YUSUF Islam » Chinese Whiskers » Didn't He Say "Kill Rushdie!"?

Chinese Whiskers (FAQs)

Didn't He Say "Kill Rushdie!"?

I never called for the death of Salman Rushdie; nor backed the Fatwa issued by the Ayatollah Khomeini – and still don’t. The book itself destroyed the harmony between peoples and created an unnecessary international crisis.

When asked about my opinion regarding blasphemy, I could not tell a lie and confirmed that – like both the Torah and the Gospel – the Qur’an considers it, without repentance, as a capital offense. The Bible is full of similar harsh laws if you’re looking for them.[1] However, the application of such Biblical and Qur’anic injunctions is not to be outside of due process of law, in a place or land where such law is accepted and applied by the society as a whole.

The accusation that I supported the Fatwa, therefore, is wholly false and misleading. It was due to my naivety in trying to answer a loaded question posed by a journalist, after a harmless biographical lecture I gave to students in Kingston University in 1989, which unleashed the infamous headline above.

To indicate my actual stance about this matter before this front-page controversy erupted, it’s useful to quote a letter of complaint I sent to Viking, a subsidiary of Penguin Books, the publishers, on 8th October, 1989. This was after I had been sent a preview of the text of Satanic Verses:

I wish to express my deepest outrage at the insensitivity of Penguin Books in Publishing Salman Rushdie’s book, Satanic Verses, This book is clearly blasphemous in nature and so deeply offensive to the Muslim Community I urge you to give the contents of this letter your most urgent attention and take a responsible decision.

As can be seen from the above, my personal response before the heat-seeking media got involved was significantly different from the fables and myths which have been circulated.

Sad that no matter how many times I’ve repeatedly tried to explain my true position, journalists inevitably bring up this subject again and again; as if it was the only memorable thing I was reported to have done in my sixty-odd years living on this planet (yawn).

[1] In Exodus 20:7 the Third Commandment openly states, “You shall not take the name of The Lord in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless.”

It also says in Leviticus 24:16, “And he who blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregations shall surely stone him.”

Again, quoting Matthew, 12: 31-32, Jesus is reported to have said, “Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit, shall not be forgiven.”

In addition regarding other crimes it says in Leviticus 20: 14,“And if a man take a wife and her mother he shall be burnt with fire“.

Also in Leviticus 20: 15, “if a man lies with a beast, he shall surely be put to death,” and in Exodus 21:17, “Anyone who curses his father and mother must be put to death.”
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