Episode 245 - 'The Satanic Verses': Fatwas & Faux Pas

12 May

If the contents of a 546-page book can get one man murdered, two more seriously injured and its author forced into hiding for nine years, you can be confident of its subject: religion. But despite its reputation, ‘The Satanic Verses’ isn’t a page-by-page deconstruction of Islam. It’s a work of fiction; one that prompted the leader of Iran to call for a worldwide manhunt of anyone involved in its publication.

So how did one man’s literary skill get another man literally killed?

Sources:

Head to Head episode:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5wclhYcWaA
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9832674/

https://thehoya.com/the-satanic-verses-a-misunderstood-masterpiece-about-identity-metamorphosis/

https://www.englishpen.org/posts/campaigns/salman-rushdie-condemns-attack-on-charlie-hebdo/

https://socialistworker.co.uk/features/islamophobia-free-speech-and-salman-rushdie-s-the-satanic-verses/

https://aeon.co/essays/can-there-ever-be-another-novel-like-the-satanic-verses

https://theconversation.com/thirty-years-on-why-the-satanic-verses-remains-so-controversial-102321

https://www.theweek.co.uk/99921/why-was-the-satanic-verses-so-controversial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilbNgCWgnwE

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/sep/01/i-guess-im-having-a-go-at-killing-it-salman-rushdie-to-bypass-print-and-publish-next-book-on-substack