result of journalist Sherry Jones six years long endeavour to bring the love story of Muslim’s beloved Prophet Muhammad and His child bride, the mother of believers’s Aisha to the west. Author Sherry Jones who’s been journalist for the last 28 years encourage us all in her interview to read her book before making judgment on it. She said that “It’s her personal research journey into the life of Prophet Muhammad and that it’ll be a bridge between cultures” journalist Sherry Jones is a correspondent for BNA, an international news agency in the Washington, D.C. area, and for Women’s E News in New York. “The Jewel of Madina is her first novel.

Lorrain Adams says in her review about Jewel of Madina, published in New York Times: “For some devout Muslims, perhaps the most objectionable chapter in Salman Rushdie’s “Satanic Verses” concerned a brothel where prostitutes used the names of Muhammad’s 11 wives. For certain pious Christians, the most offensive aspect of Martin Scorsese’s “Last Tamptation of Christ” was the dream sequence of Christ’s marrying Mary Magdalene and then becoming involved with two other women. Both 1988 works ignited violence. Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran issued the fatwa that forced Rushdie into hiding and led to deadly riots, bombings of British bookstores and the fatal stabbing of the book’s Japanese translator. The most dramatic incident associated with Scorsese’s film occurred when a Paris theatre where it was playing was gutted, apparently by an arson attack, sending 13 people to the hospital. Sherry Jones, a Montana and Idaho correspondent for the Bureau of National Affairs, a specialty news service covering legislative and regulatory issues, has written a novel from the point of view of Muhammad’s third and youngest wife, Aisha. Most accounts agree that she was 6 at their engagement, 9 at their wedding and 14 when publicly accused of adultery. The novel’s story line coincides with a pivotal time in Islamic history-the 10 years beginning with Muhammad’s flight from Mecca to Madina in A.D. 622 and ending with his death at age 62. Denise Spellberg, author of “the most authoritative contemporary English-language account of Aisha. “Politics, Gender, and the Islamic past: The legacy of Aisha Bint Abu-Bakar”-Played a role in Random House’s decision to abandon the book” According to the Wall Street journal essay last August, “ Spellberg received an advance copy, usually send to solicit a blurb, and responded instead with a warning that Jones’s novel could incite violence from Muslim extremists”.

The Wall Street Journal published a column by Muslim writer and scholar Asra Nomani, saying she was “saddened” by the turn of events. The series of events that torpedoed this novel are a window into how quickly fear stunts intelligent discourse about that Muslim world. Nomani said that this novel is a soft touch of pornography and argued that the publisher was afraid reaction to the novel could equal the furore caused by Sir Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses. Published in 1988, the book was condemned by the Islamic world because of its perceived blasphemous depiction of the prophet Muhammad.

Marwa Elnaggar who is a writer poet and a consultant to Reading Islam said that “Whatever research may have been done for “The Jewel of Madina” the book does not appear to have benefitted from it. It is fiction in the purest sense of the term, with little or nothing of history in it. I also hope that readers will take it for what it is: an attempt by a Western writer with little knowledge of Arabia, Islam and Muslims using her own western, 21^st century values, ideals and emotions to portray an unrecognizable version of the well-know and well-documented story of Aisha. If Jones had set out to tell the “untold” or an “alternative” story of the heroism and courage of Aisha she could have saved herself the trouble. The lady Aisha has already been seen as a heroine and revered as a role model by Muslim women since the beginning of Muslim history.”

There’s something not quite right about seeing a citation for one thousand and one nights in a bibliography for a novel about the lady Aisha, Prophet Muhammad’s famous wife. How could anyone claiming to write about the relationship between Lady Aisha and Prophet Muhammad fail to mention some of the most famous incidents in the story so well known to Muslims? Prophet Muhammad, who in Jones’s novel always frowns at Aisha’s jealousy, is reported to have reacted by smiling and explaining Aisha’s behaviour to his friends who were present, saying, “Your mother was jealous...”, reminding them that Aisha despite her human and natural faults, was after all, a mother of the believers, thereby deserving the respect of all. But perhaps this portrayal of an indulgent and patient Prophet didn’t fit in with Jones’s own portrayal of a condescending and perpetually disapproving Prophet.

In the novel, we find two men greeting the Prophet as he walks home with Aisha, both of them bowed to Muhammad, elsewhere, A man with a black face as shiny as his bald head bowed before us: Bilal and when he walks in on his wife Sawdah preparing the food, Muhammad greeted her with a deep bow. “Aisha gives the prophet a respectful bow”...Anyone who knows anything about Islam knows that Muslims do not bow to each other to show respect. Bowing may have been a pre-Islamic custom in Arabia, and was certainly a western custom, but Islam with its egalitarian message, forbade anyone to bow to any human. Muslims are supposed to bow only to God. And therefore Muslims ritual prayers include bowing. Respect was much more nuanced, displayed in the way people talked and listened, the expression in their eyes and on their faces, and the position of their bodies. For example, it is known that Prophet Muhammad Showed respect to whomever he was listening to by being attentive and by turning his whole body to face that person.

Although historical fiction obviously differs from history texts in its very nature of being fiction, to be of any merit, it should remain true to its subject in terms of social conditions, manners, and culture. The portrayal of the sub-continental custom of purdah (Hijab) within the context of early Islamic society is definitely one leap too far, even if we take artistic license into consideration. Even in pre-Islamic Arabia, when women were much less respected the idea of locking girls up in their houses until marriage was unknown. In fact, Aisha’s older sister Asma was a shepherdess, an occupation that could hardly have been possible if Jones’s purdah had been the custom. The depiction of Aisha’s reaction to the Quranic commandment that the Prophet’s wives cover their faces also betrays the writer’s Western background. For any western writing in a post-feminist 21^st century, the only possible reaction of a woman who is supposed to be described as a brave heroine with a fiery spirit to this commandment is obviously to see it as “oppressive”. Otherwise, it seems would mean being disloyal to western culture and ideals.

