Book Review: The Jewel of Medina by Sherry Jones

"Jewel of Medina" is, above all, a love story. But it is also a celebration of the feminine spirit, in the form of A'isha, the Prophet Muhammad's youngest and most beloved wife. Told in the first person, it starts with the six year old A'isha dreaming of running away to be a Bedouin warrior, with her friend, Safwan. And it follows the shattering of her dreams when she finds that not only has she been betrothed to Muhammad, a man older than her father, but that she is to remain in "purdah" - seclusion - until the day of their marriage.

The book follows A'isha as she marries the Prophet, and joins him in his harim, and is forced to contend with his numerous marriages and addition of other wives. A'isha's character is no self-sacrificing saint, but a young, often jealous, but fearlessly loyal woman, who is determined to defend Muhammad and the community of Islam. She longs to ride into battle like the famous warrior-woman Umm-Ummara, but instead is forced to stay with the harim and, eventually, to veil herself and remain behind a curtain when she speaks to men other than her husband.

Sherry Jones' portrayal of Muhammad shows a man fiercely dedicated to his people, his God, and his faith. It also portrays him as a passionate and virile man - a man who has strong physical desires for his new wives, which often causes the young A'isha pain as she sees him fall under the spell of each new addition to the harim. Still, it is A'isha that he loves best, and even when her tricks and jealously angers him, he never forsakes his love for her, and at the end of his life, it is A'isha whose arms he wishes to rest in.

As for A'isha, she grows from a jealous and often selfish girl to a woman who learns to love and respect others, from the destitute poor in the tent city outside Medina, to the other wives of the harim, some who have nothing but scorn for the young woman. A'isha's love for Muhammad not only grows, but her love for all of humanity, and the lessons she learns only deepens her faith. And she never loses her spirit, or her fierce desire to fight for her people.

The book has some lusty, but not overly descriptive sections, of Muhammad and A'isha's nights together. The book was actually slated to be published by Random House, but that publishing house pulled out at the last minute, worried about attacks from Islamic terrorists. The book was finally published by Beaufort Books.

I greatly enjoyed this book and the portrayal of A'isha, Muhammad, and the other wives. A'isha's story is truly one of the great romances of history, and a tribute to the power of love.