Satanic Verses controversy

Satanic Verses controversy
Salman Rushdie (in 2014), the author of the novel The Satanic Verses
Ruhollah Khomeini (in 1981), then Supreme Leader of Iran who issued the fatwa

The Satanic Verses controversy, also known as the Rushdie Affair, was a controversy sparked by the 1988 publication of Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses. It centered on the novel's references to the Satanic Verses (apocryphal verses of the Quran), and came to include a larger debate about censorship and religious violence. It included numerous killings, attempted killings (including against Rushdie himself), and bombings by perpetrators who supported Islam.[1]

The affair had a notable impact on geopolitics when, in 1989, Ruhollah Khomeini, Supreme Leader of Iran, issued a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie. The Iranian government has changed its support for the fatwa several times, including in 1998 when Mohammad Khatami said the regime no longer supported it.[2] However, a fatwa cannot be revoked in Shia Islamic tradition.[3] In 2017, a statement was published on the official website of the current supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei, stating that "the decree is as Imam Khomeini (ra) issued"[4] and in February 2019, the Khamenei.ir Twitter account stated that Khomeini's verdict was "solid and irrevocable".[5]

The issue was said to have divided "Muslims from Westerners along the fault line of culture,"[6][7] and to have pitted a core Western value of freedom of expression – that no one "should be killed, or face a serious threat of being killed, for what they say or write"[8] – against the view of some Muslims that non-Muslims should not be free to disparage the "honour of the Prophet" or indirectly criticise Islam through satire – and that religious violence is appropriate in contemporary history in order to defend Islam and Muhammad.[9] English writer Hanif Kureishi called the fatwa "one of the most significant events in postwar literary history".[10]

  1. ^ Jessica Jacobson. Islam in transition: religion and identity among British Pakistani youth. 1998, p. 34
  2. ^ Crossette, Barbara (25 September 1998). "Iran Drops Rushdie Death Threat, And Britain Renews Teheran Ties". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 24 February 2009.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference fatwacont was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Ayatollah Khamenei's fatwa on Salman Rushdie's apostasy from Islam [sic]". Khamenei.ir. 13 February 2017. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017.
  5. ^ Khamenei.ir [@Khamenei_ir] (14 February 2019). "Imam Khomeini's verdict regarding Salman Rushdie is based on divine verses and just like divine verses, it is solid and irrevocable. 1990-06-05" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 15 February 2019 – via Twitter.
  6. ^ Pipes, 1990, p. 133
  7. ^ From Fatwa to Jihad: The Rushdie Affair and Its Aftermath By Kenan Malik Archived 9 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine, introduction, no page numbers
  8. ^ Timothy Garton Ash (22 June 2007). "No ifs and no buts". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 19 December 2007. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  9. ^ "Pakistan blasts Rushdie honour". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 26 July 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  10. ^ "Looking back at Salman Rushdie's 'The Satanic Verses'". The Guardian. London. 14 September 2012. Archived from the original on 8 October 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2012.