Writing a biography is not like writing fiction or a novel. It requires a lot of home work and study of the life and objectives of the life of the person in question. I find it extremely difficult for a person to be not living in the Arab society and without spending the time there, to write a book on something so sensitive. Aisha was not a subservient personality, she was a role model. Muslims after Mohammad went to her for guidance and leadership. She was given the encouragement by the prophet Mohammed (PBUH) during their married life that she was able to fill the gap left behind by the demise of Prophet Mohammed. I challenge that if Sherry had a noble intention, she would go and study the life of Aisha and then write a book on her. With true facts and portraying the true personality of hers. Considering the state of women in that era, she was s symbol of love, faith and enlightenment for the rest of the humanity. She has influenced people equally in the east and west. She was a rue dynamic personality. A source of guidance that how a woman could carry herself in grace and dignity in any culture, society and walk of life. I wish people only write what are facts. Few months ago it was cartoons about our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) under the cover of freedom of speech and liberty, during that time Muslims all over the globe protected very strongly and send concerned to the government of Denmark, finally when the fire started cooling down, Sherry Jones wrote this book on Prophet’s beloved wife Hadhrat Ayesha, may Allah be pleased with her. We Muslims should come forward and strongly protest against these kinds of things not only for the Muslim’s Prophet or his wife or his followers or any other religion founders and believers. We human beings as a whole, have to learn to respect others and keep our emotions under control. Because by abusing we are not helping Islam but we are making it worse and the first lesson of Islam is to control our emotions in any situation. The love of Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon Him) lies in their obedience and violence is not the reaction. If a Muslim kills a writer because he wrote a book against Islam, is it extremist or not? Is it a murder or a brave hero? Isn’t it obvious? Beside that, do you think such practice will help Islam? We prevent others to say negative things about Islam and will help people believe in Islam? Everyone has a right to defend but by the law not by violence. No one said Muslims should just take it easy, but the fact is those who don’t believe in Islam we can’t expect them to think about it our way. They have already made so many movies and books about their own prophets! Why no one has been killed because of a book like Jesus last temptations and deviances’ code? Why do we want to scare them and stop? Ok, so continue this way. Why don’t we want them to understand? So stop the violence and let them see the peaceful face of Islam. I think we should look forward and see the future not just right now. And if we decide to gain other people respect to Islam it should be done in a long run of peaceful cultural contact not just by cutting and burning. The fact is we can stop them with violence, by forcing them they will not understand the real Prophet and Islam, but because they afraid of their lives! Its ultimate humanitarian and liberal level ends at this venomous propaganda but believe me that, truth will prevail and propaganda will diminish.

On the other hand the fact is that I don’t’ think my efforts in themselves will do much good. Islam will be brought down by the inherent idiocy of its dogmas and the obvious stupidities of some followers. This issue arises from the fact that a billion and more Muslims mindlessly worship Mohammad. He is called Insane-e-Kamil paragon of a man. He is considered Uswa Hasana, the perfect human being. The issue arises from the fact that the doings and saying of Mohammad bear the imprimatur of Allah and form the basis of Islamic jurisprudence called the Sharia. Hence the Islamic law fixes the marriageable age at 9 for girls. And thus millions of lives are wasted and made miserable. Thousands of rich old Arabs, tribal people of Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh and everywhere in the Muslim world are lusting after little girls and we find willing Mullahs to arrange marriage with poor Muslim girls. They use these girls for a month or two and then divorce them and go back only to return for repeat performance with another girl. The local government can do nothing to stop this exploitation as it is perfectly Islamic. Even the newspapers reporting this practice are threatened. Any attempt to stop this abuse causes riots among the Muslims. And that is why, in the interest of enlightened civilized values, I consider it my sacred duty to expose the facts of Islam and Mohammad to ignorant Muslims. The main problem is that we Muslims are not together on any issue.

Let me ask you something, how many branches we are in Islam already? Where in the world can they follow their faith, they can have their own mosque, they can teach their own believes and publishes it? Where??? I tell you, in free countries, not in their own countries! I think that’s because of this kind of prejudice. We think publishing insulting materials must be banned and I agree without question but how? Only by law and not by sympathy with extremists that want those writers killed. We should go to court and ask for this right and convince them, If talking about holocaust can be banned in France to respect the victims, than why not the respect of our faith?? But remember we have to respect other in orders to gain respect. My question is how can we call other people that don’t believe in Islam or Allah, Infidel, and anything like that all these 1400 years? Muslims didn’t let any other religion to teach their faith in Islamic territories, why do they want to ban others to tell anything about Islam or Muslims? Or as the writer says, leave Islam alone!! I can’t really understand our Mullahs can call other religions everything they like and then we want to ban others???

Please stop all this nonsense, there will be no end to it, throwing stones at each other will only hurt and bleed but will not solve the main issue. No one has the right to comment or criticize the religion and faith of others, just as plain as that, Islam is an example, so if we are Muslim then why not we follow what our Prophet’s (PBUH) teaching. Love of Allah and His Messenger lies in their obedience. We need to respect all the religions and believers in order to gain respect. We need to be united. As simple as that, we can support each other; reject violence on the name of Allah and Rasool. By practicing our own teaching is the only way that we can improve our lives and gain back the respect of our beloved personalities and our Faith.

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