Be Careful with Muhammad!

Publisher: BIJAK Publishing, Jakarta, 2020, 149pp. ISBN: 0947792279.

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The book under review was first published in 1989 during the pinnacle of the cyclical Western hysteria over the preservation of its identity against perceived “external” threats. The author’s motive for writing the book can be gleaned from the first sentence of the preface: ‘An illiterate woman in Bradford, went to see her teenage daughter’s schoolteacher, who said to her: “The Satanic Verses is brilliant! In Britain we like to read great literature.” She remained silent and returned home. This book is an attempt to explain that inarticulate believer’s anguish.’ The title Be Careful with Muhammad! was inspired by the cautionary Persian proverb: Ba khuda diwana bashad, ba Muhammad hoshyar, translated as “Take liberties with God, but be careful with Muhammad!” It is one of the ironies of the free speech saga that the book was dropped for consideration by several prominent publishing houses in order to avoid offending Rushdie and his media allies. It was eventually picked up by a small publishing house.

Akhtar himself found his academic career under jeopardy in an increasingly anti-Muslim environment so went into voluntary exile to Malaysia. This new second edition of the book comes some thirty years after the first, with an updated preface that brings it up to date with references to the War on Terror, the Charlie Hebdo controversy and the Covid crisis.