Excerpt:
The publishing industry is once again embroiled in controversy, with Random House scrapping plans to publish a novel about one of Mohammed's wives.
The Jewel Of Medina by US journalist Sherry Jones tells the story of Aisha, Mohammed's favourite wife, who was promised to him when she was just six years old. They married when she was nine and he was 52.
Jones says she was driven to write The Jewel Of Medina because she found Aisha to be a remarkable heroine, little known in the West.
Jones says Aisha's story is an exciting tale of love, war, spiritual awakening and redemption.