The Jewel of Medina - Reviews and Critical Responses

Reviews and Critical Responses

Jones provided the manuscript of The Jewel of Medina to Islamic website IslamOnline.net, where the novel was reviewed on August 18, 2008 by writer and poet Marwa Elnaggar. Elnaggar criticizes the book for its inaccurate portrayal of pre-Islamic Arab culture (including non-Arabic customs such as bowing and purdah), and suggests that Jones was influenced by "the idea of the exotic and mystical Orient." Elnaggar describes The Jewel of Medina as "an attempt by a Western writer with little knowledge of Arabic, Arabia, Islam, and Muslims using her own Western, 21st century values, ideals and emotions to portray an unrecognizable version of the well-known and well-documented story of `A’ishah." However, Elnaggar argues that despite the novel's "inaccuracies, its faults, and its biases", its publication should not be stopped. On September 2, 2008 Elnaggar published Jones' response to her review to "present as many sides of an issue as possible" and "for the sake of objectivity" approached the writer and invited her to an interview where she can express her own point of view and clarify many questions that were raised. Unfortunately, Jones said that her publishers have asked her not to speak before the book is published. Instead, Jones sent Elnaggar a column where she speaks about The Jewel of Medina and the motives behind writing it. However, Jones has promised Elnaggar an interview after the novel is published. On October 11, 2008 Elnagger wrote "A Second Look at Jewel of Medina".

Indian Muslim writer Farzana Versey criticized Jones' prose and perspective, based on the published excerpts: "It would be unfair to tar the whole book based on the Prologue, but it gives a credible peek into the language and lack of nuance the author employs. ... Apparently, Ms. Jones for all her two years of research has managed a version of chick lit, where Aisha gets in confessional mode and in a Mills and Boon fashion 'leans on her husband', 'falls into his arms', and in a rather treacly account relates that '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.' At age nine or eleven, the 'all my life' seems rather a stretch." Versey also criticizes Asra Nomani's perspective that fictional accounts can "humanize" Islamic history: "If people do believe in a certain faith, then let them decide on how to define their belief. That too constitutes freedom of speech. Fictional accounts of this nature only serve as trashy one-upmanship. They do not humanize or, alas, even demonize religion."

Egyptian writer Ethar El-Katatney reviewed the novel on October 6, 2008 in an article for Egypt Today entitled "Flawed Jewel" and interviewed both Sherry Jones and Denise Spellberg. She critiqued the book and offered both Jones and Spellberg the opportunity to answer her critiques.". El-Katatney also made a telephone interview with Jones publicly accessible. The transcript of the interview is available online. On October 7, 2008 El-Katatney wrote an op-ed entitled 'The "Flawed" Jewel of Medina' to which Jones responded to directly.

On October 6, 2008 a Muslim organisation run by British Islamist Anjem Choudary and Omar Bakri Muhammad wrote an article on the novel, referring to it as a "blasphemous book" and to Jones as "an enemy of Islam and author of this heinous book" and her "illicit portrayal of the marriage" of Muhammad and ‘Aisha. The organisation states that "The Jewel of Medina is a book that accurately reflects the current temperament of the disbelievers" and that it "is yet another chapter in the continuing war against Islam and Muslims that reveals the burning hatred harboured in the hearts of the disbelievers." Jones responded to this article directly, stating that, "I extend the hand of peace with a book that is respectful. Please do not judge my book by the slander being spread about it! I urge you to read The Jewel of Medina and see for yourselves that I am respectful toward Islam and your Prophet. Just as I have publicly refused to judge all Muslims by the actions of a violent few, I ask you to judge me and my book by the actual contents of The Jewel of Medina. Already I have been criticized by non-Muslims as "pandering" to Muslims with my book because it portrays the Prophet Muhammad as a gentle, compassionate, wise leader and man respectful toward women and his wives. Several reviews have been posted already, including a review in Egypt Today, in which the author, a Muslim, says that I have written very favorably about the Prophet. You may not like my book or agree with it, but it does not insult Islam or Muhammad!"

The New York Times Book Review gave the novel a rather scathing review. They lean more towards the novel being historical fiction. Reviewer Lorraine Adams notes that "an inexperienced, untalented author has naively stepped into an intense and deeply sensitive intellectual argument" and that "Jones' prose is lamentable".