After Salman Rushdie was stabbed at an event in New York yesterday, UFC commentator Joe Rogan tweeted an intriguing old quotation from the author.
Rogan posted a graphic depicting the 75-year-remark old’s in the wake of the terrible event on Instagram. It said:
“The moment you declare a set of ideas to be immune from criticism, satire, derision or contempt, freedom of thought becomes impossible.”
According to reports, Rushdie is on a ventilator and may lose an eye after being stabbed in the neck and abdomen during a literary event at the Chautauqua Institution in New York. His 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, viewed as offensive to the Prophet Mohammed, resulted in threats he endured for years.
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the former Supreme Leader of Iran, issued a fatwa against him, forcing him into hiding for over nine years. Hadi Matar, whose social media accounts indicated he was leaning toward “Shia radicalism” and the cause of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard was later identified as the attacker by the New York State Police (IRGC).
After ordering a fatwa, Salman Rushdie replied to threats of death
On BBC Radio 4, Salman Rushdie discussed the threats made against him back in 1989 and clarified that his work was not “blasphemy against Islam”:
“Frankly, I wish I had written a more critical book and I’m very sad that it should have happened. It’s not true that this book is a blasphemy against Islam. I doubt very much that Khomeini or anyone else in Iran has read the book or more than selected extracts out of context.”
Ayatollah Hasan Sane’i stated in 1997 that the reward for Rushdie’s murder would rise from $2 million to $2.5 million. Since 2016, money has been donated to raise the bounty to assassinate Rushdie. Unfortunately, this vicious attack will remain one of the most talked-about events in recent memory, 34 years after he made his remarks.
Below, you can watch Rushdie discuss 1989 threats on his life:
