According to Reuters, Random House has decided not to publish “The Jewel of Medina,” a historical novel with Islamic themes because it "makes fun of Muslims and their history,” as University of Texas Professor Denise Spellberg said.  

Written by Sherry Jones, the book was due to be published on August 12 by Random House, the world's largest English language trade publisher, on an eight-city publicity tour.

The 432-page novel is about A’isha, one of the Prophet Muhammad's wives. The writer was very surprised when she was told that the publication of the story was to be postponed until further notice. “I have deliberately and consciously written respectfully about Islam and Muhammad ... I envisioned that my book would be a bridge-builder,” Jones told Reuters.

Several academics opposed to the publication of the historical novel, Spellberg counting among them. He informed the publisher that its employees would be at great risk of being the target of Islamic terrorism.” Spellberg classified the novel as scantily researched, "ugly" and "stupid," strewed with "soft-core” pornographic scenes, the Wall Street Journal reported.

According to a statement given by the deputy publisher at Random House, Thomas Perry, the selling book publisher received “cautionary advice not only that the publication of this book might be offensive to some in the Muslim community, but also that it could incite acts of violence by a small radical segment.”

In line with the declaration of Carol Schneider, a spokeswoman for Random House, the company decided to postpone “indefinitely” the publication of “The Jewel of Medina,” after discussing with experts, the New York Times reported. “We thought it was not a good time, with tensions running as high as they do, to publish this,” Ms. Schneider said.

However, Perry said that Jones is allowed to sell the book to other publishing company.