Frankly, i dont see whats so debatable here. The novel describes a barbaric time when people belived in many gods, and it only took one man (YES, a man) to unite them into believing in ONE GOD through persuasion, or fear, or battle, or a combo of both.

Secondly, he was prone to earthly things such as, yes LUST, and thus had wives and concubines under the pretence of “this is for the greater good of islam” and my fave “this will help with our alliance with (insert tribes name)” And we are yet meant to believe that when he spent each night with each woman, he had no impure thoughts or pleasure, he was only thinking about the good of the people or religion or whatever? PLEASE

And when he shakes and convulses in an apparent “vision” he receives from God himself who allows, no no no, DEMANDS of him to take another woman as his wife (I forgot which one, but one of many that Aisha objects to) ? I laughed, how seethrough is that….and i bet thats as closely described as how it happened in actual fact. Muhammed mustve been bored with the 25 yr old monogamous marriage to hatdija…

We are forgetting that these were primitive times, where people had primitive beliefs and were willing to shed blood over them (and still are apparently)….so hence, there is “nothing wrong” with marrying off a child in order to have an ally.

And I’m sorry if y view doesnt appease, but thats just my subjective opinion!

All these people crying, “What about free speech!” and “Censorship!” because Random House belatedly decided that it was not in their best interest to publish a trashy novel that was sure offend a whole lot of people, gave me an excellent idea for a farce. Here is a synopsis:

A young man named Ali writes an excellent first novel based on his experiences growing up in Muslim the West. Unfortunately, no agent will even read his manuscript. At first he is disgusted over The Jewel of Medina. It, after all, is making Sherry Jones, a second rate hack, rich and famous while he, a true artist, languishes in obscurity.

He has a change of heart. Using the pen-name Allen, he concocts a western identity and writes a novel that is even trashier than Jones’s, filled with blasphemous depictions of the Prophet Muhammad. His plan succeeds brilliantly: publishers begin a bidding war, scholars of Islam attack the book, naïve westerners defend the author’s freedom of speech, and Muslim fundamentalists hunt down the nonexistent “Allen.”

Giddy with success, and hungry for credit, Ali decides to play both sides. Using his real identity, he writes a another novel about Mary, who gets pregnant by a rabbi, and tricks Joseph into marrying her with a story about an angel who tells her about her immaculate conception. In a press release Ali says he hopes his book will “humanize” Mary, Joseph and Jesus and “create a platform for discussion” between Christian and Muslims.

This book also creates a storm of publicity when it is condemned by the Vatican and Christian fundamentalists. An English grad student, however, notices stylistic similarities between the two books and outs Ali/Allen for the fraud he is. Muslim and Christian fundamentalists join forces to hunt him down.

Meanwhile, an unscrupulous agent realizes that Ali has thoroughly discredited himself, so he steals Ali’s original manuscript, publishes it under his own name and wins Pulitzer Prize for literature.

That’s my plot synopsis. If any agents or publishers out there are interested, I would be happy to consider writing it.

Jim Fabris

(written by Usama Hasan):
Sat 11 Oct 2008 “As-salamu ‘alaykum. We know of primary-school girls aged 8 beginning their monthly cycles in our local school and mosque.
If Ayesha RAA was indeed nine years old when her marriage was consummated, having been brought up in a harsh desert environment, my hunch is that she would have been as mature, physically and emotionally, as any 16- or 18-year old modern city-dweller.
Similarly, Usama bin Zayd RAA was a military commander over an army of soldiers, many of whom were several times his tender age of 17.
However, there are many indications that the age of Ayesha RAA at marriage was much higher – see below, discussion welcome. Allah knows best.

—
Was Ayesha really 6 years old when she married Muhammad?
by Abdul H. Fauq
http://www.quranicteachings.co.uk/ayeshas-age.htm

