A Famous British-American novelist Salman Rushdie was attacked with a knife during an event in New York City, USA on Friday 12 August. Witnesses said the assailant stabbed Rushdie with 10 to 15 stabbings in 20 seconds, after which there was blood on the stage.

Rushdie was rushed to the hospital where he has undergone surgery and has been put on a ventilator. While the author’s latest condition is updated by his agent Wylie that he is now safe and can talk. The attacker has been identified as 24-year-old Hadi Matar from New Jersey.

Highlights on Salman Rushdie’s life 

• Rushdie was attacked when he was about to deliver a lecture at an event in western New York.
• Salman Rushdie off the ventilator, talking: President of Chautauqua Institution.
• Several fellow writers and scholars tweeted their relief at finding out the novelist is now able to talk.
• There has been an outpouring of support for him, with the attack widely condemned as an assault on freedom of expression.
• Mr Rushdie was born in Bombay, India in 1947. He was sent to boarding school in England before going on to study history at the University of Cambridge.
• Many Muslims reacted with fury to it, arguing that the portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad in his novel was a grave insult to their faith.
• The novelist was forced into hiding for nearly 10 years after The Satanic Verses was published in 1988. 
• He faced death threats and the then-Iranian leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa – or decree – calling for Mr Rushdie’s assassination, placing a $3m (£2.5m) bounty on the author’s head.
• The fatwa remains active, and although Iran’s government has distanced itself from Mr Khomeini’s decree, a quasi-official Iranian religious foundation added a further $500,000 to the reward in 2012.
• Iran’s government and its state media have not given any motive for the attack. 

Tehran has praised the attack on the author, who believe Rushdie damaged the image of Islam in his 1988 book, The Satanic Verses.

Who attacked Salman Rushdie?

New York police have identified the attacker as 24-year-old Hadi Matar, who has been taken into custody. The attacker is a resident of New Jersey. Matar’s social media confirmed him to be sympathetic to “Shia extremism” and the motives of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC ). According to New York police, the investigation is nonetheless in its preliminary levels and there is no indication of a reason at the moment. The officials are working with the FBI and the sheriff’s workplace to determine the rationale at the back of the attack. The attacker has been charged with attempted murder and assault.

People Say Attack is an Attack on Freedom of Speech

• British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a tweet that he is saddened that Sir Salman Rushdie has been stabbed.  
• UK Home Secretary, Priti Patel said: “Shocked to hear of the unprovoked and senseless attack on Sir Salman Rushdie.  
• UK PM candidate Rishi Sunak said in a tweet that Shocked to hear about the attack on Salman Rushdie in New York. He is a champion of free speech and artistic freedom. Tonight our condolences are with him.
• Meanwhile, the UK’s Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Nadine Dorries, called the incident ” horrific “.  He also said that it was a ghastly attack on a literary stalwart and one of the great defenders of freedom of expression. 
• On Twitter, US Senator Chuck Schumer said the attack was shocking and horrifying.  It is an attack on freedom of speech and thought, the two core values ​​of our country and the Chautauqua Institute. 
• Khalid Hosseini, an American novelist, said he would pray for his recovery. Husseini called him an essential voice and said that he was afraid of this attack on Rushdie. 
• Indian author Amitav Ghosh tweeted I am horrified to learn that Salman Rushdie has been attacked at a speech event in New York. I wish him a speedy recovery.  
• Writer Taslima Nasreen tweeted I just learned that Salman Rushdie was attacked in New York. I am shocked. I never thought this would happen. He has been living in the West and is being protected since 1989. If they are attacked, anyone who criticizes Islam can be attacked. I am worried.
• Indian lyricist Javed Akhtar tweeted that he condemned the barbaric attack on Salman Rushdie .
• French President Emmanuel Macron also tweeted that for 33 years Salman Rushdie has embodied freedom and the fight against obscenity.

Who is Salman Rushdie?

Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie is an Indian-born British-American novelist. Born on 19 June 1947 in Mumbai, Salman Rushdie belongs to a Kashmiri Muslim family. A few years after his birth, Rushdie’s family moved to Britain.  After schooling at the Famous Rugby School in England, Rushdie did further education at Cambridge University. After earning an MA degree in history in 1968, he started a job as an advertising writer in London in 1970. After this, in 1975, Rushdie published the first book called Grimus. His work often combines magical realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Western civilizations, set on the Indian subcontinent.

Why is Salman Rushdie famous?

In a literary career spanning five decades, Sir Salman Rushdie has been no stranger to death threats arising due to the nature of his work. The novelist is one of the most famous and successful British writers of all time with his second novel, Midnight’s Children, which won the illustrious Booker Prize in 1981. It was his fourth novel, The Satanic Verses, published in 1988, that became his most controversial work bringing an international upheaval unprecedented in its scale. 

Salman Rushdie has been in the news for a long time for his novel The Satanic Verses. This book is still banned in many Muslim countries around the world. A fatwa was also issued by Iran’s supreme religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khomeini regarding his death. Despite the controversy, Rushdie enjoyed great respect and prestige in Britain and America. He was also appointed Commander de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France. In 2007, he was knighted by the British Queen, Queen Elizabeth II, in recognition of his services to literature. In 2008, The Times ranked him thirteenth on its list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945.

The Fourth Novel was Welcomed by Massive Protests!

The Satanic Verses was the fourth novel by Salman Rushdie, published in 1988. This book created panic as soon as it came in the market. The controversy about this increased so much that many countries around the world banned this novel immediately. India was the first country to ban this novel. At that time the Rajiv Gandhi government was ruling the country. After this Pakistan and many other Islamic countries banned it. In February 1989, Muslims staged a massive protest against Rushdie in Mumbai. Twelve people were killed and more than 40 were injured in police firing during the demonstration. The purchase or sale of this novel has been declared completely illegal.

Fanatics claim that Salman Rushdie insulted the Prophet Mohammed in this novel.  It was claimed that the title of this book is about a disputed Muslim tradition. After which demonstrations started all over the world regarding this novel. Muslim religious leaders and scholars around the world demanded an immediate ban on this novel. After which The Satanic Verses was banned. Iran’s supreme religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini, the leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, issued a death fatwa against him in 1989. 

Why was Salman Rushdie living in hiding since 1988?

The story didn’t end on merely the fatwas. On 3 August 1989, an RDX explosion at a hotel in central London attempted to kill Salman Rushdie took place, but he narrowly escaped the attack.  The Mujahideen of Islam later claimed responsibility for the incident. A man who became a human bomb had carried out this explosion inside the hotel.

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Since then, Salman Rushdie was living in hiding and under police protection. 10 years later, in 1998, the Iranian government publicly stated that they no longer supported Salman’s death. However, the fatwa remained in place. In 2006, the head of the Hezbollah organization said that millions of Muslims were ready to avenge the blasphemy committed by Salman Rushdie and were willing to do anything to avenge the disrespect of the Prophet. In 2010, the terrorist organization Al Qaeda released a hit list. In this, there was talk of killing Salman Rushdie for insulting the religion of Islam.

Satanic Verses Controversy Faced Vicious Attacks by Islamists

59 people were killed in violent protests in many countries around the world over the book ‘Satanic Verses’ by Salman Rushdie. The number of these dead includes the publisher of this book and the people who translated it into other languages.

Rushdie’s book Satanic Verses was translated by Japanese translator Hitoshi Igarashi.  A few days later, he was brutally murdered.  Ettore Capriolo the Italian translator of ‘Satanic Verses’ was horrifically killed and the Norwegian publisher William Nygaard was shot three times on October 11, 1993, in front of his residence in Dagaliveien, Oslo. He survived but the attackers were never apprehended. Aziz Nesin translated this book into the Turkish language and the attempt to kill him was also made.

The story of ‘The Satanic Verses’ 

 The meaning of the novel ‘Satanic Verses’ is words of “satanic suggestion” which the Islamic prophet Muhammad is alleged to have mistaken for divine revelation. In the name of this book, people of the Muslim religion objected.  Rushdie has written a fictional anecdote in this book. The story is such that two film actors are going from Mumbai to London by plane. One of them is the superstar of the film world Jibril and the other is ‘Voice Over Artist’ Saladin.

