Taxi Driver Convicted in Publisher Firebombing Attempt

Posted on May 15, 2009

A London taxi driver has been found guilty of trying to firebomb the home of the publisher of a controversial novel which depicts the life of the first wife of the prophet Muhammad.

Abbas Taj, 30, was convicted of conspiracy to recklessly damage property and endanger life for waiting in a getaway car while two accomplices poured diesel through a mailbox of the home and office of Gibson Square publisher Martin Rynja in September. The men were spotted igniting the fuel with a disposable lighter, and police quickly smashed down the door and put the blaze out.

*****

Gibson Square had been due to publish "Jewel of Medina," a novel written by U.S. author Sherry Jones which dealt with the story of Aisha, who, according to tradition, was nine when she became the wife of the Prophet Muhammad. It originally was due to be brought out by Random House, but the publisher pulled the plug on the novel in August after saying that "credible and unrelated sources" had warned that the book "could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment."

The cancellation of the book has infuriated many who see the same pattern that began when Salman Rushdie was put under a death sentence by Muslim clerics for his book The Satanic Verses. The author of The Jewel of Medina has vehemently denied that the book is in any way derogatory to the Prophet or his child bride. After this latest attack, the book may not be published at all.