A Satanic Affair: Salman Rushdie and the Rage of Islam

Ruthven, a free-lancer specializing in religious fundamentalism, Islamic and Christian alike, reviews the British story of The Satanic Verses incident in a lively and thoughtful manner. He offers several provocative theories about the Muslim campaign against Rushdie in the United Kingdom: that it had a great deal to do with inter-communal problems between Muslims and Hindus brought over from India; that it began as a legitimate cry of despair by offended pietists but was subsequently taken over by the fundamentalist ideologues in an effort to control Muslim life in Great Britain; and that the protest had more to do with offended honor than with matters of faith. Ruthven also argues, persuasively, that from the point of view of community relations, Ayatollah Khomeini's edict was "a disaster for the Muslims in Britain."

Though skillfully written, A Satanic Affair has a parochial quality, a tendency to see no farther than Little England. World events tend to be viewed in terms of their impact on opinion in the United Kingdom. There are other peculiarities too: for example, the role of oral culture in Muslim life receives far more attention than the motives behind Khomeini's actions. We learn in detail the views of obscure British Muslims, but almost nothing of The Satanic Verses's career in Europe, the Middle East, East Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

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