Salman Rushdie

[[File:Salman Rushdie.jpg|thumb|right|165px|"'''''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_KOpJ2bE3o BLLLLASPHEMER!'''''"]]]
{{Islam}}
{{cquote|If you look at the way in which free expression is being attacked by [[Fundamentalism|religious extremism]], the things of which these people are accused is always the same &mdash; it's [[blasphemy]], [[heresy]], insult, offence &mdash; it's this [[medieval]] vocabulary. We're in a difficult place because there's a lot of fear and nervousness around. |||Salman Rushdie<ref name="Not Today">[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19600879 Salman Rushdie: Satanic Verses 'would not be published today'], [[BBC]]</ref> }}
'''Sir Salman Rushdie''' {{lived|1947}}, known as '''Joseph Anton''' from 1989 to 1998, is a [[British]]-[[India]]n author who is best known for writing a book that seriously ticked off the [[Muslim]] world. ''The Satanic Verses'' (1988) was deemed anti-Islamic by the [[Ayatollah Khomeni]], who issued a [[fatwa]] calling for his death. Due to the threats to his life, he went into hiding in different parts of [[Europe]], surfacing long enough to publish new books, or do quick interviews, or appear onstage with Bono and U2, then head back underground before [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eoNLlHzPhI angry flying books of death strike him down].{{dead}} According to the [[Irish]] band, "for a man in hiding, it was remarkably easy to find him."

Much of his writing is set in the Indian sub-continent, often dealing with conflicts of [[religion]]; however, his range of topics includes a non-fiction study of the politics of [[Nicaragua]] and a self-described "alternative" history of rock and roll, ''The Ground Beneath Her Feet''.

Rushdie has described himself as being a "hard-line atheist",<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071013154432/https://www.pbs.org/moyers/faithandreason/print/faithandreason101_print.html On Faith & Reason - Interview with Bill Moyers] PBS, June 23, 2006</ref> and is a feminist, stating "What else is there to be? Everything else is being an [[asshole]]."<ref>https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/12/the-year-that-lots-of-celebrities-were-confused-about-feminism.html</ref>

==''The Satanic Verses'' controversy==
''The [[Satanic Verses]]'', Rushdie's fourth book, attracted worldwide controversy when it was published in 1988, as many [[Muslim]]s saw it as an insult to Islam.<ref name=Guardian>"[http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/jan/11/salman-rushdie-satanic-verses How one book ignited a culture war]". ''[[The Guardian]]''. Retrieved on 26 April 2016.</ref> The book's title refers to a controversial incident in early Islamic history, ''The Satanic Verses'' &mdash; which is one of the reasons why so many Muslims reacted violently to its publication.

The Islamic world reacted with its usual level of restraint, i.e. [[Zero|not much]], and a [[fatwa]] was issued by [[Iran]]'s then-Supreme Leader, [[Ayatollah Khomeini]]<ref name=Guardian /> (a figure directly parodied in the novel, depicted as ''a mad imam in exile''<ref name=Guardian />). In addition to the fatwa, Iranian officials placed a price on Rushdie's head.<ref> [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/185778.stm Iran MPs back Rushdie fatwa], [[BBC]] News</ref><ref group=note>Curiously enough, Khomeini died the following year in 1989, while Rushdie remains very much alive. [[God]] must have misheard the fatwa.</ref> 

The response in the [[West]] was not much better. [[Europe]]an-based Muslim groups, such as the Union of Islamic Students' Associations and the Muslim Parliament, were supportive of the fatwa.