A few comments about Muhammad’s marriages are in order. Muhammad married his first wife, Khadijah, several years before his announcement as a prophet of Islam. Khadijah was a reasonably well-to-do woman of Makkah and was 15 years his senior. Muhammad was 25 and Khadijah was 40 at the time of their marriage. This loving and caring monogamous relationship continued for 25 years until her death. Muhammad, now over 50 years of age, married a relatively aged woman by the name of Saudah. It is thus important to note here that Muhammad’s twenty five prime youth years were spent in purely monogamous relationship with a lady 15 years his senior. This speaks volumes about this man’s piety and loyalty in spousal matters as well as about the fact that his later marriages could not have been motivated by any human wild sexual desires. In 620-621 A.D, he and his devout companions migrated from Makkah to Medina. Then a couple of years later, he married Ayesha, a daughter of his closest companion, Abu Bakr, in the 3rd Hijrah (Islamic calendar–623-24 A.D). This information coming from diverse historical and Hadith sources is widely agreed upon and therefore can be, a priori, considered authentic. Based on this information, and a host of other related bits and pieces detailed below, it can be shown that Ayesha could have been at least 16-19 of age at the time of her marriage with Muhammad (pbuh). The following is the detail of the analysis of these historical and Hadith accounts.
1. Several books of Hadith (Al-Bukhari and Al-Muslim, Abu Dawood, among others) and Islamic history (Tabari, among others) report that Ayesha was married to the Prophet at 6 but her marriage was not consummated until she was 9. Although, this information is widely quoted and found in many Hadith and history books, it must be noted that most of this information has come from a single person, Hisham bin Urwah, who is the last narrator of this Hadith Isnaad (chain of narration) on the authority of his father. Thus, this Hadith is primarily a single Hadith. Some other narratives mention the same Hadith but their narration has been found weak and unacceptable. In general, a Hadith has more credibility if it is narrated by more people independently from diverse chains of narrators. In this case, there is basically only one source.

2. Despite the abundance of information available during the 71 years that Hisham bin Urwah lived and taught in Medina, it is rather odd that that no one else—not even his famous pupil Malik ibn Anas—reported Ayesha’s age from Hisham in Medina. Furthermore, all the narrators of this Hadith were Iraqis. Hisham is reported to have moved to Iraq in his later years. An extensive list of biographical sketches of all narrators including these Iraqis is available in some books.

3. Yaqub ibn Shaibah is reported to have said, “narratives reported by Hisham are reliable except those that are reported through the people of Iraq”. Malik ibn Anas (d. 795), a student of Hisham in fact discredited all narratives of Hisham that were reported through people of Iraq.
(Tehzibu’l-tehzib, by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Arabic, Dar Ihya al-turath al-Islami, one of the most well known books on the life and reliability of the narrators of the traditions of the Prophet (pbuh), vol 11, pg 48 – 51).

4. It is reported that Hisham bin Urwah’s memory suffered in his later years to the extent that some of the traditions reported from Hisham bin Urwah could not be trusted for authenticity.
(Mizanu’l-ai`tidal, by Al-Zahbi , Arabic, a book on the life sketches of the narrators of the Hadith, Al-Maktabatu’l-athriyyah, Sheikhupura, Pakistan, Vol 4, pg 301).

5. Even though Ayesha is reported to have been born about eight years before Hijrah (around 614 A.D.), one can find another narrative in Bukhari (kitabu’l-tafseer) whereby Ayesha is reported to have said that she was a ‘young girl’ at the time of revelation of the 54th chapter of the Qur’an which came 9 years before Hijrah (around 612 A.D). Thus, according to this tradition, Ayesha was a young girl (Jariyah—as she calls herself and not an infant in which case she would be sibyah). Additionally, this narrative stands in direct contrast to the one reported on Ayesha’s age by Hisham bin Urwah. This puts Ayesha’s age significantly higher than 9 as reported by Hisham bin Urwah—possibly 15 or even higher. Obviously, if this narrative is held to be true, it is in clear
contradiction with the narratives reported by Hisham ibn Urwah. There is no compelling reason as to why this tradition should be considered less accurate vis-à-vis Hisham’s narrative).
(Sahih Bukhari, kitabu’l-tafsir, Arabic, Bab Qaulihi Bal al-sa`atu Maw`iduhum wa’l-sa`atu adha’ wa amarr).

6. According to many narratives, Ayesha participated in the battles of Badr and Uhud. No one younger than 15 was allowed to accompany the Prophet’s army in the battle of Uhud. This applied across the board to all participants, men and women alike. The battle of Uhud took place around the 2nd Hijrah, a time line close to her marriage with the Prophet. Obviously, she was at least older than 15 at that time.

7. A narrative regarding Ayesha’s participation in the battle of `Uhud is given in Bukhari, (Kitabu’l-jihad wa’l-siyar, Arabic, Bab Ghazwi’l-nisa’ wa qitalihinna ma`a’lrijal; that all boys under 15 were sent back is given in Bukhari, Kitabu’l-maghazi, Bab ghazwati’l-khandaq wa hiya’l-ahza’b, Arabic).

