2-14-89 . . . The story of the day involves an Indian writer, Salman Rushdie. Rushdie, who was once a Muslim and now lives in London, has published a book (in English) entitled The Satanic Verses. The book, by Rushdie’s own admission, treats Islam irreverently, but many Muslims claim that it is blasphemous and want to ban it. They say that it contains false, misleading, and defamatory statements about Islamic prophets, including Mohammed. (For example, it characterizes the wives of the prophets as prostitutes.) If this were all, it would be a minor flap; but people in the Islamic world are outraged. This evening, on the news, I saw riots in India and Pakistan. People carried signs saying “RUSHDIE, YOU ARE DEAD” and other such warnings. The story even made Nightline. In this country, there is a tradition of free speech under which works like Satanic Verses are protected. We may not like or approve of such works, but we defend the rights of authors and publishers to produce them. But this tradition does not exist in the Islamic world. To many Muslims, there is only one aim: truth. Anything that interferes with that aim must be suppressed, by force if necessary. Can you believe it? One book is shaking the entire Islamic world. If nothing else, it’ll put freedom of speech on the front burner of public debate for a few weeks.
Twenty Years Ago
–––––––