Even outside of Islam, the picture ''still'' didn't improve much. The then-[[Church of England|Archbishop of Canterbury]], Robert Runcie, in the spirit of cross-religion relations, agreed with Muslim demands that Britain's [[Blasphemy#Blasphemy in modern law|blasphemy laws]] be modified to include support for Islam. [[Margaret Thatcher]] and [[Ronald Reagan]], the leaders of the UK and the [[United States]] respectively, condemned the death threats, but former President [[Jimmy Carter]] also joined many others in expressing the view that Rushdie must have [[blaming the victim|known what he was getting into]] when he wrote the book.<ref>[http://www.cartercenter.org/news/documents/doc1381.html Rushdie's Book Is An Insult]</ref> [[Germaine Greer]], the noted [[radical feminist]] writer, described Rushdie as being ''"a megalomaniac, an Englishman with [[Racism|dark skin]]"'' (even though she herself left the Lucky Country for the Mother Country), equating him to an Islamic equivalent of a "house negro". Roald Dahl, most famous for his [[children]]'s books, labelled Rushdie "a dangerous opportunist".<ref>[http://www.weeklywire.com/ww/02-08-99/tw_book1.html Literature Held Hostage: The Holy War Against Salman Rushdie Turns 10]</ref> While '70s wash-up Cat Stevens (aka Yusuf Islam) wanted Rushdie dead,<ref>{{wpa|Cat Stevens' comments about Salman Rushdie}}</ref> but later tried to backpedal, the more [[music]]ally and socially relevant U2 co-wrote the song ''The Ground Beneath Her Feet'',<ref>{{wpa|The Ground Beneath Her Feet (song)}}</ref> based on Rushdie's book of the same name. 

Some writers, such as Susan Sontag and [[Christopher Hitchens]], offered unequivocal support for Rushdie's right to [[Freedom of speech|free speech]], but many tended to follow the Carter approach of being unsupportive of the death threats while still blaming Rushdie for insulting Islam.

In a 2015 speech, he compared political and militant [[Islamism]] to that of the [[Soviet Union]] and [[Nazi Germany]], and argued that it was just as vulnerable to a collapse. Rushdie has said ''The Satanic Verses'' would not be published today because of a climate of intimidation that prevents publication of books critical of Islam; he added that in late summer 2012 [[Channel 4]], a major UK television channel, had cancelled a documentary critical of Islam due to fear.<ref name="Not Today" />

As of 2025, the fatwa remains in effect, and cannot be revoked in Shia Islamic tradition in any case. In 2016, media outlets in Iran pooled together to raise $600,000 (£420,000) to add to the bounty.<ref>[http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/22/salman-rushdie-iranian-media-raise-more-money-for-fatwa Iranian Media Outlets Renew Fatwa Against Author Salman Rushdie for His Supposed “Blasphemy”]</ref> As with [[creationism|creationists]]' inveighing against "Darwinism" or [[evolution]], and various fundamentalists' condemnation of ''[[Harry Potter]]'' as demonic, it is likely that most Muslims claiming to be insulted by <i>The Satanic Verses</i> have/had never read it, in whole or in part. As such, outside of [[Iran|certain]] [[Pakistan|countries]] most young Muslims have either never heard of his book or care about him.<ref>[https://www.news18.com/news/opinion/salman-rushdie-stabbing-no-place-for-fatwa-of-death-in-modern-world-5758393.html No Place for ‘Fatwa of Death’ in Modern World] News 18, August 16, 2022</ref><ref>[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/fight-words-with-words-indian-muslims-for-secular-democracy-opposes-re-banning-of-salman-rushdies-book/articleshow/116801493.cms Indian Muslims for Secular-Democracy Opposes Re-banning of Salman-Rushdie's Book] Times of India, December 30, 2024</ref> On the other hand, it only takes one lunatic with a knife...

==Assassination attempt==
In August 2022, Rushdie was stabbed multiple times on stage whilst giving a lecture in New York.<ref>https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-62524922</ref> He was immediately hospitalised and spent some time on a ventilator. Police immediately arrested 24-year-old Hadi Matar and charged him with attempted murder. Whilst he denied the charge of attempted murder, Matar admitted that he disliked Rushdie because "he's someone who attacked Islam, he attacked their beliefs, the belief systems."<ref>https://news.sky.com/story/sir-salman-rushdies-alleged-attacker-hadi-matar-says-he-was-surprised-the-author-survived-12675424</ref>

==See also==
*[[Blasphemy]]
*[[Everybody Draw Muhammad Day]]
*[[Satanic Verses]]
*[[Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons|''Jyllands-Posten'' Muhammad cartoons]]
*[[Charlie Hebdo]]

==External links==
* [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/TheSatanicVerses ''The Satanic Verses''] on [[TV Tropes]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rushdie, Salman}}
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Atheists]]
[[Category:Blasphemy (probably)]]
[[Category:British people]]
[[Category:Feminists]]
[[Category:Islam]]
[[Category:Criticism of Islam]]
[[Category:Living people]]

Categories: Authors, Atheists, Blasphemy (probably), British people, Feminists, Islam, Criticism of Islam, Living people