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In August 2022, Salman Rushdie about to deliver a much-desired talk, only to get brutally stabbed in the face with a 10-inch knife by an obedient Muslim who was fulfilling the global fatwa calling for Rushdie’s death.
The fatwa on Salman Rushdie was first announced by the supreme leader of Iran Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on February 14, 1989, a perfect Islamic valentine. The fatwa was declared as a result of Rushdie’s novel, The Satanic Verses, a clever book using the plot of two men surviving a plane crash. The book looks at the differences of their experiences, drawing analytical comparison on the relationship between Islam and the West. It was one of the most controversial books of the twentieth century.
Salman Rushdie’s previous lawyer, Geoffrey Robertson, a British national, in an interview affirmed this was state terrorism. At the request of Special Branch, Robertson had housed Rushdie at his safe hideout many years ago, when the fatwa was first announced. Robertson had also made clear that the £3 million bounty on Rushdie was unnecessary, because those who were determined to kill Rushdie clearly hadn’t read the book, and it wasn’t necessary to threaten him based on his work of pure fiction. On the back of this fatwa, the New York Times had famously written that “Murder is not a form of literary criticism,” which couldn’t be a more Western value, one that we often take for granted (though the UK and Germany are both currently facing the absence of this very core value being upheld).
After the fatwa was declared to all Muslim people around the world, the following attempts to annihilate anyone in association with the distribution of this book were made:
Rushdie survived over 36 years without a scratch, as the threats against him seemed to ease off in the late 1990s. Rushdie was finally able to start living like a normal person in the West again. He moved to New York and began living more openly, going to parties, riding the subway, and even going to baseball games, all until August 2022.
In August 2022, Rushdie was booked to speak at a charity event he had been closely related to for over fifteen years, City of Asylum. Diane Samuels and Henry Reese launched the charity, which creates safe housing facilities, originally from their own newly renovated private property. Samuels and Reese chose to offer their home up after being inspired by Rushdie, having previously seen him speak about the need for safe spaces for exiled writers such as himself.
This charity event was being held at the Chautauqua Institution, a well-known and generally safe area where the local residents don’t even usually lock their doors. And so, unfortunately, it seems as if there wasn’t much thought given to security for Rushdie’s attendance.
As Rushdie was about to be introduced, a warming round of applause came from the crowd, which quickly turned into screams. The attack almost came out of nowhere. A young man dressed in a green camouflage t-shirt, black trousers and a black Covid mask vaulted up a flight of steps onto the stage. This man was Hadi Matar. Unfortunately for him, this event was being filmed, and video provided much evidence against him, and also proved in several clips just how quickly the attack happened.
Rushdie stated in this interview, as well as in his book Knife, that he saw a figure approaching fast from his right-hand side. As the attack started, he first thought it was just a man’s fist. Then, however, he saw a large quantity of blood pouring out onto his clothes; he was, in fact, attacked with a 10-inch knife. Hence the title of his new book. Rushdie was stabbed in his face and chest multiple times. He also took stab wounds to his torso, hands and legs, but this wouldn’t have been a fully-fledged jihad attack without an attempt to strike the neck of the unbeliever (cf. Qur’an 47:4) and those who cause corruption in the land.
The very limited security, with help from attendees, was able to take down Matar, with the initial help as well of Rushdie’s friend and partner in the charity, Henry Reese. By the time the only police officer who was there managed to get in on the situation, he was able to handcuff Matar and take him away in handcuffs.
During Matar’s time in the county jail, while waiting his trial, he agreed to speak with a reporter for the New York Post. During this interview, Matar admitted that he was an admirer of Ayatollah Khomeini, and further stated that Rushdie had attacked Islam and was deceitful. He came to this conclusion, he said, after reading a few pages of The Satanic Verses. He admitted to having seen an advertisement of Rushdie’s forthcoming appearance at the Chautauqua Institution, and ran with that information.
During this interview, Matar said “I don’t like the person. I don’t think he is a good person. He’s someone who attacked Islam. He attacked their beliefs, the belief systems.” Matar further went on to praise Ayatollah Khomeini as a “great person,” but would not say whether he was following Khomeini’s fatwa. Needless to say, all the pieces of this puzzle fit perfectly together, and so it doesn’t seem necessary to need a direct admission; the evidence is plentiful.
On Friday, February 21, Hadi Matar learned his fate. Nearly two weeks after being put on trial for the attempted murder of Rushdie, Matar (although he had pleaded not guilty) was found guilty on two counts, one of the attempted murder of Salman Rushdie, and the other of assault of Henry Reese. Matar faces up to 25 years in prison, and his sentencing is set for April 23. Matar’s defense team told CBS News that he was disappointed by the jury’s decision, but had been preparing for that possibility. Upon hearing the verdict, Matar looked down and said “Free Palestine” as he was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs.
In a brief chat after the trial, Reese told the Times newspaper that the trial was “a bit of an anticlimax” after so long a delay. Rushdie calls Henry his hero for jumping in to save him, but Reese says: “I think he’s really the hero. Can you imagine writing the book that he wrote about this experience, that addressed it head on so quickly, not ignoring the reality nut triumphing over it. And having to live with what he’s lived with, for more than 30 years?”
Has Rushdie finally received some form of justice for all these years of living under fear as he fights for his right to the freedom of expression in his literary work? Salman Rushdie is an inspiration to all writers. One hopes that this case will become a landmark in the defense of the freedom of speech and freedom of expression, and end the many threats to this fundamental freedom.