THE WISDOM OF AVOIDANCE

taking the news seriously, acting with understanding, and refraining from emotional outbursts. The more serious the case, the more cautious the analysis, as emphasized in the following Hadith: “Acting without haste is from God, and acting with haste is from Satan” (Sunan Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith No. 2012). By the grace of God, I adhere to this Shariah rule. Therefore, when I came across the news regarding Salman Rushdie’s book, I took the initiative to obtain and read his original 547page English book, ‘The Satanic Verses.’ Simultaneously, I revisited the Shariah ruling on this matter. Among various jurisprudential books, I acquired Allama Ibn Taymiyyah’s Arabic book, As-Sarim al-Maslul ‘ala Shatim ar-Rasul (The Open Sword against those Who Insult the Messenger), which comprises 600 pages and is considered the most comprehensive and detailed work available in the Islamic library on this subject. Following this necessary two-phased research, I began writing on the subject. However, the haste and flawed manner in which some Muslim leaders expressed their statements suggests that they may have spoken and written vehemently against the book based solely on hearsay without reading the original text. I also observe a lack of responsibility among them to re-examine the Shariah ruling on the matter or to read Ibn Taymiyyah’s entire book before commencing their campaign. An example of this haste can be seen in the case of Ayatollah Khomeini ordering the assassination of Salman Rushdie.