Other than Iran’s Islamic revolution, for which Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini might declare solely partial credit score, his most momentous achievement was the February 1989 fatwa in opposition to writer Salman Rushdie. Pronounced in response to Mr. Rushdie’s novel “The Satanic Verses,” Khomeini’s edict was the primary time a Muslim militant had the audacity to use an Islamic punishment deep contained in the West. Khomeini utilized jujitsu to the West’s declare that it stood for “common values,” obliging it to pay attention to Muslim sensibilities concerning the sacred and the profane. Muslim response to Khomeini’s decree various, nevertheless it elicited appreciable sympathy amongst Sunni in addition to Shiite believers.
Mr. Rushdie’s recondite ebook was an odd selection for such ire. Islamic students and jurists had lengthy debated Surah 53, the section of the Quran on which “The Satanic Verses” relies. It issues Muhammad’s efforts to transform the highly effective pagans of Mecca to Islam. The canonical interpretation held that the satan intruded into the prophet’s inspirations, producing what seemed to be a short lived and tactically astute toleration of paganism. Probably excepting the slaughter of the male members of the Jewish Banu Qurayza tribe, no motion has precipitated extra heartburn amongst Islamic commentators.
