The threatened punishment for insulting Islam is to come in this world as well as the next: “Indeed, those who malign Allah and his messenger, Allah has cursed them in this world and the hereafter, and has prepared for them a humiliating punishment.” (Quran 33:57)
Note also the Iranian paper Vatan-e Emrouz’s focus on the wound in Rushdie’s neck. “When you meet the unbelievers, strike the necks.” (Qur’an 47:4)
“Praise, Worry in Iran after Rushdie Attack; Government Quiet,” Associated Press, August 13, 2022:
TEHRAN, Iran — Iranians reacted with praise and worry Saturday over the attack on novelist Salman Rushdie, the target of a decades-old fatwa by the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini calling for his death.
It remains unclear why Rushdie’s attacker, identified by police as Hadi Matar of Fairview, New Jersey, stabbed the author as he prepared to speak at an event Friday in western New York. Iran’s theocratic government and its state-run media have assigned no motive to the assault.
But in Tehran, some willing to speak to The Associated Press offered praise for an attack targeting a writer they believe tarnished the Islamic faith with his 1988 book “The Satanic Verses.” In the streets of Iran’s capital, images of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini still peer down at passers-by.
“I don’t know Salman Rushdie, but I am happy to hear that he was attacked since he insulted Islam,” said Reza Amiri, a 27-year-old deliveryman. “This is the fate for anybody who insults sanctities.”…
At newstands Saturday, front-page headlines offered their own takes on the attack. The hard-line Vatan-e Emrouz’s main story covered what it described as: “A knife in the neck of Salman Rushdie.” The reformist newspaper Etemad’s headline asked: “Salman Rushdie in neighborhood of death?”
The conservative newspaper Khorasan bore a large image of Rushdie on a stretcher, its headline blaring: “Satan on the path to hell.”
But the 15th Khordad Foundation — which put the over $3 million bounty on Rushdie — remained quiet at the start of the working week. Staffers there declined to immediately comment to the AP, referring questions to an official not in the office….
On Saturday, Mohammad Mahdi Movaghar, a 34-year-old Tehran resident, described having a “good feeling” after seeing Rushdie attacked.
“This is pleasing and shows those who insult the sacred things of we Muslims, in addition to punishment in the hereafter, will get punished in this world too at the hands of people,” he said….
Pray Hard says
Pick the largest ten cities in Iran and nuke them.
mortimer says
PH: your political philosophy was condemned and punished at Nuremberg.
mortimer says
Your message is insane. You need a psychiatrist.
SKA says
Dear Pray Hard: It is not the greater mass of the Iranian people who wish I’ll upon Rushdie and the West. It is the small coterie of mullahs and their laymen allies who are less than 1% of the nation who are responsible. Blow up the cities and you slaughter millions of innocent people most of whom now love the USA and Israel while the culpable 1% would survive in their deep bunkers.
Derek says
It’s high time that the core message in Satanic verses are highlighted to see how dubious this cult is. It involves chapter 53 verses 19 to 22 that embarass muslims.
Apparently in Mecca, when Mohammed Bin Abdullah was worried that his followers were deserting him to Abysinia (now Ethopia). He then claimed that Allah had sanctioned worship of three goddesses: Uza, Alat and Manat as interceders who could be prayed for speaking to allah on a believers behalf. There was widespread feeling of relief that a compromise had been arrived at.
It was then that Gabriel appeared to Mohammad bin Abdullah and told him that the said verses appearing on his tongue were the work of Satan.
A lot of shit followed that embarasses the clerics to this date as they have no answers to whether there were other Satanic verses.
Johnny B says
Islam is like a giant minefield you have to cross, where not all the mines are armed and your officer tells you: don’t worry, not all the mines will explode if you accidentally step on one. But if it happens, we will definitely make a thorough investigation and try to figure out what happened..
mortimer says
To Johnny: I understand the metaphor, but Sharia laws are CODIFIED and not left in the air. The question of which apostate will be attacked largely depends upon having a MULLAH who DRAWS ATTENTION to offense identified in Sharia law. Once an identified blasphemer is caught in the glare of public attention, he is like a bomber plane caught in searchlights until it is shot down.
