Muslim advocacy groups are attempting to suppress the publication of the book Prophet of Doom by Craig Winn, claiming it is “blasphemous:” Stop Hatred & Misinformation about the Best of Creation (peace be upon him) Petition.

To: All Bookstores

We the undersigned declare that we are utterly shocked and dismayed at the blasphemous publication of Mr. Craig Winn’s book “Prophet of Doom” (Publisher: CricketSong Books - April 25, 2004) that presents false and malicious information regarding our Beloved Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), the Prophet who is revered by 20 percent of the world’s population, and who Muslims believe to be the Prophet sent as a Mercy to all the worlds.

Mr. Winn, a businessman, who according to Amazon.com’s own editorial review knew nothing about Islam prior to 9/11, reveals his lack of knowledge and poor scholarship in his fictitious writing, which is outside the pale of America’s freedom of expression as it contributes towards the provocation of hate and the fraying of the fabric of its multi-cultural society by offending the sensibilities of a large segment of its population …

We call for the removal of all copies of this book from all bookstores - regular or online and for the cessation of its publication immediately.

This petition to stifle criticism of Islam has garnered almost 45,000 signatures as of this writing. But here’s a counter-petition you can sign, urging bookstores not to cave in to these un-American scare tactics: First Amendment freedoms include the right to criticize Islam and Muhammad Petition.

Given efforts by Muslims around the world to stifle criticism of their religion, in many cases through the use of violence (the most famous example of which being the Salman Rushdie affair), we consider the Muslim petition demanding censorship to be little more than a scare tactic to intimidate the author from publishing his book. Whether we agree with the content of the author’s book is irrelevant; the simple fact that Muslims are trying to intimidate him from exercising his First Amendment freedoms urges us to demand that bookstores continue circulating this book as they please. Particularly in response to the recent murder of Theo van Gogh, a Dutch filmmaker critical of the mistreatment of Muslim women, we feel it necessary that all supporters of free expression take a stand against Islamist scare tactics. Thus, we demand that all bookstores ignore such scare tactics and make Mr. Winn’s book readily available, in accordance with customer demand.