Now, come on. We know what happened to poor Salman Rushdie: hes still getting death threats today!
This is absolutely true, he is and the fatwa that Ayatollah Khomeini issued on author Salman Rushdie in 1989 apparently remains in effect today, largely because apparently only the person issuing the fatwa can withdraw it, and Ruhollah Khomeini died four months after going on the radio to issue it. The thing is, although what happened to Rushdie is appalling, calling out a bounty on the head of literary authors who present a less-than-favourable interpretation of Muhammed in one of their novels is not what a fatwa is for. Thats like saying that because someone filled a sock full of pound coins and broke your jaw with it, all socks and all pound coins are lethal martial arts weapons. A fatwa is a fully reasoned religious and legal opinion on matters of Islamic law, delivered by a qualified Islamic jurist and scholar. Muslims will obtain fatwas in order to guide them in their everyday lives, and the weight of a fatwa will be determined principally by how much weight any one Muslim gives the scholar who delivered it. In other words, if you set your clock by the wisdom of a particular teacher and they deliver a fatwa on a subject, youre required to give it some serious thought before ignoring it to go and do your own thing. If you dont well, in 2012, the Indonesian Ulema Council, Indonesias highest level Muslim body, issued a fatwa declaring that Muslims should not wish Christians a happy Christmas, as this indirectly affirmed the rival religions teachings. Indonesian Muslims who werent that fussed about what the Indonesian Ulema Council thought responded with a glad cry of ehhh, whatever. Merry Christmas, guys.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
