I never read the book but I know it was written in the early 80's. and I never new what it was about. is it the Satanic Bible? and why was muslims wanting to kill Salman Rushdie?
2006-12-02 03:01:05 · 7 answers · asked by mr_nice_guy 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
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2006-12-02 03:04:13 · answer #1 · answered by aksh_1991 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I read the book and remember the controversy about it. In fact, I was in an Islam class at the time and had the only copy of the book in the class (it became difficult to get).
The offensive part regarded a character named "Mahound" (obviously Mohammad) had mixed verses in a holy book with verses from Satan (or a representation of him). This was the official reason a "fatwa" (divine edict) for the death of the author was issued by Khomeini. Actually, this was not original with Rushdie; an apocyrphal story about Mohammad, similar to this, was around for a long time.
The real reason, I suspect (as do others), is that a character who is similar to Khomeini appears who is associated with the Devil (it's been a while since I read the book, so I might be off a bit). The character is quite obviously Khomeini - he leads a religious revolution to overthrow a government, and if I remember right he is even described similarly to Khomeini (long, white beard, etc.). Essentially, Rushdie has it that Khomeini is in league with Satan.
2006-12-02 16:03:13 · answer #2 · answered by The Doctor 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Salman Rushdie received a "fatwa" (death sentence) from the former Iran religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini after publishing the "Satanic Verses" in 1988.
The book itself centres on the adventures of two Indian actors, Gibreel and Saladin, who fall to earth in Britain, when their Air India jet explodes (terrorist atack) , but survive.
The so-called "offensive" parts os the book are:
1) One of the Indian actors apparently is losing his mind. He dreams about God revealing his will to the Prophet Muhammad, who passes on the sacred words to humanity through the Koran, the holy book of Islam. But the novel refers to Muhammad by an insulting name used by Christians in the Middle Ages. As part of the dream sequence, a scribe called "Salman" writes down God's commands that are coming from the lips of Muhammad. The scribe, however, decides to play a trick by changing some of the divine words. Since Muslims hold the Koran as the revealed word of God, they deplored Rushdie for ridiculing it.
2) The title of the book refers to an old legend retold by Rushdie. According to the legend, some of the Koran's original verses originated with Satan, and Muhammad later deleted them. By repeating this legend, Rushdie offended Muslims by associating the holy Koran with the work of Satan.
P.S. Although the sentence on Rushdie remains to be executed, Muslim fanatics have managed to kill the japanese translator of this book, and other translators barely survived similar atacks. Salman Rushdie moved to Great Britain, where he was put under permanent government protection.
2006-12-02 11:24:12 · answer #3 · answered by Pedro ST 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
S Rushdie is a muslim who criticised the Quran. He Wrote a book (The satanic verses) about the hyprocrasy of the islamic faith and its institutions. He then had a death sentence imposed against him by the Muslim leader the Ayatollah Khomeini, That Nut case has since died and refused to remove the contract against him. I hope god was pleased with his murderous idealism ( I doubt it )
2006-12-02 11:07:01 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The publication of The Satanic Verses in September 1988 caused immediate controversy in the Islamic world due to what was perceived as an irreverent depiction of the prophet Muhammad. The title refers to a Muslim tradition that is related in the book. According to it, Muhammad (Mahound in the book) added verses to the Qur'an accepting three goddesses that used to be worshipped in Mecca as divine beings. According to the legend Muhammad later revoked the verses, saying the devil tempted him to utter these lines to appease the Meccans (hence the Satanic Verses). The book was banned in many countries with large Muslim communities.
2006-12-02 11:05:15 · answer #5 · answered by tamara_cyan 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Yikes...I just read that above...bizarrely freaky stuff...no wonder there are atheists in this world.
I'd like to know one thing...if Jesus was born in those parts...and Christianity arose (Christ = Christianity..right?) where did this Muslim or Islam faith come from and right smack in the middle of the Holy Land too?
I thought the bible claimed that there were never be peace in the Holy Land until his second coming, and when Jesus did return it would be there and all his wrath would be wrought, and the earth would open up and swallow all the bad and all the good would be taken home...makes you wonder when you take into consideration the way things are in this world and in those parts specifically, where truths really "lie"...no pun intended.
2006-12-02 11:04:24 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Salman said it in plain language that verses in the Kuran are of satanic nature. As usual, you know how muslims are, they started erupting hot volcano lava from all holes they have in their body.
2006-12-02 11:05:57 · answer #7 · answered by the.buster 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