Jewel of Medina

I was really looking forward to reading Sherry Jones' The Jewel of Medina - about Muhammad's child bride, Aisha...

But Jones gives us little more than a juvenile love story. The exciting historical events during Muhammad's lifetime are pushed into the background in favor of childish infatuations and impetuousness. I wanted to like Aisha but her story was just too typical: girl dreams of being warrior, girl forced into arranged marriage, girl and husband don't mesh well, girl tries to escape marriage, girl and husband reconcile. Sigh.

What's interesting is that this book was under contract with a big publisher for years. Then, at the last minute, they pulled out, fearing a Muslim retaliation to the story. Did they really think the Muslim community would get upset over a lame love story? Published by a smaller company, there has been no such retaliation. Big surprise.

There is a sequel that may be more interesting since it takes place after the death of Muhammad. His wives cannot remarry so it will lack a love story - or one can at least hope! Instead, it focuses on the struggles of Islam after the death of the prophet. As you know, Muhammad died in 632 AD and by 732 the Muslims had crossed over from Africa to Spain, only to be defeated by Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours. It was an amazing one hundred years! Surely Jones can capture a bit of that excitement!