It all happened on August 12 at the educational center Chautauqua Institution in the city of Chautauqua. The writer arrived at the event and was about to give a lecture about how the US has become a haven for writers and artists in exile, as well as a “home for creative freedom,” Sky News reported. An unknown person in the state of New York attacked the Booker Prize-winning British writer of Indian origin Salman Rushdie with a knife.
Why Muslims Hate Him
Salman Rushdie is hated by representatives of the Islamic world:
The publicist is hated by representatives of the Islamic world – for the novel “Satanic Verses” written in 1988. The attacker was detained by the police, and the victim was urgently hospitalized. 360 pieced together the picture of the attempted murder and found out why Rushdie is so disliked by Muslims.
Rushdie wrote ‘The Satanic Verses’ in 1988, roughly 34 years ago, and faced death threats for several years afterward.
The contentious aspect of “The Satanic Verses”
The title of the book, ‘Satanic Verse,’ has raised concerns and protests among Muslims.
“Satanic Verse,” controversy:
According to Muslims, the angel Gibreel (Gabriel in English) came to visit the Prophet Muhammad, who recited God’s words to him for over 22 years. Muhammad then recited the words to his followers, which became the verses and chapters of the Quran.
The plot of Rushdie’s book is similar. One of his key characters, Gibreel Farishta, dreams that he is the angel Gibreel and encounters another main character, Mahound (also known as the Prophet Muhammad), in the novel. The holy encounter between the angel Gibreel and the Prophet Muhammad is likened to the encounter between Gibreel and Mahound.
Controversy surrounds the book because of the word “Mahound,” which many believe to be a disparaging epithet for Muhammad used by Christians who viewed him as the devil in the Middle Ages.
Even more egregiously, Rushdie called Mecca “Jahilia,” after the “period of ignorance” that preceded the advent of Islam.
Beats before lecture:
The host of the event took the stage and introduced the publicist to the audience. At that moment, a man in a black mask ran out of the hall and attacked the publicist, eyewitnesses of the attack told The Washington Post. According to them, the man had a knife in his hands and a mask on his face. It all lasted about 20 seconds – the attacker was thrown to the floor and twisted. Rushdie was lying on the stage.
“We thought it was part of a stunt to show that there is still a lot of controversy around this author. But after a few seconds it became obvious that this was not so, ”said spectator Kathleen Jones.
The incident was commented on by the New York Police Department. “Rushdie was stabbed in the neck and was taken by helicopter to a local hospital. His condition is not yet known,” a police spokesman said.
The attack on Salman Rushdie has already been condemned by many of his fellow writers.
From threats to knighthood:
Salman Rushdie was born in June 19, 1947, in Bombay. At the age of 14, he went to study in England, and in 1964 he became a British subject. For some time he worked in the theater and was also a journalist.
He gained wide popularity due to the publication of the novel “Midnight’s Children” in 1981. For this work, he received the prestigious Booker Prize. But he became a notorious author after the publication of the novel The Satanic Verses. Many Muslims in the world took the work with hostility, believing that it offended the Prophet, Muhammad. A series of protests broke out around the world – there was even a riot in Mumbai, the victims of which were 12 people, The Associated Press recalled.
The publicist began to receive threats from all over the world. In 1989, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini publicly cursed the writer and “sentenced” him to death. There was even a three million dollar bounty on his head. For several years, the publicist was guarded by the British police, and only in 2002 the guards were removed – the UK received tacit guarantees from Iran for the author’s safety.
In 2007, British Queen Elizabeth II awarded Rushdie a knighthood. This decision revived a wave of discontent in the Islamic world. In 2000, the writer moved to the United States, and since 2016 he has been an American citizen.
The attack was not considered accidental:
The Iranian elites secretly made it clear that the country would not allow offending the state and faith, suggested Yevgeny Mikhailov, director of the Center for Strategic Studies of the South Caucasus and political scientist.
“In my opinion, the attack on Salman Rushdie is not accidental. I’m surprised this hasn’t happened before. By and large, with his book “Satanic Verses” he offended the entire Islamic world, as they [there] believe. And the prophet as well,” the expert said about the situation.
According to the political scientist, if the attack was indeed planned with the participation of the Iranian elites, tensions between Iran and the United States can be expected.
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