The right to offend
A criminal attack on the Jewel of Medina publisher should not distract us from recognising that we all rely on free speech

Inayat Bunglawala writing in Guardian.co.uk,
Monday September 29 2008

Oh boy, what great timing. Last Friday, on the 20th anniversary of the publication of Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses, I wrote a piece arguing the case that, in my view, many Muslims who had once supported the banning/pulping of the book had since revised their views and recognised that such actions were quite wrong and completely counterproductive.

Noting that another controversial novel, The Jewel of Medina – which is said to be about the Prophet Muhammad's relationship with his youngest wife, Aisha, and has been described as "softcore pornography" by one American academic – was due to be published next month by the UK publishers, Gibson Square, I said:

Already emails are being circulated calling on British Muslim organisations to mobilise to try and stop its publication. Will they try and do so? I really hope that appropriate lessons have been learned from the Satanic Verses affair and that British Muslims do not take the bait.

Well, that very night, it transpires that three men were arrested by anti-terrorist officers during an apparent arson attack on the home of the proprietor of Gibson Square publishers, Martin Rynja.

Read the full Guardian story online.