Why 'The Satanic Verses' put Salman Rushdie under death threats for ova 30 years?

Salman Rushdie work “The Satanic Verses” don make am face death threats for more dan 30 years.

Friday attack on Rushdie happun 33 years afta di writer receive im first death threats. 

Dem stab di Indian-born British novelist for neck on Friday, 12 August as e dey take part for one rally for New York.

Di author don dey di neck of religious fanatics for much of im five-decade literary career. 

Many books wey di 75 year old author write dey successful.

Im second novel, "Midnight's Children", win di Booker Prize in 1981, one of di most important in English. 

But na di fourth novel e publish for 1988, "The Satanic Verses", turn di most controversial wey provoke many pipo.

Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran supreme leader dat time, issue a fatwa for 1989, one year afta di book publication.

Khomeini, call for di death of di novelist and promise to reward di killer wit $3 million . 

Iranian goment stop to promote di fatwa for 1998, but in 2016, e resume am and offer additional $600,000 to anyone wey manage to end im life. 

Death threats against Rushdie make am live in hiding for more dan ten years, di British goment put di author under police protection.

Britain and Iran break diplomatic relations, sake of di threat to freedom of expression posed by di reaction to di book by many radical Islamists.

Na so Western authors and intellectuals from various kontris condemn di move by Iran.

Who be Salman Rushdie?

Dem born Salman Rushdie for Bombay for June 1947, two months before India independence from di UK. 

At di age of 14, dem send am go England, wia e study for di prestigious Rugby School and later graduate wit honors degree for history from Kings College, Cambridge. E later get British citizenship. 

Rushdie family na Muslim but e no practice di religion. 

"I no consider myself a religiously concerned writer, until one religion start to persecute me," e later write for one article. 

He work briefly as actor and then as a copywriter as e dey write novels. 

Im first book, "Grimus" (1975), no achieve great success, although some critics highlight im potential as a writer. 

E take am five years to write im second book, Midnight's Children, wey win di Booker Prize for 1981, he sell half a million copies. 

While "Midnight's Children" locate im plot for India, Rushdie third novel, "Shame," wey e publish for 1983, critically address di problems of post-colonial Pakistan. 

Four years later, Rushdie write "The Jaguar's Smile," an account of a trip to Nicaragua.

For September 1988 he publish di work wey put price ontop im life: "The satanic verses". 

"The satanic verses"

Dis weird and postmodern novel provoke and cause Muslims around di world to para as dem reason say di content dey blasphemous. 

India na di first kontri to ban am.

Pakistan follow do, na so oda Muslim kontris and South Africa follow ban am. 

Some pipo hail di work and e win di Whitbread Prize for a novel. 

But violent reactions to di book increase, and two months later street protests happun. 

Di radicals consider am as insult to Islam. Wetin vex dem di most na say two prostitutes get di names of wives of di Prophet Mohammed . 

Di book title refer to two verses wey Muhammad remove from di Qur'an , because e believe say dem come from di devil.

Rushdie narrate for "The Satanic Verses" di story of two Indian actors wey miraculously survive plane crash wey dey caused by attack. 

Di series of stories wey refer to di mythology of Islam and di life of di prophet, Mohammed, dey intertwined around di main narrative.

Reactions to di work 

For January 1989, Muslim radicals for Bradford, UK, burn a copy of di book in a kind of ritual, and WHSmith bookstores stop to dey display am.

Rushdie no gree di accusations of blasphemy, but e still tok sorry to those wey dey offended. 

For February of dat year, plenty pipo die for one anti-Rushdie riots for Indian subcontinent, dem stone di British embassy for Tehran, and Iran put price on di author head. 

For Britain, some Muslim leaders advice restraint, while others support Ayatollah.

Di United States, France and oda Western kontris condemn di death threat. 

Although Rushdie, wey live for hiding for years under police protection, express deep regret for di unrest e don cause on di part of Muslims, Ayatollah repeat im call for di author death. 

Di London offices of Viking Penguin, di publishers, na di scene of demonstrations and those for New York receive death threats. 

But di book become bestseller on both sides of di Atlantic. 

Di protests against di extreme Muslim reaction dey supported by di kontris of di European Economic Community, wey temporarily withdraw dia ambassadors from Tehran.

Oda victims

Di author no be di only victim of di content of "The Satanic Verses". 

Dem find di Japanese translator of di novel for one university for di northeast of Tokyo for July 1991. 

Police say dem stab Hitoshi Igarashi, wey dey work as an assistant professor of comparative culture multiple times and dem leave am for di hallway outside im office for di University of Tsukuba. 

Earlier dat month, dem stab di Italian translator, Ettore Capriolo to death for im Milan apartment, although e survive di attack. 

Di oda books Rushdie later write include one children novel, "Harun and di Sea of ​​Stories" (1990), a book of essays, "Imaginary Homelands" (1991).

And di novels "East, West" (1994), " The last breath of the Moor" (1995), "The ground under his feet" (1999) and "Fury" (2001). 

E join for di stage adaptation of "Children of Midnight", wey premier for London in 2003. 

For di last two decades, e don publish "The ground under his feet", "The enchantress of Florence", "Two years, eight months and twenty-eight nights", "The decline of Nero Golden" and "Don Quixote". 

Rushdie don marry four times and e get two children. Dem make am knight of di British Empire for 2007 for im services to literature.

He dey live for New York now. 

For 2012, he publish "Joseph Anton. Memorias del tiempo de la fatua", an account of im life as a result of di controversy on top "The satanic verses".