A fatwa has been declared against Salman Rushdie over a novel. Today, a tweet is enough for high penalties. Criticizing the governments of Islamic countries is far more dangerous than doubting religion.
Almost a week after the attack on Salman Rushdie, the assassin has pleaded not guilty in a telephone interview. The one living in New Jersey Hadi Matar told the newspaper The New York Post, after reading a few pages of Rushdie’s “Satanic Verses” he decided to kill him. “He attacked Islam and with it all our beliefs,” the 24-year-old said by phone from the Chautauqua detention center. During a public lecture, he severely injured the Indian-born star author with a knife in the liver, one arm and the face. According to his son Zafar, Rushdie is now on the mend.