The Satanic Verses is Salman Rushdie’s fourth novel and has been a subject of major controversy ever since its publication in 1988, raising essential questions on the possible limits of freedom of expression for authors (Braziller 116). Rushdie, as with his previous novels, wrote the book through elements of magical realism (Kumar 12) – intertwining contemporary characters and events with fantasy. The novel had been and still is accused by several Muslim communities to be blasphemous and offensive to the Prophet Muhammad and the Islamic faith. The source of all the affairs pertains to the two chapters of the novel regarding the dream about Muhammad and his wives where the Prophet’s teachings are mocked and his wives’ identities are given to prostitutes (Pipes, 55). Further controversy led the book to be banned in India and raise demonstrations all over the world (Pipes, 141). On February 14th, 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran, issued a fatwa calling for the assassination of Rushdie from all fellow Muslims (Weatherby 154).
The Muslim community’s outrage can be explained and supported by a particular feature that belongs to the Islamic faith; that is in Islam the religion’s irreducible core lies in the Qur’an as the exact word of God. To doubt this implies to challenge the validity of Prophet Muhammad’s Mission and the Islamic faith. (Pipes 56) Muslim critics’ accusations lie in the blasphemy and profanity of The Satanic Verses and defend the genuine reaction of anger and protest (Ahsan 25). Furthermore, the claims that stand against The Satanic Verses is not one that seeks the suppression of the freedoms of expression, but rather one which refuses to give license for ridiculing Islam and on the values Muslims hold sacred (Ahsan 28). The claim further implies the villainy of pushing Western Liberal ideas upon the readers who belong to the Islamic faith, as the ideas of freedom of expression are as sacrosanct in the West as the Qur’an is in the Middle East and South Asia (Webster 45).
The novel was received with mostly positive literary views in the West, described as “It’s Midnight’s Children all over again” (Rushdie’s most critically acclaimed novel) (Weatherby 125), but in India’s popular magazines The Satanic Verses was portrayed as a political work and controversial literary commentary described as “an uncompromising, unequivocal attack on religious fanaticism and fundamentalism” (Weatherby 126). With general elections in India due within a year, Rajiv Gandhi’s Congress party was well aware of the electoral importance of India’s 100 million Muslims which led the banning of The Satanic Verses on October 5th, a week after it was published in London. This policy was soon followed in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Somalia, Sudan, Malaysia, Indonesia and South Africa (Maitland 36). The banning of the novel led literary communities such as PEN America, The Author’s Guild and Article 19 (an international organization that fought the censorship of writers) to voice their protest and condemnation of the banning of literary works and most of all, the issuing of the fatwa. Since the laws of blasphemy in Britain were meant to protect Christianity alone, Salman Rushdie did not commit any form of illegal action according to their existing laws of blasphemy and was thereby protected in court (Malik 105).
What has not seen much light in the affairs surrounding the Rushdie affair is the evolution of the literary piece in itself, as the controversy has made it difficult to read the book in the cultural context it demands (Suleri, 222). Rushdie’s views on the freedom of speech are evident in his writings, he believes we all already have free speech, what happened in his case was “someone tried to turn off the tap” (Prenshaw, 223).
Works Cited
Ahsan, M.M., and A.R. Kidwai. Sacrilege Versus Civility: Multiple Prespective on The Satanic Verses Affair.Leicester: The Islamic Foundation, 1991. Print.
Ali Malik, Akbar. The Satanic Verses – Was It Worth All the Fuss? A Muslim Lawyer’s View Point. London: Unique Books, 1993. Print.