A novel about the child bride of the Prophet Mohamed has been withdrawn by Random House, which said it feared that publication of the book could “incite acts of violence”. Critics, however, have accused the publisher of abandoning the principle of free speech and caving into pressure from extreme Islamist elements.

The Jewel of Medina, a debut novel by the US journalist Sherry Jones, was due to have been published next Tuesday, and Random House had scheduled an eight-city publicity tour. But in May, the publisher abruptly informed her that all plans were now off.