Serbia Withdraws Book amid Muslim Anger

[Marcus Marulus]

Serbia Withdraws Book amid Muslim Anger

18 August 2008 Belgrade _ A Belgrade publisher is to withdraw from bookstores a novel that the Islamic Community in Serbia has described as offensive to Muslims.

Aleksandar Jasic, the director of the Beobuk publishing house also apologised to Muslims for distributing the book entitled The Jewel of Medina by Sherry Jones, which details the life of Ajsa, “one of Prophet Mohammad’s wives,” who he married when she was 11.

The decision followed a strong protest by the leader of the Islamic Community in Serbia, Muarem Zukorlic who compared the book with the Mohammed cartoons controversy of 2006.

Those cartoons, some of which depicted the Prophet, were published in a Danish newspaper and then republished in several other western European countries, triggering a series of protests by Muslims around the world.

Islam forbids any physical depiction of the Prophet Mohammed.

"It is a book that absolutely does not refraining from desecrating something that is considered by all Muslims as untouchable,” Zukorlic said.
He added that “obviously someone wishes to join those who produced the cartoons in Denmark, and of course this is an insult to all Muslims of the world.”

Jasic said his company "had no intention of insulting anyone," and hoped "it will end with this."

The book was to have its global debut in Serbia.

Last month, American publisher Random House decided not to publish The Jewel of Medina amid opposition from Muslims.

[source]