The Muslim World Revolted against "Satanic Verses" by Salman Rushdie: A Misunderstanding ?

Background Salman Rushdie is an Indian born author who is settled in England. In 1989 his book 'The Satanic Verses' was published. The book created a storm in the Muslim world and resulted in the spiritual head of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini announcing a Fatwa for the head of Salman Rushdie. This fatwa is important as it was the first time that a government in modern times had endorsed a demand to kill a particular individual, in this case Salman Rushdie.

Rushdie and the “Satanic Verses” Rushdie was born a Muslim and yet chose to write The Satanic Verses. The title of the book itself fuelled Muslim anger who felt that the Satanic Verses referred to the Koran itself. Most who had not read the book were easily aroused thinking that Rushdie had committed a sacrilegious act by referring to the Koran as The Satanic Verses. The fact that it was written by a Muslim was like adding salt to the wounds. The Title of the Book Mislead Muslims The title of the book is indeed a misnomer and had Rushdie and his publisher clarified the title as to its real meaning, there is a chance that Muslim anger would not have raised to the heights that it did. For most Muslims the book for referring to the Koran as the Satanic Verses was the work of the Devil. Actually Rushdie was referring to some verses in the Koran that have been exorcised. The prophet Muhammad had ordered the removal of these verses from the Koran as he realized that they were not the words coming from god.

These verses now do not form part of the Koran, but are described by Ibn Ishaq, who wrote the first biography of Muhammad. Many other writers have alluded to these verses. The disputed verses permitted worship to 3 pre Islamic goddesses from Mecca namely Allat, Uzza and Manah. As these verses went against the grain of the monotheism of Islam Muhammad had them removed. Actually Rushdie was referring to these verses as the Satanic Verses and not to the Koran itself.

Mistake by the Publisher and Rushdie The problem is that Islamic scholars do not use the words Satanic for these exorcised verses but Gharaniq( Birds). The words Satanic Verses are not used in Islam and the common man without any clarification from Rushdie or the publisher assumed that Rushdie meant the entire book as the satanic verses, when in reality he was referring only to the exorcised verses. Another matter was that the word Verses in the book title when translated into Arabic was translated as Ayat. This term is used by Muslims only to refer to the Koran. Last Word Thus many Muslims who read the title felt that Rushdie was referring to the entire Koran as the Satanic Verses. This is not to defend Rushdie, who made many derogatory references to Islam and Muhammad by referring to the prophet as Mahound a word used by Christians to describe Muhammad during the crusades. But the title of the book was a misnomer and Rushdie and his publisher became the center of ire of all Muslims worldwide.