Publisher Random House has withdrawn a novel about the Prophet Mohammed’s child bride, fearing it “could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment,” the New York Times reported.

“The Jewel of Medina,” a first book by journalist Sherry Jones, 46, was scheduled to be published on August 12 by Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House, and an eight-city publicity tour had been programmed, Sherry Jones told Reuters on Thursday.

The 432-page novel portrays the life of A’isha from the time when she was 6 and got engaged to Mohammed until the prophet’s death. According to Reuters, the writer said that she was very surprised to find out in May that the publication of her work would be suspended for an indefinite period. The same source cited Sherry Jones as saying: “I have deliberately and consciously written respectfully about Islam and Mohammed ... I envisioned that my book would be a bridge-builder.”

Carol Schneider, a spokeswoman for Random House, announced on Friday that the company “requested that it be postponed indefinitely” after discussing the issue with experts and receiving uncalled-for advice. “We thought it was not a good time, with tensions running as high as they do, to publish this,” Ms. Schneider said, as qouted by the New York Times.

According to Random House deputy publisher Thomas Perry, Sherry Jones, who has just finished working on a sequel to the novel describing A’isha’s later life, may sell her novel to other publishers.

Demonstrations and rebellions broke out in numerous Muslim countries two years ago when cartoons, one out of which depicted the Prophet Mohammed wearing a turban looking a lot like a bomb, were published in a Danish newspaper. As a result, at least 50 people were killed and Danish embassies were violently assaulted.