• Some Sikh terrorist hijacks this plane midway. After this, the plane is passing over the Atlantic Ocean, and only then the terrorists start an argument with the passenger. An angry terrorist detonates a bomb inside the plane.
• In this incident, both Jibril and Saladin survive by falling into the sea. After this, their lives change. Then one day some stories related to the life of the founder of a particular religion come in the dream of Jibril going towards madness. 
• After this, he thinks of establishing the history of that religion once again in a new way.  Further, Rushdie has written the story of his story characters Jibril and Saladin in such a way that it was considered blasphemy.

Rushdie Personally Condemned the Charlie Hebdo attack!

Rushdie is an advocate of religious satire. He condemned the Charlie Hebdo shooting and defended comedic criticism of religions in a comment originally posted on English PEN where he called religions a medieval form of unreason. Rushdie called the attack a consequence of “religious totalitarianism”, which according to him had caused “a deadly mutation in the heart of Islam”. (Source Wikipedia)

People are Unaware of the Truth!

Muslims believe in One God “Allah” but they know nothing about Allah. For them, Allah is formless and communicates through his messengers and never appears in the form. Sikhs also believe in One God, but they don’t have any name for that God. For them too, God is formless. Similarly, Christians are misled. Half of them believe Jesus to be God but the other half calls him the “Son of God”. Despite this, they still consider him formless.

The truth is that the beliefs present in various religions are contrary to what has been mentioned in their Holy Scriptures. None of them have been able to understand their scriptures properly as a result of which they are all in the dark.

From ancient times humans across the world have been divided into different religions to attain Supreme God who can give them true happiness and peace in this world as well as hereafter. But unfortunately, Due to dissimilarity and lack of true spiritual knowledge, we have become enemies to each other.

Who is God According to Religions?

With The true spiritual knowledge given by Tatvdarshi Saint Rampal Ji Maharaj it’s possible to know the real Supreme God. Whatever Salman Rushdie is facing from Islamists is because we have been misguided by fake religious leaders and Spiritual Gurus. And we have treated prophets /Nabi /Messengers as God. But now it’s time to understand that there’s no need to spread hatred, terrorism towards different religions. We all are Children of one Supreme God Kabir Saheb. Every sacred book provides enough evidence to identify that Allah / God is the one and only Kabir Saheb.

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Quran Shareef and Quran Majeed in Surat-al-Furqan 25, Aayat 52-59, it is clearly stated that Allah is Kabir. He has created the whole universe. He is in Human Form. It has been further said that if you want to know about the true way of worship of that Supreme God, then go to a Complete Saint (Bakhabar) who will tell you the right way to reach God Kabir. But the entire Muslim community believes that God is Formless. So when their belief is wrong then how could their way of worship be correct and how can they derive benefit from their worship?

All Muslims must know about Satan/Kaal

‘Kaal Brahm’ gave the knowledge of ‘Quran Sharif / Quran Majid’ through Jabreel Angel to Hazrat Mohammad ji by force. All Muslim brothers believe whatever knowledge the narrator of Quran Shariff gave (whom they consider as their Allah) he gave it as it is, without any mistake through an Angel to Hazrat Mohammad, through an announcement or was sent telegraphically. As a result, the whole Muslim community believes that the narrator of Quran Sharif is Allahu Akbar and worships him. 

This ‘Kaal’ only gave the knowledge of the Holy Bible- Taurat, Injeel and Zabur. On Dawood the heavenly book Zabur descended, On Musa ji the heavenly book Taurat descended and on Isaji the heavenly book Injeel descended by this Kaal Brahm by the announcement. The Bible is the collection of these three Holy books Jaboor, Tawrat, and Injil. Means these are bound.

Readers are requested to read ‘Muslim Nahi Samjhe Gyan Quran’ Written by Bakhbar Illamwala Saint Rampal ji Maharaj ji. You can download this book from the official App ‘Sant Rampalji Maharaj’ from the play store so that you can know the Supreme God and can help in stopping the hatred by taking Naam Deeksha from Him.

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