Salman Rushdie Knighted, Islamic World Outraged

[Pearl]

Muslim world inflamed by Rushdie knighthood
Ben Hoyle
Sir Salman Rushdie celebrates his 60th birthday today in familiar circumstances: he is once again the subject of death threats across the Islamic world.

Eighteen years after the Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling on Muslims to kill him, a government minister in Pakistan said yesterday that Rushdie’s recent knighthood justified suicide bombing.

The question of blasphemy in The Satanic Verses, Rushdie’s 1988 tale of a prophet misled by the devil, remains a deeply sensitive issue in much of the Muslim world and the author’s inclusion in the Queen’s Birthday Honours last week has inflamed anti-British sentiment.

Gerald Butt, editor of the authoritative Middle East Economic Survey, told The Times: “It will be interpreted as an action calculated to goad Muslims at a time when the atmosphere is already very tense and Britain’s standing in the region is very low because of its involvement in Iraq and its lack of action in tackling the Palestine issue.”

Hardliners in Iran revived calls for his murder yesterday. Mehdi Kuchakzadeh, a Tehran MP, declared: “Rushdie died the moment the late Imam [Ayatollah Khomeini] issued the fatwa.”

The Organisation to Commemorate Martyrs of the Muslim World, a fringe hardline group, offered a reward of $150,000 (£75,000) to any successful assassin.

Forouz Rajaefar, the group’s secretary general, said: “The British and the supporters of the anti-Islam Salman Rushdie could rest assured that the writer’s nightmare will not end until the moment of his death and we will bestow kisses on the hands of whomsoever is able to execute this apostate.”

Effigies of Rushdie and the Queen were burnt in Pakistan, where presidential elections at the end of the year have destablised an already volatile political climate. Hundreds of protesters in Multan, Karachi and Lahore set fire to British flags and chanted “Death to Britain, death to Rushdie” and Islamist leaders called for nationwide protests after Friday prayers.

Ijaz-ul-Haq, the Religious Affairs Minister, told the assembly in Islamabad that the award of the knighthood excused suicide bombing. “If somebody has to attack by strapping bombs to his body to protect the honour of the Prophet then it is justified,” he said.

He later retracted his statement, explaining that he had intended to say that knighting Rushdie will foster extremism. “If someone blows himself up, he will consider himself justified. How can we fight terrorism when those who commit blasphemy are rewarded by the West? We demand an apology by the British government. Their action has hurt the sentiments of 1.5 billion Muslims."

Pakistan’s national assembly earlier unanimously passed a resolution condemning Rushdie’s knighthood, which it said would encourage “contempt” for the Prophet Muhammad.

Rushdie was forced to go into hiding for almost a decade after the Ayatollah Khomeini issued the death sentence over The Satanic Verses.

On Valentine’s Day in 1989 the spiritual figurehead of the Iranian revolution pronounced on Teheran radio that: “The author of The Satanic Verses, which is against Islam, the Prophet, the Koran, and all those involved in its publication who were aware of its content, are sentenced to death.”

In Britain, the subsequent hate campaign helped to politicise and radicalise a generation of young British Muslims. The taxpayer is believed to have spent more than £10 million protecting Rushdie.

Only Khomeini had the power officially to lift the fatwa and he died without doing so, but in 1998, the Iranian Foreign Minister promised his British counterpart, Robin Cook, that Iran would not implement it.

Gradually, Rushdie emerged back into the literary spotlight and in recent years has appeared at events in London and New York, where he now lives.

It is understood that when he is in this country, Rushdie continues to receive round-the-clock police protection.

Muhammad Ali Hosseini, Iran’s foreign affairs spokesman, said on Sunday that the knighthood “will definitely put the British officials in confrontation with Islamic societies. This act shows that insulting Islamic sacred values is not accidental. It is planned, organised, guided and supported by some Western countries.”

Was it a good idea to knight him? Or has Britain put itself into a deep hole?

 

[A_Wanderer]

I think that more people should be mocking and insulting the so-called Prophet Mo; I don't think that antiquated honours and titles are a decent reward (on top of the many pounds that have had to be spent to protect him over the years).

 

[martha]

They can just get the fuck over it.

