By Mallory Brabrand

The sun sets over the Miller Bell Tower at the Chautauqua Institution in New York. Photo credit: Wikimedia User LJ’s Photos.

The crowd waited patiently, and an air of anticipation hummed through the auditorium as guests talked amongst themselves. Yet one man, seated alone amidst the mass, was preparing himself, becoming as ready as he could be to execute his plan of action. And as prize-winning author Salman Rushdie came onto the stage, he leapt forward.

On the morning of Friday, August 12, as a scheduled discussion between Rushdie and event moderator Ralph Henry Reese began at the Chautauqua Institution in New York, an education and retreat center, a man ran onto the stage and violently attacked the famous writer. 

Author Salman Rushdie. Photo credit: Wikimedia user Christoph Kockelmann.

Rushdie, born in India in 1947, has published many widely-received and award-winning novels over his career as an author. However, his fourth book, The Satanic Verses, published in 1988, was received in a completely different light. In the novel, Rushdie, a Muslim himself, models many characters after the Prophet Muhammad and others in the Prophet’s life. Some of these characters include sex workers named for some of the Prophet’s wives. 

The book mirrors some accepted aspects of the Islamic faith and holy readings, but differs in some other obvious ways. Many Muslims around the world did not approve of the book when it was published, as they saw it as blasphemous. Following the book’s publishing, some countries, such as India, even banned the book.

As books burned in the United Kingdom and people were injured and killed in riots globally, it seemed as though the violence would never end. Then, on February 14, 1989, the then-leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa.

Iranian men stand next to a banner of Ayatollah Khomeini, who issued the fatwa against Rushdie. Photo credit: Wikimedia user Adam Jones.

The Encyclopedia Britannica defines a fatwa as “a formal ruling or interpretation on a point of Islamic law given by a qualified legal scholar.” In this fatwa, Khomeini ordered Muslims around the world to kill Rushdie and all others who helped create The Satanic Verses. Though Rushdie and many others escaped death at the hands of those inspired by the fatwa, the book’s Japanese translator, Hitoshi Igarashi, was fatally stabbed, and two others, the novel’s Italian translator and Norwegian publisher, were hospitalized for being stabbed and shot, respectively.

For years, Rushdie was forced to hide. Protected by the British Police, he adopted the pseudonym Joseph Anton. He generally stayed inside safe houses and traveled discreetly when necessary but still kept up his reputation as a writer. 

Despite living largely in solitude, Rushdie did not allow the fatwa to stop his desire to write. During his time in hiding, from 1989 to 1998, Rushdie published four novels.

Even though Khomeini died less than a year after issuing the fatwa, the bounty for Rushdie’s life continued to stand. According to the Iranian rules for fatwas, a fatwa cannot be repealed by anyone other than the person who set it into motion. Yet despite the fatwa still technically existing, in 1998, the Iranian government announced that they would not “support nor hinder” anyone wishing to act on the religiously motivated decree made at the end of the 1980s, thus in a way freeing Rushdie.

Rushdie returned to the public eye just as the 20th century came to a close. He continued to publish a multitude of novels that range from children’s books, to fictional stories, to a memoir titled Joseph Anton, in which he described the decade he spent in hiding. 

Now, over 30 years since the announcement of the fatwa, the risk of danger on Rushdie’s life seemed minimal, at least significantly smaller than it was in the mid-to-late ‘90s. 

Though the Chautauqua Institution in New York claims to have taken security precautions for Rushdie’s talk last month “very seriously,”  the suspect, Hadi Matar, was able to enter the auditorium as a member of the audience and rush onto the stage to attack Rushdie just minutes later. 

Once onlookers realized what was happening, a number of them jumped onto the stage to both stop the assassination attempt and help Rushdie in whatever way they could. Audience members were able to get Matar off of Rushdie, though he still kept fighting to stab Rushdie, who suffered multiple stab wounds. Witnesses say Rushdie was stabbed and punched at least 10 times before the attacker was pulled away.

The moderator, Ralph Henry Reese, also suffered injuries, though his were minimal. Rushdie suffered wounds all over his body, most notably to his liver, neck, and eye. 

Matar was immediately arrested as Rushdie was rushed, by helicopter, to be treated at a hospital in Pennsylvania. When he arrived, Rushdie went quickly into surgery and then was put on a ventilator for a number of days. 

Having survived the attack on his life, Rushdie has once again managed to escape what seemed to be a probable death. Yet as Rushdie recovers, the literary world wonders: Will he continue to advocate for free speech, deep into the world of public appearances and minimal security? Or will he retreat back into a more private life, just as he was forced to do so many years ago?