The Issue of Blasphemy

PUBLISHER’S NOTE On 17th February 1989, Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the death of Salman Rushdie for having insulted the Prophet in his novel ‘Satanic Verses.’ The ‘Islamic’ Government of Iran announced a reward of 2.6 million dollars for Rushdie’s would-be assassin if he were an Iranian, the sum being reduced to 1 million dollars if he were of some other nationality. Two days later, Rushdie issued an apology, saying, ‘Living in a world of many faiths, the experience has served to remind us that we must all be conscious of the sensibilities of others.’ Khomeini did not accept his apology, however, and as quoted in ‘The Times of India’, insisted, ‘Even if Salman Rushdie repents and becomes the most pious man, it is incumbent on every Muslim to employ everything he’s got, his life and wealth, to send him to hell.’ Soon after this, several Sunni Ulama, too, came out in full support of Khomeini’s fatwa. They declared that Rushdie had engaged in the most extreme form of blasphemy, and that, therefore, he deserved nothing less than the death penalty. Khomeini’s fatwa angered vast numbers of non-Muslims across the world. They protested against the fatwa, challenging the right of a citizen of one country to order the death of a person living in, and a citizen of, another country.