 

[Ormus]

Ijaz-ul-Haq, the Religious Affairs Minister, told the assembly in Islamabad that the award of the knighthood excused suicide bombing. “If somebody has to attack by strapping bombs to his body to protect the honour of the Prophet then it is justified,” he said.

...

Pakistan’s national assembly earlier unanimously passed a resolution condemning Rushdie’s knighthood, which it said would encourage “contempt” for the Prophet Muhammad.

I think they do a good enough job encouraging that on their own.

 

[Irvine511]

and everyone forgets that The Satanic Verses really wasn't all that good to begin with.

 

[deep]

Was it a good idea to knight him?

It was/ is a pretty stupid idea.

If someone asked this question a month ago. It would not even have been taken seriously.


and I will go on the record now

and say that it would be stupid to give George W Bush a Noble Peace Prize.

 

[maycocksean]

On a different note. . .

the entire "Islamic World"? Isn't that a bit of an overstatement?The article describes the responses of some admittedly fringe and extremist groups, talks about "hundreds" of protesters in Pakistan (as about to hundreds of thousands). We've got a few self-appointed spokespersons of 1.5 BILLION Muslims?

Where are the millions rising as one in protest in Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population in the world?

This is as bad as talking about the "African American community."

My guess is most Muslims around the world are just trying to make it through the day, care for their families, and go about their lives and aren't all that concerned with whose being knighted in Great Britain.

 

[cobl04]

What did he exactly do that was so wrong? And what does U2 have to do with him?

And the entire Islamic World is extreme, but it's a newspaper article, so of course they are going to say that.

 

[sulawesigirl4]

On a different note. . .

the entire "Islamic World"? Isn't that a bit of an overstatement?The article describes the responses of some admittedly fringe and extremist groups, talks about "hundreds" of protesters in Pakistan (as about to hundreds of thousands). We've got a few self-appointed spokespersons of 1.5 BILLION Muslims?

Where are the millions rising as one in protest in Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population in the world?

This is as bad as talking about the "African American community."

My guess is most Muslims around the world are just trying to make it through the day, care for their families, and go about their lives and aren't all that concerned with whose being knighted in Great Britain.

You're right, sean. This is one of the things that really angers me when it comes to the press. Stuff like this is just irresponsible journalism, and it exacerbates already ignorant stereotypes. I spent most of my life in countries that are majority Muslim (Indonesia and most recently Mali), and you would never see people rioting in the streets over something like this. Everyone I knew was just trying to make it through the day, get a decent wage, feed their children, and live their lives. Very few would even care about what the British want to do with their knighthood, let alone take to the streets over it. Still, stories like this in the newspaper help us feel morally and culturally superior. We aren't rabid radicals like those scaaaary Muslims. Islamic world, Muslim world...does anyone bother to think about the myriads of countries and cultures whose members follow Islam? As if they are all robots who think, speak and react in the same way. pfft.

 

[redhotswami]

You're right, sean. This is one of the things that really angers me when it comes to the press. Stuff like this is just irresponsible journalism, and it exacerbates already ignorant stereotypes. I spent most of my life in countries that are majority Muslim (Indonesia and most recently Mali), and you would never see people rioting in the streets over something like this. Everyone I knew was just trying to make it through the day, get a decent wage, feed their children, and live their lives. Very few would even care about what the British want to do with their knighthood, let alone take to the streets over it. Still, stories like this in the newspaper help us feel morally and culturally superior. We aren't rabid radicals like those scaaaary Muslims. Islamic world, Muslim world...does anyone bother to think about the myriads of countries and cultures whose members follow Islam? As if they are all robots who think, speak and react in the same way. pfft.

I heard a bit about this on Democracy Now. Either they read this thread, or they just rock hardcore, because they explicitly said that this has angered people in Iran and Pakistan. They didn't make generalized statements about it.

 

[Axver]

And what does U2 have to do with him?

1. After the fatwa was originally issued against Rushdie, he went into hiding for years. At one ZooTV gig at Wembley Stadium, MacPhisto phoned Rushdie, but as it turned out, Rushdie was backstage and he came out to join MacPhisto. It was his first public appearance since the fatwa.

2. A few years later, Rushdie wrote The Ground Beneath Her Feet.

And the entire Islamic World is extreme

You quite sure about that one?

