Published in 1988, “The Satanic Verses” is one of the most controversial books in the world and is considered blasphemy by the Muslim community. The heat of the controversy grew to an extent where Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran issued a fatwa in 1989 calling for the killing of Rushdie as well as his editors and publishers.
Who is Salman Rushdie?
Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie was born on June 19, 1947, in Mumbai (then Bombay) to a Muslim businessman. He is an alumnus of the prestigious University of Cambridge and his treatment of sensitive religious and political figures has turned him into a controversial figure in the literary world. Before the publication of “The Satanic Verses”, he had three great works to his name which got him commendation and recognition around the world, namely, “Midnight’s Children” (1981), which got him the Booker Prize, “Grimus” (1975), and “Shame” (1983).
Author Rushdie had a close save from death on August 12, 2022, when he was stabbed multiple times at an event in New York. He is now said to be stable and off the ventilator. Nevertheless, this makes us contemplate whether the controversy regarding his novel will ever be over.
The plot of “The Satanic Verses” revolves around two protagonists- Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha who meet on a plane from India to England. The plane gets hijacked by Sikh terrorists who accidentlly detonate a bomb while the plane is over the English Channel, leading to the death of all the passengers except the two protagonists. While the two survivors are having a fall, Gibreel experiences a number of dream sequences, out of which one sequence is believed to be about the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The character is named “Mahound”, a derogatory term used by ancient Europeans to vilify the prophet.
Rushdie’s work seems to challenge and sometimes mock some of Islam’s most sensitive tenets which outraged the community. Muslims believe that Prophet Muhammad was visited by the angel Gabriel, who recited God’s verses to him for 22 years and these were later compiled into the Quran. Contrary to this, Rushdie’s character of Mahound puts his own words into the mouth of the angel Gibreel for his own selfish and self-serving motives. Through Mahound, Rushdie casts a doubt on the divine nature of the Quran. He claims it to be sexiest due to certain verses in the text which place men “in charge of women” and give men the right to strike their wives if they “turn arrogant”. In this work of fiction, we can sense Rushdie’s tacit implication that rather than God, Muhammed himself is the source of the revealed truths, i.e., the Quran. This outraged the Muslim community and led to fatwas for his assassination.
Salman Rushdie, in an interview with the French magazine L’ Express, claimed that religious texts must be open to challenge. “Why can’t we debate Islam?” he said. “It is possible to respect individuals, to protect them from intolerance, while being skeptical about their ideas, even criticising them ferociously”.
Muslims over the world, however, consider the Quran to be God’s words and infallible and, thus, the author has had to remain in hiding for over a decade due to mass protests for his killing. In 1998, the fatwa regarding his assassination was taken back by the government of Iran but this sudden attack in New York has taken everybody by surprise.
The main concern, about this attack, however, doesn’t lie in its vigour but in the reason behind it. Was Rushdie attacked for blasphemy? The answer to this question is subjective. This is because neither the man convicted for the attack, namely Hadi Matar, nor Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had read Rushdie’s work. “Writers seem to be especially vulnerable in polarized times when beliefs harden into dogma and those who hold opposing views are demonized.”
Religion is a belief and humans, as rational beings can reason and have their own set of beliefs. Our rational capacities allow us to differentiate between the right and the wrong, both of which are subjective. Why is it, then, that artists are denied the freedom of artistic expression? Is religion stronger than humanity? As we advance in technology, politics, and social life, every sphere of our lives is changing. Change is indeed a constant. Why, then, have humans solidified the boundaries of religion to that extent wherein humanity is its own enemy ? Humanity and empathy are the cornerstone of each and every religion and when we let it slip, we lose the essence of “God” and what remains is a hollow and man-made conceptualization of religion.
Written by Arzoo
Edited by Marshaa Balani