8. Most historians have consensus on the age of one of the oldest female companions of the Prophet, namely, Asma, the elder sister of Ayesha that was ten years older than Ayesha. It is also reported in Taqri’bu’l-tehzi’b as well as Al-bidayah wa’l-nihayah that Asma died in 73 Hijrah when she was 100 years old. Clearly, if Asma was 27 or 28 years old at the time of Hijrah, Ayesha was 17 at the time of Hijrah and 19 at the time of consummation of her marriage with Muhammad.
(For Asma being 10 years older than Ayesha, see A`la’ma’l-nubala’, Al-Zahabi, Vol 2, Pg 289, Arabic, Mu’assasatu’l-risalah, Beirut, 1992. Ibn Kathir confirms this fact, [Asma] was elder to her sister [Ayesha] by ten years” (Al-Bidayah wa’l-nihayah, Ibn Kathir, Vol 8, Pg 371, Arabic, Dar al-fikr al-`arabi, Al-jizah, 1933). For Asma being 100 years old, see Al-Bidayah wa’l-nihayah, Ibn Kathir, Vol 8, Pg 372, Arabic, Dar al-fikr al-`arabi, Al-jizah, 1933). Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani also has the same information: “She [Asma (ra)] lived a hundred years and died in 73 or 74 AH.” Taqribu’l-tehzib, Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani, Pg 654, Arabic, Bab fi’l-nisa’, al-harfu’l-alif, Lucknow).

9. Tabari informs in his treatise on Islamic history that Abu Bakr had four children and all four were born during the pre Islamic period. The pre-Islamic period ended in 610 A.D, a fact that makes Ayesha to be at least 14 years of age at the time of her marriage around 613-624 A.D.
Tarikhu’l-umam wa’l-mamlu’k, Al-Tabari, Vol 4, Pg 50, Arabic, Dara’l-fikr, Beirut, 1979).

10. Ibn Hisham, the historian, reports that Ayesha (ra) accepted Islam quite some time before `Umar ibn al-Khattab which only means that Ayesha (ra) accepted Islam close to the time of first revelation (around 610 A.D). This means she must have been at least a young girl at that time. Assuming she was barely 6 or 7 at that time this information puts the age of Ayesha at 20 or more at the time of her marriage with Muhammad (623-624 A.D.), (Al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah, Ibn Hisham, vol 1, Pg 227 – 234 and 295, Arabic, Maktabah al-Riyadh al-hadithah, Al-Riyadh).

11. Tabari reports that before migrating to Habashah, Abu Bakr planned to hand over his daughter, Ayesha to Mut’am’s son to whom she was engaged. But fearing persecution by the Quraish, Mut’am refused and his son divorced Ayesha. The migration to Habashah happened 8 years before Hijra. Obviously, at the time she was ready to take on responsibilities as a wife (possibly 9 or 10 years of age). If she married Muhammad in the 2nd Hijrah (623-624 A.D), she could not be less than 19 years of age (a secondary reference for this argument is: Tehqiq e umar e Siddiqah e Ka’inat, Habib ur Rahman Kandhalwi, Urdu, Pg 38, Anjuman Uswa e hasanah, Karachi, Pakistan).

12. A famous Sunni imam, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, reports in His Musnad, that after the death of Khadijah, Khaulah came to the Prophet (pbuh) and advised him to marry again. She had two propositions for the Prophet: Either Muhammad could marry a virgin (bikr), or he could go for woman who had already been married (thayyib)”. Khaulah named Ayesha for a virgin (bikr). It is common knowledge that the term bikr in the Arabic language refers to a well formed lady and not to a 9 year old, playful, immature lass. If she were nine, the word used by Khaulah would have been jariyah and not bikr.
(Musnad, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Vol 6, Pg 210, Arabic, Dar Ihya al-turath al-`arabi, Beirut).

13. Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani has reported that Fatimah, Muhammad’s daughter, was five years older than Ayesha and that Fatimah was born when the Prophet was 35 years old. Thus, Ayesha, according to Ibn Hajar, was born when Muhammad was 40 and consummated her marriage when he was 54 or 55. That makes Aysha at least 15-16 years of age.
(Al-isabah fi tamyizi’l-sahabah, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Vol 4, Pg 377, Arabic, Maktabatu’l-Riyadh al-haditha, al-Riyadh,1978)

Finally, it must be pointed out that Ayesha’s age at the time of her marriage has never been an issue. If it were, his enemies must have picked up on this issue as they did to him on some other issues. Also, the reader must note that none of these Hadith reports concerning Ayesha’s controversial age of marriage with the Prophet goes back to the Prophet himself. In other words, it is not the Prophet himself who said Ayesha was 6 or 9. These reports came from a single individual and the Iraqis reported from him when he grew old and his memory started failing.
In conclusion, this article is an attempt to prove that the books written 200-300 years after the death of Muhammad, while providing a good deal of historical information about him are not free from faulty, less than perfect and self-contradictory materials. These should not be taken as the final word for a Muslim. There is a Final Word for a Muslim and that is the Book of God, the Holy Qur’an—the book that defines the marriageable age for a man or woman when he or she attains soundness of judgment (Al-Qur’an 4:6). If Muhammad is a model for mankind, if he followed the Qur’an all his life, if Allah stands witness to his rock-solid character, there is no way that he could have taken a 6-9 year old, immature young, playful girl as a responsible wife.”

Answer for another question asked by someone on another website:(Why Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon had many wives?,why can’t women have more husbands?,Mary (Peace be upon her),history vs fiction?

If I wouldn’t have given the answer for the first question,non-muslims would have been saying that Prophet Muhammad(pbuh) married to a child.Now other points that have been raised, have very clear answers.
1.Islam is a religion,(even in Christianity and in Moses Laws too),adultery is abslotely forbidden and punishmensts are being ordered for the adulteres.In the times of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) there were certain cases in which men traditionally wouldnot marry women if they were a widow,divorced (either anyway or a woman once married to an adopted son but divorced later).Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) through out his blessed life setup examples for people to follow them.Now we see people marry divorced,widows etc.
Therefor Islam forbids illegitimate sexual relationships and encourages lawful weddings.In the world we see women in large number.Hence to discourage adultery it is much decent to marry more than one and give them a respectful status.Moreover Allah has set a clear condition in the Quran that if a man can make justice to his more than one wives only then he should marry, otherwise he should stick to one woman hence the self-respect and ego of the other ladiess are not hurt.
2.Its a very good question. To make it easy one can easily do a scientific research for the results of women with multiple sexual intercourse.A woman who has more than one husband will have several sexual partners at the same time and has a high chance of acquiring venereal or sexually transmitted diseases which can also be transmitted back to her husband even if all of them have no extra-marital sex. This is less likely in a man having more than one sexual partner, and none of them having extra-marital sex. The above reasons are those that one can easily identify. Biologically, it is easier for a man to perform his duties as a husband despite having several wives. A woman, in a similar position, having several husbands, will not find it possible to perform her duties as a wife. Moreover,If a man marries more than one wife, the parents of the children born of such marriages can easily be identified. The father as well as the mother can easily be identified. In case of a woman marrying more than one husband, only the mother of the children born of such marriages will be identified and not the father. Islam gives tremendous importance to the identification of both parents, mother and father. Psychologists tell us that children who do not know their parents, especially their father undergo severe mental trauma and disturbances. Often they have an unhappy childhood. It is for this reason that the children of prostitutes do not have a healthy childhood. If a child born of such wedlock is admitted in school, and when the mother is asked the name of the father, she would have to give two or more names! I am aware that recent advances in science have made it possible for both the mother and father to be identified with the help of genetic testing. Thus this point was applicable for the past, and may not be applicable for the present.You can watch this link too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y69bL-aPthc
3.Islam says that virgin and virtuous Mary never married anyone,she was a pious and chaste young girl.In Quran there are several revelations about the miraculous birth of Prophet Jesus (PBUH)and his being risen to the Heavens alive.
4.Next I would like to state that one can surely write a fictional Novel, but is there any NEED to specifically relate to a religious historical figure in the Novel who is revered by millions of Muslims in the world. Can’t someone respect the dead. Ms.Jones can make her heroin any other name given the fact that its a novel.
5.I am often surprised when I notice non-muslims saying that Muslims have no religious tolerance because I always look at the comments made by them on different sites so much extreme, intolerant, abusive and ridiculing our religious figures.There are very few people who equally respect Islam as muslims do.
There is another link which contains answers from an Islamic point of view, that may be asked by the non-muslims.
http://www.aswatalislam.net/DisplayFilesP.aspx?TitleID=50027&TitleName=Z...