Book Description

Shortlisted, Australian Human Rights Commission, 2008 Literature Non-Fiction Award

In March 2002, three Muslim converts attend an Evangelical Christian talk on the inner secrets of 'Holy Jihad'. Shocked by what they hear, they convinced the Islamic Council of Victoria to lodge a complaint against Catch the Fire Ministries Inc, under a controversial new hate speech law.

A case expected to be over in three days turns into an unholy war of words lasting five long years - freedom of speech versus freedom from religious vilification is under the spotlight. Neither side capitulates: Muslims and the interfaith lobby opposing Born-again activists and their Australian and overseas supporters.

Award-winning author Hanifa Deen follows this case from beginning to end, witnessing the religious impulse at its best - and worst. Her very human account focuses on the personalities and motives of the two religious tribes - Muslims and Born-again Christians. Real people - on both sides of the courtroom - express their pain and their innocence at a hearing that turns into a nightmare. Through Deen's eyes we discover a wider meaning to this conflict.