Saying anything that is ‘IMPERMISSIBLE’ about Islam is determined by a MULLAH or a SHEIKH and the followers of the mullah carry it out.
It is sad that the attack occurred at an institute that is dedicated to issues of art, human rights and world peace …. things that Islam has no use for.
Ayatollah Khomeini preached a message entitled ‘Islam is not a religion of pacifists’.
PMK says
Muslims have very thin skin. They must be very insecure in their ‘faith’.
mortimer says
The mullahs are aware of all the intellectual problems that militate against Islamic faith. They see them every day. The mullahs are losing millions of practicing Muslims every year and declare it is an ‘avalanche’ of apostasy.
Salman Rushdie is the most famous of all apostates from Islam today.
The attack on Rushdie will cheer Muslim fanatics but it will alarm many mullahs who do not want this sort of attention to what Islam actually teaches: namely, VIGILANTE MURDER OF APOSTATES FROM ISLAM.
In the 1992 murder of apostate Farag Foda, Al Azhar’s scholars argued that when the state fails to punish apostates, somebody else has to do it.”
Al Azhar’s Fatwa Department is as perfect a source of authority for vigilante murder as can be obtained.
mortimer says
Iranian newspapers are all censored, and so, they only quoted people who agreed with the stabbing.
Over 60% of Iranians are now virtual apostates and their negative opinions of the stabbing will not be reported. They are apostates like Rushdie.
SKA says
And they are “apostates” for a good reason: they have witnessed and suffered first-hand the cruelty and barbarism of Khomeini’s regime established in the name of the religion.
Maureen Chaloner says
Your culture insults Christianity ever single day. WE don’t attack YOU though- only Islam is violent towards people of all other cultures and religious beliefs!
jojo says
We are very luck in the UK in that the vast majority put this “god” bloke in the the same category as father christmass and the tooth fairy.
CogitoErgoSum says
Jojo, you are in luck then to have so many Muslims agree with you – at least about Father Christmas and the Tooth Fairy. Are you among those wanting to let more Muslims into your country? They will be happy to set you straight about the god bloke if you like (and even if you don’t like it).
jojo says
So what’s it like living in the 14th century.
And please don’t make assumptions about me, based on your world view.
Kenneth J Johnson says
I have read Derek’s post several times. I may be dense but I can find no reason for any Muslem to be offended by this. I know Muslems are a super sensitive people, but this???.. KEN
SKA says
Mentioning the incident of the “Satanic Verses” is very upsetting to Muslims because as it is related to followers of Muhammad it states clearly that he was deceived by Satan. Well if he was deceived by Satan on that one occasion doesn’t that open the possibility that he was deceived on multiple other occasions? Or doesn’t that even open up the possibility that ALL of the Quranic revelations have been inspired by Satan? So therefore it is a topic that Muslims especially don’t want potential converts to learn about.
Rushdie’s book is full of allusions that Muslims would immediately see as mockeries of Islam but that fly over the heads of non-Muslims. One example is that the city in Rushdie’s book that corresponds to Medina is named the city of Jahiliya “made entirely of sand.” Jahiliya is the Islamic term for “ignorance.” There are numerous snide jabs like this throughout the book. The weird thing though was until Khomeini condemned the book and it’s author the sales of the book had been very weak. The Saudis were even negotiating through middlemen to buy out the literary rights to the book so they could then take it off the market and condemn it to oblivion. Khomeini’s “banned in Boston” moment turned the book into a best seller since Western readers wanted to know what all the commotion was about. In a sense the Ayatollah guaranteed Rushdie’s literary success.
somehistory says
“sanctities.” the only way this word can apply to the disgusting evil, demonic trash with which mozlums are repeatedly going off the rails, is in the partial definition of “importance”…and then, it’s only “important” to the mozlums who believe in the unholy and evil filth.
they are always happy when murder is carried out against someone speaking the truth about their worship of satan.
Muriel Altiparmakyan says
Disgusting attack and Iran is the lowest of the lowest. Hope this regime goes down.
OLD GUY says
And why do we want to have open borders and allow people who approve of the murder of another human just because he or she said something they disagree with. Islam’s answer to everything it disagrees with is murder and violence. Who needs that for neighbors?