I'd say we have some non-Islamic extremists right here in Australia who can give the Islamic world's poor representatives a run for their money in the lunacy stakes. Every culture has its nuts who lack a grasp on reality.

 

[anitram]

I hated the Satanic Verses and The Ground Beneath Her Feet. Both overrated, masturbatory exercises if you ask me.

 

[martha]

If this is the biggest deal these outraged people have to worry about, then they aren't paying enough attention to what the hell else is going on.

 

[Irvine511]

I hated the Satanic Verses and The Ground Beneath Her Feet. Both overrated, masturbatory exercises if you ask me.

yes, pretty much. read them both. TGBHF had moments of brilliance, though. SV, not as much.

but everyone should read Midnight's Children.

 

[Judah]

Midnight's Children great. SV baaaad.

Last time i went to Pakistan, i actually snuck in a copy of SV. Everyone wanted to read it (it had been banned there).

There are political extremists in Pakistan (and other Islamic countries) who love to manipulate the electorate into West bashing. It's easier to get support by getting people riled up over what the "immoral West" does, than to provide the basics in life: food, shelter, education, equality.

The Islamic critics of SV too often overlook one point. The controversy that came out of SV is a very real historical issue in Islam. It's not something that the West, or Salman Rushdie, created. The issue of certain parts of the Koran and Mohammad's revelations changing is a real one, debated in Islamic circles for centuries. So why so much anger/hurt feelings over something (i.e. issue of the verses) that has a historical basis? The answer goes back to the political figures manipulating the masses to keep the anti-West fervour going.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satanic_Verses

 

[CTU2fan]

Was it a good idea to knight him? Or has Britain put itself into a deep hole?

Seems like a pretty bad idea actually. Regardless of your stance on Rushdie, knighting him is sort of asking for trouble.


And the editor of the Middle East Economic Survey's name is Gerald Butt? Butt??? A pity his parents liked Gerald better than Harold though

 

[Irvine511]

There are political extremists in Pakistan (and other Islamic countries) who love to manipulate the electorate into West bashing. It's easier to get support by getting people riled up over what the "immoral West" does, than to provide the basics in life: food, shelter, education, equality.

you mean Pakistan has Republicans, too?

 

[Greenlight]

1. After the fatwa was originally issued against Rushdie, he went into hiding for years. At one ZooTV gig at Wembley Stadium, MacPhisto phoned Rushdie, but as it turned out, Rushdie was backstage and he came out to join MacPhisto. It was his first public appearance since the fatwa.
.

I was there that night. It was a big surprise when Rushdie walked out as he hadn't been seen in public for months.

I can't understand though why Rushdie was awarded a knighthood rather than a lesser award such as an OBE or CBE which most writers end up with at best. I don't think his contribution to British literature has been that outstanding. Midnight Children was a great book but reading Satanic Verses was a waste of time. I don't know if Rushdie supports the Labour Party but it's food for thought that those people who donate large sums often end up with top honours.

 

[joyfulgirl]

I heard a bit about this on Democracy Now. Either they read this thread, or they just rock hardcore, because they explicitly said that this has angered people in Iran and Pakistan. They didn't make generalized statements about it.

Democracy Now just rocks hardcore.

 

[Canadiens1131]

They can just get the fuck over it.

 

[maycocksean]

you mean Pakistan has Republicans, too?

I was going to say the same thing!

 

[maycocksean]

I was there that night. It was a big surprise when Rushdie walked out as he hadn't been seen in public for months.

I can't understand though why Rushdie was awarded a knighthood rather than a lesser award such as an OBE or CBE which most writers end up with at best. I don't think his contribution to British literature has been that outstanding. Midnight Children was a great book but reading Satanic Verses was a waste of time. I don't know if Rushdie supports the Labour Party but it's food for thought that those people who donate large sums often end up with top honours.

How much you wanna bet he wouldn't have been knighted if it hadn't been for the fatwa?

 

[financeguy]

This is the vindication of FYM, as far as I'm concerned.

We see behind the cheap propaganda, we're not easily led.

It's a good day for the forum.

 

[yolland]

From an interview with David Cronenberg in SHIFT magazine, June/July '95:

[Cronenberg:] I've had movies censored, and I realize that I could never second-guess a censor. I don't know how they think because they'll want to cut something out of my movie that I would never imagine they would.

