A wise editor said that to write good fiction, you must rotate the world slightly and use that new perspective to access the greater truth. . This is certainly the case with Salman Rushdie's ambitious and highly controversial 1988 novel The Satanic Verses.
But why is it controversial? Because itsplot challenges hierarchical beliefs and dogmas? Rushdie is known as Magical Realism Because of his use of technique, his books are loosely based on historical facts, but use magic, dreams, and surrealism to reach alternate realities, and are accompanied by the relevant lessons the author hopes.
But all religions, and even deeply held beliefs, are open to dissent, debate, and even welcome it. You have to find strength. Instead, in 1989 Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued a notorious fatwa against Rushdie, demanding his death (reportedlyhe wrote novels). I haven't even read it, and is satirized in one section).
Last week Hadi Matar's brutal attack in upstate New York A 24-year-old man from New Jersey who may have been in contact with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps(he also did not read the book) left theseverely injuredauthor. I was. Until then,years had passed in a lull,apparently de-escalating as Rushdie rebuilt his life. British and American bookstores were bombed and set on fire, Rushdie's Norwegian publisher was shot, and Italian and Japanese translators were stabbed (the latter died). Major U.S. bookstores have suspended the book amid outcry from the literary community. Some cited staff fears,and even prominent authors accused the book of being harmful to religion and its communities.
Rushdie himself lived a reclusive life in England, but recently resided at New York University as a prominent writer. Many years ago I met him for dinner, and he was polite, kind, witty, and quite unlike the monsters portrayed in Iran.
So why attack? In the novel, actors Jibril Farishta and Saladin Chamcha board a terrorist-hijacked plane (Bostan Flight 420) over the Atlantic Ocean. Remember, when the bomb goes off, this prescient vision of 9/11 predates him more than a decade ago. Jibril and Saladin fell from the sky, landed in the English Channel, and miraculously survived.
Jibril assumes the personas of Archangel Gabriel and Demon Saladin in his dreams. Although the angelic messages are about a single god, the local villagers offer his three sub-goddesses to agree to his new religion, based on the Prophet Mohammed (Mahund). At a key point in the novel, Archangel asks Mahound to allow the sub-goddesses to be recognized before finally realizing that the verses are from Satan and eventually abandoning them. provide him with a poem petitioning the
Well known. And this type of resisted temptation is found throughout several religions.In Judaism it manifests itself in the form of the golden calf (idolatry), causing Moses to dramatically reassert monotheism. . In Christianity too, the emphasis is on resisting false idols, but acknowledging their existence. See 1 John 4:1-19. out into the world. 'Jesus faced temptation in the desert and said, 'Go away, Satan!
This imaginary work is difficult to read, and it is difficult to truly believe that the lethal reaction to it is even remotely justified.A close friend of mine is the great novelist E.L. Doctorow who best describes it: "But my only true hope is to give me complete freedom of thought and expression." It seems," he said, discussing Rushdie's novel. "I hope that religious leaders in particular will be able to accept that view according to the demands of their own convictions."
We live in a time of great dogma and division. and arguments are replaced by narcissistic claims and intolerance. There is no visible healing or gathering. The attack on Rushdie is terrible, not only for him and his family, but for us, citizens of not only America, but the world.
Mark Siegel, MD, is a clinical professor of medicine, medical director of NYU Langone Health's Doctor Radio, and a medical analyst for Fox News.
