Jewel of Medina

Fearing extremists reacting violently to the publication of books deemed to be offensive to Islam, many publishers have thought twice about what they release about the religion. Author of The Young Atheist's Handbook Alom Shaha says it's time to discuss faith properly

We can't publish this, we'll get firebombed. Apparently this was the response from one of the staff at Biteback Publishing, the UK publishers of my book, The Young Atheist's Handbook, when it was first presented to them. Thankfully, Iain Dale, the managing director, laughed at the idea, saying, it's OK, we're on the 10th floor and went on to publish the book anyway.

It's not just staff at Biteback who may have been concerned about publishing my book --- according to a senior editor at one of the largest international publishers, who claimed to be personally keen to give me a deal, she was unable to convince her colleagues to agree because a number of people in the company would be uncomfortable about it. She then went on to explain that by uncomfortable she really meant afraid .

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The muslim arsonists who tried to burn down the house of the publisher of The Jewel of Medina have each been sentenced to 4 years, 6 months in jail.

Sentencing Ali Beheshti and two accomplices, Mrs Justice Rafferty told them: If you choose to live in this country, you live by its rules. There is no such thing as "a la carte citizenship" and, in your case, there is no such thing as "a la carte obedience" to the law.

Beheshti, a follower of hate cleric Abu Hamza, poured diesel through the letterbox of Martin Rynja's £2.5million house and set it alight to punish him for agreeing to release The Jewel of Medina , a fictional account of the Prophet's child bride.

Last September, with accomplices Abrar Mirza and Abbas Taj he attacked the five-storey home and office of Rynja in Islington, North London. A small fire began but nobody was hurt because police and fire crews arrived in time to smash down the door and put it out.

A presumably muslim minicab driver has been found guilty of helping try to firebomb the home of a publisher days before the release of a novel about the marital life of the Prophet Mohamed.

Abbas Taj was waiting in his car as two accomplices poured diesel through the letter box of the four-storey home of Martin Rynja, who had vowed to publish The Jewel of Medina after the American-based giant Random House postponed publication due to concerns that the book would lead to acts of violence by Muslim extremists.

Taj arrived outside the home of the publisher in Islington, at 2am on 27 September last year and watched Abrar Mirza and Ali Beheshti try to set light to the house, which is also the publisher's office.

The three men are to be sentenced in July.

Sir Salman Rushdie has accused his publisher of censorship at the same time as trying to prevent the release of a book that criticises him.

The novelist, who spent nearly a decade under a fatwa from the Iranian government after the publication of The Satanic Verses in 1988, attacked Random House for pulping a historical novel about the Prophet Mohamed for fear of offending Muslims.

Sherry Jones's debut novel, The Jewel Of Medina , about the Prophet Mohamed and his child bride, was due for release this month. But Random House said credible and unrelated sources had warned that the book could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment.

Rushdie's very public intervention comes at a time when he is engaged in a legal battle to amend the content of a book that criticised him.

On Her Majesty's Service by Ron Evans, who was part of Rushdie's police protection team, makes claims – all of which are denied by the author – that he was imprisoned by guards who got so fed up with his attitude that they locked him in a cupboard under the stairs and all went to the local pub for a pint or two. When they were suitably refreshed, they came back and let him out. Evans, who contends that police nicknamed Sir Salman "Scruffy" because of his unkempt appearance, also makes several other allegations.

Rushdie denied there was any contradiction in his actions, saying: [Sherry Jones's book] is a work of fiction. Ron Evans's book is not, and it contains a very large number of provable lies and complete absurdities which were defamatory not just about me but my son's mother, Elizabeth West, the Metropolitan Police and people including John Major and Norman Tebbit.

Under pressure from Sir Salman's lawyer, Evans is believed to have amended his most contentious chapters.