[Rushdie:] I had the strange experience of becoming a subject of a movie--this appalling movie made in Pakistan called International Guerrillas. It's about the freedom fighters of Islam searching for me, trying to kill me. I'm the villain of the movie. There is a character called my name who is the author of The Satanic Verses who wears a series of appalling safari suits. And every time this guy arrives on camera there's a sort of satanic "dahh dahh." And the cameraman always looks to his feet. And there's a slow "pan" up...And this guy, me, lives in what appears to be an island in the Philippines, protected by what appears to be the Israeli army. And various members of these Islamic radicals were arrested by these Jewish soldiers and are brought to the "me" character who tortures them, has them tied up and cut about with swords. And at the end of the film I actually get killed by the Holy Book itself. The Koran appears in the sky above me and fries me with lightning. This dreadful film is so badly made that it's actually difficult to take it too seriously, but it came to England and was banned. And I found myself in the strangest position. I'm fighting an anti-censorship fight and here's somebody banning a film which is brought about by me. It ended up with me writing to the censors here, guaranteeing that I would not take legal action against them. And telling them that I do not wish to be protected in this way. It's a wonderful parable about how censorship doesn't work. If that film had been banned, it would have become the hottest video in town. Everybody would have seen it. Instead, it was unbanned at my request and the producers booked the biggest cinema in Bradford, which is the largest Muslim community, and nobody came. They lost a fortune, and the film just died overnight.
....................................................................
You say you can you never go back to Bombay?

No. It's completely dreadful for me. That is the worst thing, finding it difficult to go to India is, of all the deprivations, the worst. Because, well, because I'm from there. My family is still there and my mother lives in Pakistan and I'm not allowed to go to Pakistan. I'm personally banned there...I will never go to Pakistan again, no question. But it's an indication of how trumped up this whole thing is. My mother has been living there throughout this time and there's been absolutely no trouble. You know, she hasn't had a rude phone call.

Why not? Because you believe that in the streets--

Because all of the people are not like that. She goes to the bazaar and people say, "How is your son? Isn't it dreadful what's happening?"

Oh? Now that's so interesting to hear.

But that's the reality.

The image you have of it is that she would be stoned in the streets.

I know. People say, "These crazy Muslims, we couldn't stop them, and they're bastards." One of the things that's not given a lot of attention is how much Muslim support for me there's been.

Well, that's encouraging to hear.

The thing called Islamism is not the same thing as Islam. This political thing which we call fundamentalism, everybody is scared stiff of it. It is not a religious movement, it's a political fascist movement which happens to be using a certain kind of religious language.

It's like the Christian fundamentalists in the States.

Sure, but because there is less knowledge in the West of what's happening in these countries, there's a tendency not to understand that this is a political movement, a tendency to say that it is a spontaneous outpouring of the true religious feelings of the people.

Yes, I know that people do think that.

Yes, and also to not notice the fact that the people who are most oppressed by these movements are Muslims. That's to say the people most oppressed by the Iranian regime are the people of Iran.

Ultimately it's easy to think that they also got what they deserved, that somehow this is an expression of what they really want.

But there's no such thing as a homogeneous culture which can demand not to be criticized. Iran, for example, is famous as the place in which the most pornographic jokes about the prophet are made.

Really?

Iran is famous as being a place with dirty stories, dirty religious stories. It's their culture. No culture is one thing.

If someone were doing that now in Iran, under these--

Oh, it would get wiped out.

Now they would.

But it's still in the streets and in people's houses et cetera. It's an irreverent culture. My writing has always come out of that idea of the mixture, the kind of idealized, mongrel truth. We should avoid at all costs any pedigree version of the truth.

SV was and is banned in India as well (in fact, they were the first country to ban it), although I've known quite a few Indians who owned grainy Xeroxed copies of it and always got the impression that it was one of those things where "if you want it you'll know where you can get it, no problem".

Agree totally with Irvine's assessment of Rushdie's major works. I assume the knighthood was probably not awarded 'merely' on the basis of literary merit (despite that formal justification), but rather also as a tribute of sorts to the high personal price he has paid for his art. For what that's worth.