Attack on Salman Rushdie: Why is The Satanic Verses so controversial?

Author Salman Rushdie narrowly escaped death after he was stabbed 10 times during an event in New York. Rushdie is now said to be off the ventilator and on his road to recovery. However, the attack reminds the world that his decades-old work still continues to spill trouble for the novelist.

Attack on Rushdie stems from the same-old controversial book, The Satanic Verses, published in 1988. The book takes a surreal view on Islam. At the time of its publication, the book resulted in protests by Muslims around the world and even an Iranian state-announced assassination call against the author and those involved in its publication. The book was deemed blasphemous by several Muslims. 

The New York attack also is a result of the same controversy from decades ago. While those gravely offended against the book want the author and the work gone, the recent attack has only helped both become even more popular. In India, e-searches for the book The Satanic Verses peaked over the weekend and through Monday, August 15, the Times of India reported. In the US, The Satanic Verses became the top-selling book on Amazon, according to Forbes. 

But what is The Satanic Verses all about and why is it so controversial? 

Satanic Verses “Al-Gharaneeq”[Thread]
This is quite misleading. The work on this subject reflects the intellectual dishonesty of certain western historians and intellectuals. Let's go through the details to understand the flawed approach adopted by some on this subject -1/n https://t.co/8bHL4aF77n

— Talha ahmad (@talhaahmad967) August 14, 2022

The Indian-born British-American author Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses is written in dream sequences of one of its main characters - Gibreel Farishta. The dreams sometimes challenge and even seem to mock some verses of the Quran and Muslim beliefs. 

The characters Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha are Indian Muslims going to Britain. Gibreel is also a character in the Quran known as angel Gibreel or angel Gabriel in English, who recited God's words to Prophet Muhammad. These words were what later became the Quran. 

Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha meet on a plane to England, but the plane explodes. However, the two miraculously survive and fall on earth as two known characters - Gibreel as an angel and Chamcha as the devil. This is when the dream sequences start. 

When they fall on earth, people receive them as such - an angel and a devil. While Gibreel's life improves immensely, Chamcha's life takes the turn for the worse.

However, Gibreel's good life is tainted by his developing schizophrenia and fits of jealousy. The two characters war against each other and in the end find themselves returning to India and forgiving each other. 

However, while the start was good for Gibreel and bad for Chamcha, the fate is reversed at the end. Gibreel kills his wife in a fit of jealousy and then himself, while Chamcha goes on to reunite with his family and roots. 

The book is meant to discuss the notions of what we assume as good and evil. Angel Gibreel was supposed to be the epitome of good, but the story doesn't end the same way for him. 

The story of how the young Salman Rushdie first encountered at Cambridge the classic story of the so-called "satanic verses" that eventually inspired the novel (published in 1988) is a pretty interesting one that he details in his memoir Joseph Anton (2012) ... pic.twitter.com/3uVhFNRuSq

— Sean W. Anthony (@shahanSean) August 12, 2022

The Guardian lists some of the controversial parts of the book:

1. In the book, God is described as "The Destroyer of Man" and he is "similarly described in the Old Testament and the Book of Revelation, especially of men who are unbelievers or enemies of the Jews", the Guardian says.
2. Prophet Abraham is criticised in the book for his conduct toward Hagar, an Egyptian slave to Abraham and their son, Ismael. However, the Guardian points out that Prophet Abraham is also seen as "not without fault" in Islamic, Christian or Jewish traditions.
3. Prophet Muhammad is called "Mahoud", "a conjuror", "a magician" and a "false prophet". But Rushdie does not call the Prophet these names, but the descriptions come form of a drunken apostate, who is not really shown in a good light in the book, according to the Guardian.  
4. The book names prostitutes after the wives of the Prophets. The Guardian says "the adoption of their names by whores in a brothel symbolises the perversion and decadence into which the city had fallen before it surrendered to Islam".
5. The book calls the Prophet's companions "bums from Persia" and "clowns", but the description is used by a poet hired to spread propaganda against the Prophet. 
6. The book also criticises Islam for having too many rules. 

I think the man who wanted to kill Rushdie for writing Satanic Verses hasn't read Satanic verses. I think the Islamists who want to kill me for writing books have not read any of my books.

— taslima nasreen (@taslimanasreen) August 13, 2022

Satanic Verses in India: India was the first to ban the book in 1989, followed by Pakistan and others. 

An attack on Salman Rushdie is nothing new. Rushdie had to go into hiding in Britain after Iran's former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a dying Fatwa with a $3 million bounty against the author. Several years after the fatwa was issued and Khomeini dead, Iran has distanced itself from the Fatwa and has also denied any involvement in the current attack. 

However, Iran's current Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had said that the Fatwa was like a bullet, that cannot be revoked until it hits its target. Rushdie is also not the only person targetted for the book. A Japanese translator was killed, and there were attempts to murder two others associated with the book.