In fact, some of the writings in defence of the novel are religiously and culturally insensitive. None of them can do that. The reason for the uproar is rooted in a kind of religious illiteracy, and the illiteracy in manners that permeates our everyday discourse. The consequence of this is a complete ignorance of each other's rights, an ignorance that has come to constitute a serious social malaise. If we try to understand the mechanisms by which prejudices against Islam were formed in Europe, we find that many distorted images of Islam were invented and reproduced in European culture primarily through fictional forms in the 16th and 17th century.
Fiction is a form of knowledge, and is treated by many as a repository of true stories.
I am in no position to prevent anyone from thinking as freely as they want. You can think and talk as much as you want but don't infringe upon the territory of my beliefs and sacred symbols, don't hold them in contempt or give malicious misrepresentations of the Prophet. Acknowledge the universal principal that your freedom ends where mine starts. Not to do so undermines any etiquette that might govern the value of freedom of thought. Errors about Islam have grave consequences.